Kolkata, January 13, 2024

 

Sahitya Akademi organised a presentation ceremony of its YuvaPuraskar at Rabindra Sadan Auditorium, on Friday (January 12, 2024). The Awards were presented to 22 Award winners by Sri Madhav Kushik, President of the Sahitya Akademi. The awards were accompanied by an engraved copper plaque and a cheque of Rs 50,000. Before the presentation of the awards, citations were read out by Dr K. Srinivasarao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi.

 

The award winners were felicitated with a bouquet by Professor Kumud Sharma, Vice President. Sahitya Akademi. The award winners were Jintu Thakuria (Assamese), Hamiruddin Middya (Bengali), Mainaosri Daimary (Bodo), Dheeraj Kumar Raina (Dogri), Anirudh Kanisetti (English), Atul Kumar Rai (Hindi), Manjunayak Chelluru (Kannada), Nighat Nasreen (Kashmiri), Tanvi Shridhar Kamat Bambolkar (Konkani), Sanskriti Mishra (Maithili), Ganesh Puthur (Malayalam), Thingnam Parshuram (Manipuri), Vishakha Vishwanath (Marathi), Nayan Kala Devi (Nepali), Dileswar Rana (Odia), Sandeep Sharma (Punjabi), Devi Lal Mahiya (Rajasthani), Madhusoodan Mishra (Sanskrit), Bapi Tudu (Santali), Monika Panjwani (Sindhi), Ram Thangam (Tamil), Takkedasila Johny (Telugu) and Tauseef Khan (Urdu).

Among them Dheeraj Kumar Raina was not present in the award presentation ceremony. 

In the beginning, in his welcome address, Dr K. Sreenivasarao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, recalled the enthusiastic words of Swami Vivekananda as he was one of the greatest flag-bearers of youth. He referred to the luminaries who had gained excellence across different streams of knowledge in their youth. It is the duty of the society to provide the young minds with necessary reading materials necessary for proper grooming. The promotion of young writers is needed for the upliftment of society. He also informed the audience of major projects of Sahitya Akademi like Yuva Sahiti, Navodaya Prakalpa and travel grant which are specifically designed to the give the young writers a wider platform.

 

In his presidential address, Sri Madhav Kaushik, President, Sahitya Akademi, pointed out that young writers are the future of Indian literature. While drawing attention to the view of 22 writers of different Indian languages gracing the occasion and sitting on the same platform, he said that it seems that the entire Indian literature is sitting on the dais. As romance and rebellion forms the crux of youth they can challenge and redefine the tradition. As they are aware of the changing scenario of Indian literature and culture they can bring in the highest level of excellence by mixing tradition with modernity. 

 

The Chief Guest of the ceremony, eminent Bengali poet Dr Subodh Sarkar, expressed his happiness for being present in this great occasion of giving recognition to the budding writers. Referring to some of the eminent writers of the world, he said that every young writer tends to be skeptical about the validity and success of his/her writings. Expressing his regret over the attack on writers all over the world, he expressed his hope that the rebellious spirit of the young writers can give birth to new possibilities. 

 In her concluding remarks, Prof. Kumud Sharma, Vice President of Sahitya Akademi, focussed on the importance of proper guidance for the young minds. The young authors must apply their enthusiasm in proper channels, she opined. In this context, she pointed out the fact that in this age of social media, writers are getting an extended platform without much hurdle to get themselves recognized. But she also cautioned the young writers saying that they should take time for mature writing. The event saw the presence of a large number of writers, scholars and literature-lovers.  

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SSS/13.1.24/….

(Release ID: 1995928)