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Ex-LU prof, two Sangam city poets bag Sahitya Akademi Award
Retired Lucknow University professor Anis Ashfaq has bagged the coveted award for his Urdu novel, ‘Khwab Saraab’ and Prayagraj llittérateurs Badri Narayan and Prof Janardan Prasad Pandey ‘Mani’ for their poetic works.
LUCKNOW/PRAYAGRAJ: Retired Lucknow University professor Anis Ashfaq has bagged the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award 2022 for his Urdu novel, ‘Khwab Saraab’. Published in 2017, this novel is about Lucknow’s rich cultural and historical past and how things have decayed over a period of time. This novel was an extension of Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s novel, Umrao Jaan, said the professor.
“I am extremely pleased to get this coveted award. The award is a recognition of one’s writing skills and creative imagination,” said Prof Ashfaq who has already penned 25 books and more than 300 articles on different literary topics. ‘Khwab Saraab’ has been translated into English by Arif Ansari with the title ‘Dream and Mirage’ and is available on Amazon.
Two noted litterateurs of Prayagraj have also bagged the coveted award for their works in Hindi and Sanskrit.
Director of Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute and a noted Hindi litterateur and poet Prof Badri Narayan has been given the top award for his collection of poems ‘Tumdi Ke Shabd’.
Likewise, head of Sahitya department of Central Sanskrit University’s Ganga Nath Jha campus, Prof Janardan Prasad Pandey ‘Mani’ has been given the Sahitya Akademi Award for his poetic work ‘Deep Manikkayam’.
Badri Narayan is an eminent Hindi poet. Some of his famous collections of poems include “Khudai Mein Himsa”, “Shabpadiyam” and “Sach Sune Kai Din”. He has been honoured with Bharat Bhushan Samman, Banarasi Prasad Bhojpuri Samman, Kedar Samman, Spandan Kirti Award, Rashtrakavi Dinkar Award, Shamsher Samman and Meera Smriti Samman. His poems have been translated into English, Bengali, Oriya, Malayalam, Urdu and many other Indian languages.
Badri Narayan expressed happiness on getting the award and hoped that his work had added to the rich literary tradition of Prayagraj. He said, “My poems depict the life struggle of a modest man. The essence of the poems is not ethical but philosophical.”
Prof Janardan Prasad Pandey ‘Mani’ said, “I am greatly humbled by the award.”
Hailing from Jaunpur district, Prof Pandey has been awarded by the President of India and also has over two dozen other awards like Kalidas Award and Panditraj Jagannath Award under his belt.
