Melvyn Rodrigues Receives Sahitya Akademi Award, K'taka Gets Lion's Share
Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Feb 21: Sunil Gangopadhyaya, president of Sahitya Akademi conferred the Sahitya Akademi award to Melvyn Rodrigues, for his collection of poems 'Prakriticho Paas' in Konkani language at a function held at Kamani Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi recently.
This is the first time in Sahitya Akademi's history that four writers from Karnataka got this award. They included, besides Melvyn Rodrigues, Kannada novelist Gopalakrishna Pai, Urdu Poet Khaleel Mamoon and English author Ramachandra Guha.
A house-full auditorium witnessed this award ceremony when 23 literary luminaries received the award from the president, which included a shawl, flowers, memento and a cheque of Rs 1 lac.
While vice-president of the Akademi Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari garlanded the awardees, the president handed over the awards.
English author Ramachandra Guha could not attend the function and his representative received the award on his behalf. Similarly wife of Assamese poet the late Kabin Phukan received the award in his name.
Secretary of the Akademi Agrahara Krishna Murthy welcomed the gathering.
Namwar Singh, eminent Hindi critic was the chief guest. He requested the politicians not to politicise literary events, making a special reference to Jaipur Literary festival which was held recently. He warned the goverment not to take over the Sahitya Akademi by appointing its own representatives to govern it. "If it does so, Sahitya Akademi will lose all its importance," he said referring to the fate of other similar akademies.
Sumathy Sivanmohan, Sahitya Akademi Premchand Fellow, from Srilanka was the guest of honour.
On the next day, all the award winning authors spoke about their work and creative experience. The programme was held at the Sahitya Akademi auditorium. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, vice president of Sahitya Akademi presided the programme.
"There are those that search for happiness in intoxication. There are also those that pray to God for happiness. And then, there are a few who seek the warmth of happiness by burning wads of money. Some may even sleep on heaps of corpses hoping to dream a happy dream. I, for one, have stopped praying to God, the day I realized that my joy is in poetry, and have broken many a cup of intoxication, ever since. For, I see God dancing, wearing anklets, in every line of a poem and, many a times, I wallow, pleasurably, in the intoxication of words" said Melvyn in his speech.
"I have realized that poetry has this immense mystical power. Some might think that this is madness. But when such madness attracts awards, one feels the urge to live life, forever wrapped in such madness. It excites me, no end, to note that there are individuals and institutions who consider this madness, a virtue." he said in his speech which was in English and recited one of his Konkani poems with its English translation.
Karnataka Sangha, New Delhi felicitated Gopalakrishna Pai, Melvyn Rodrigues and Khaleel Mamoon on the next evening, wherein the authors shared their experiences with the members of the Sangha.