One of the commendable things that The Hindu and Deccan Herald did in their coverage of Raj Kumar's death was to avoid the use of "Dr" in front of his name. After all, he only had an honorary doctorate from Mysore University; he wasn't a Ph.D. nor was he a medical doctor.
Yet, to see the TV channels bang on and on about "Dr" Karunanidhi taking oath today (Jayanti Natarajan insists on calling him Dr Kalaignar), or to see them refer to the United Breweries chief as "Dr" Vijay Mallya leaves you wondering.
And, as for "Dr" A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, ours is not ask why….
churumuri 
Honorary doctorate, if givn to really deserving people, has a lot of meaning. In that sense, probably it is fair to refer to Rajkumar as Dr. Rajkumar. And, from what I have heard Karunanidhi was an excellent writer. So, forget the politican Karunanidhi. In case he was recognized for his achievements in screenplay, then why not Dr. Karunanidhi ? I don’t know if he really was honored for writing or politics, I am just guessing here.
Let’s not even go near Mallya….
This reminds me of Mysore University awarding the honorary doctorate to Veerappa Moily when he was the CM. Of course, the honor was bestowed for his literary achievements and not politics. I really appreciated Moily when he politely declined it.
And then we have these cheap doctorates given by American universities. You pay a few dollars and they give you the certificate. I am sure you have all heard about it, right ? Isn’t one of the more famous dancers in Mysore such a doctor ? Correct me if I am wrong. She is indeed a very good dancer, though.
With all this, if a person really deserved the honorary doctorate, then no point in NOT using it. The only problem is what determines whether the person really deserved it or not ? I guess that is quite subjective. So, in my opnion, it is Dr. Rajkumar and Sri. Vijay Mallya.
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One of the monumental folly of late D.V. Urs as VC was conferring Doctorate to Muthuraj aka Raj Kumar ! It opened flood gates for similar foibles by other Temples of learning ! Soon we will have Dr.Veerappan ( Posthumously) – didn’t he excel in his chosen filed ?
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Want to read more about “Dr.”Mallya?
Go here: http://noorentusullu.blogspot.com/2006/04/is-mallya-also-from-mars.html
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“Bombat Vishyanae pathe maadidhya …..” Besss thamma
namma bangalore mayor awwa angu monne ‘China’ dhaaga kottreanthae
DR paadhvina..amele yaaro cheemari haakdhranthae avella dongo….
yaargadhru Yelbittya antha…Muchkondu sumne aadru.
Jeevarathna…Olle hesru nimdhu nimgyaake yee dhurbudhi
namma Rajkumarge kottidhu(DR) olledhalla annovastu dhayrya bantha
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The Doc hood is – along with the knighthood – a useless prefix to anybody who is not a medical doctor / PhD holder . Whoever came up with this idea of awarding doctorates to politicians and celebrities must be laughing his ass off in swarga. If a person is truly a great human being then most people will know about it. One does not require to be known as a ‘Doctor’ to acquire recognition. I hope this butt kissing practise will be banned without further delay.
On the other hand it makes complete sense to bestow certain titles that make sense and that are fully justified in their usage. For example in the field of music, you have a ‘Vidwan’ Sheshagiri Rao. ‘Pundit’ Jasraj, etc.
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