It’s a case of sweet revenge for a former Air India flight purser, who was laughed at and insulted by his erstwhile colleagues for writing down his post-flight reports in Hindi instead of English.The man, Tejender Sharma, who left Mumbai to settle down in England more than a decade ago, was recently informed by the government of India that he will be felicitated for promoting Hindi by none other than President Pranab Mukherjee. Sharma, who is in his fifties, hasn’t forgotten his tormentors in his hour of glory. In a letter to his former colleagues, which went viral on social networking sites last month, Sharma informed that he will be conferred with the Moturi Satyanarayan Award by the President himself, at a function scheduled for August 27 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan’s Durbar Hall.Sharma worked for the national carrier in the 1990s and now resides in London, where he has several novels and short stories in Hindi published in his name.Sharma posted his letter to a few former colleagues, in which he said, “Dear Air Indians, you might remember a flight purser called Tej Sharma, who used to write his reports in Hindi. People tried their best to make him understand the logic of not writing his reports in the ‘vernacular’ (their word) language. But he persisted. The same flight purser, Tej Sharma, would be honoured for his contribution to Hindi language and literature as an immigrant.”He further wrote that he would fly down to India for the award ceremony on an Air India flight. “I always maintain that Air India runs in my veins. Whatever I am today is because of Air India, and I would be flying down to Delhi on an Air India 777,” he wrote.While Sharma refused to comment on his letter, his former colleagues remembered him as a “hard-working man who spoke in shuddh Hindi”. Former Air India executive director Jitendra Bhargava said he knew Sharma professionally. “He was a good worker and spoke in a very polished Hindi. He would be the emcee for the inhouse events,” Bhargava said, while a member of the All India Cabin Crew Association said Sharma’s “stubbornness” had paid off.“There was no rule that Hindi cannot be used in official reports but English was always the preferred form of communication. He stood out because he was the only one who wrote official reports in Hindi, and many of his colleagues were amused,” the cabin crew member said.Recipients of the Moturi Satyanarayan Award, named after the legendary Hindi language activist, are chosen by the Central Institute of Hindi, which reports to the HRD Ministry.“It’s an annual award,” said Professor Mohan, director, Central Institute of Hindi. “The award is to honour those who have played an extensive role in promoting the national language within India and beyond the borders,” he said.