Noted poet, social worker and novelist Anamilka (she goes by one name) on Friday won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2020 for her collection of poems ‘Tokri Mein Digant--Theri Gatha: 2014’.
It was just a coincidence that she visited University of Lucknow (LU), her alma mater, on Friday and the award was announced within a few hours. An autonomous body under the union ministry of culture announced the Sahitya Akademi Award 2020 in New Delhi.
After attending an event at LU, the poet was having lunch somewhere when she got a call from an unknown number. “It was from an unknown number so I did not feel like taking the call. I was in right kind of company at that time. Then I picked up the phone and the caller from other side broke the news that my name had figured in the Sahitya Akademi Award 2020 list,” said Anamika who did her PG in English Literature from LU in 1985.
“I couldn’t believe it. Then I wondered for which book this award was being given as I had never applied for the award. It did not take much time to figure it out that the award was for my book ‘Tokri Meim Digant--Theri Gatha: 2014’. It was a pleasant surprise that I was on a visit to my alma mater and the award came my way the same day,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}“I couldn’t believe it. Then I wondered for which book this award was being given as I had never applied for the award. It did not take much time to figure it out that the award was for my book ‘Tokri Meim Digant--Theri Gatha: 2014’. It was a pleasant surprise that I was on a visit to my alma mater and the award came my way the same day,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}Talking about the award-winning book, Anamika said, “I wrote the book good five years ago. The book is an imaginary conversion between Gautam Buddha with women on streets. It is like a time travel. As I had never applied for the Sahitya Akademi Award, I was not expecting anything like this to come my way.”
“I was later told by a few people that the jury got feedback from university professors and experts. Self-recommendation doesn’t carry much weight,” she said.
Her father’s Shyam Nandan Kishore, a prominent Hindi poet, was her first teacher. Talking about Lucknow, she said the state capital had people of all cultures and its inclusiveness made the city more liveable place.
Her husband Dr Bindu Amitabh is a nephrologist. She has two sons Utkarsh and Unnayan. Ranu Uniyal, professor and head of department of English and Modern European Languages at LU, said it was a proud moment for the department.