High honor for Bhabha
Earlier this year, Harvard literary scholar Homi K. Bhabha — director of the Mahindra Humanities Center — was taking his mother for an evening drive around their native Bombay. His cellphone rang: a call from a cousin famous in the family for his pranks. “Homi,” he said, “you’ve won a Padma Bhushan” — a prestigious civilian medal awarded by the Republic of India. Bhabha replied, “Go ahead. Pull the other one.” But it was no prank. Bhabha received the medal today during a ceremony in New Delhi. He was cited for his global work in education and literature. Another awardee has connections to the University — film director (and Dudley House alumna) Mira Nair ’79. (Her films include “Monsoon Wedding,” “Vanity Fair,” and “Amelia.”) Just over a thousand of the medals have been awarded since 1954, when the honor was instituted. “It’s such a big deal that I absolutely never — in...