Awards, vanity and appreciation

It suddenly struck me that how it is that people who work the most an aim to resolve a problem, are the ones that expect appreciation, the least. Having grown up being in news all the time for winning this and winning that, I would often cringe at not having won those many awards in later years of student life. But somehow I was at peace though I could not figure out why. Until I made my LinkedIn profile.
While plugging in all the details of how I have spent a good part of my post 18 life, I realised there is so much I have done. The same I dint feel while making CV for my on-campus placement at college. Of course its the difference of Western and Indian approach. But I am here to point at the fact that awards are made for a certain sect of people who need them to feel good. I can think of so many people who need that reassurance. At this point I remember what Shobha De said at Farooq Sheikh's funeral - "...he wasn't vain and narcissistic enough to want attention...". When I heard that, I knew it would be stuck in my head for a long time.
But then don't we all agree that humans have that innermost desire to be praised and that all we do is dictated by that one need? What people most often need is instant recognition. Awards make you wait too long to be recognized and really its to soothe your vanity know? Does it make a difference to you that you slogged 100 nights to get that award or would you be happier if your colleagues told you at least 7 times in those 100 nights that how hardworking you were.
By focusing  on an award/reward system what we are doing is killing the culture of immediate appreciation. Really, how often do you tell your friend/partner/colleague something nice. First, do you even stay conscious enough to realise the nice things they have done and second, do you believe its too much effort to praise? You are not to blame, the reward system puts into a cycle where future is on our minds instead of the present and now.