PTI Nov 4, 2006, 12.42pm IST
NEW DELHI: Delhi University (DU) on Saturday honoured Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, cartoonist R K Laxman and prominent scientist CNR Rao with honorary degrees.
Amid thunderous applause, DU Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental conferred the 'honouris causa' degree to Bachchan, Dikshit, Laxman and Rao, the scientific advisor to Prime Minister, for their exemplary contribution in their respective fields.
Industrialist Ratan Tata, historian Romila Thapar and writer Mahashweta Devi, who were also chosen by the University for conferring the degree, could not make it to the function.
Receiving the degree, a nostalgic Bachchan, who studied in Capital's Kirori Mal College in the mid-sixties, said it was at the DU where he first received "serious" encouragement as an actor.
"It goes without saying that there is a palpable nostalgia...about the hours spent at the coffee house, at the bus stop outside the Miranda, yes, yes, always outside the Miranda House," Bachchan said as audience erupted into a huge laughter.
Miranda House, a prominent women's college in the Capital, is situated near Kirori Mal College where Bachchan studied BSc (General) programme. Dedicating the honorary degree to Delhiites, Dikshit said she was humbled by the gesture of the University. "I am overwhelmed. I never dreamt of it. But I would also like to tell you that not many in my field of life achieve anything to deserve this kind of honour," she said.
