Latest news with #Jnanpith
News18
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Prominent writer Sarah Joseph conferred with Mathrubhumi Literary Award
Kozhikode (Kerala), Jun 8 (PTI) Prominent writer Sarah Joseph has been conferred with the 2024 Mathrubhumi Literary Award, which was presented to her by Jnanpith awardee and eminent writer Pratibha Ray at an event held here. The award included a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh, a citation, and a sculpture by M V Devan. At the award ceremony, Ray congratulated Kozhikode for winning the status of 'literary city of India'. She also said that writers, intellectuals and social workers are part of Malayalam culture and the voices that rise from here have great importance. 'Sarah Joseph is not just a name in Malayalam literature, she is a powerful voice. She raised her voice for the silenced. Her commitment to speaking the truth is evident in her stories, novels and articles. I express my sincere gratitude to Mathrubhumi for delegating me to present the Mathrubhumi Literary Award to Sarah Joseph," Ray said. Mathrubhumi MD M V Shreyams Kumar, who presided over the event, said, 'Sarah Joseph is someone who expresses her opinions without any fear at a time when freedom of expression and freedom of press are being suppressed." E Santosh Kumar, a member of the jury that selected Sarah Joseph for the award, termed her 'one of Kerala's most culturally valuable people". 'Sarah, who started writing at the age of 52, quickly captured the aesthetics of literature. She integrated two different dimensions of literature and activism throughout her life, and has more great works in the offing," he said. Novelist R Rajasree said, 'Sarah Joseph's writing is like a revolution against certain common perceptions. The way she infuses women, love, body, life, motherhood, and affection in her writings has been the subject of many studies." Sarah Joseph was selected unanimously for the award by a distinguished jury chaired by noted writer N S Madhavan, with Santhosh Kumar and M Leelavathi as its members. The committee recognised her literary contributions as a 'revolution of love" woven through cultural history with words. The writer has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and the Sahitya Akademi Award (2003) for her novel 'Aalahayude Penmakkal'. PTI HMP ARI First Published: June 09, 2025, 00:00 IST
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Prominent writer Sarah Joseph conferred with Mathrubhumi Literary Award
Kozhikode , Prominent writer Sarah Joseph has been conferred with the 2024 Mathrubhumi Literary Award, which was presented to her by Jnanpith awardee and eminent writer Pratibha Ray at an event held here. The award included a cash prize of ₹3 lakh, a citation, and a sculpture by M V Devan. At the award ceremony, Ray congratulated Kozhikode for winning the status of 'literary city of India'. She also said that writers, intellectuals and social workers are part of Malayalam culture and the voices that rise from here have great importance. "Sarah Joseph is not just a name in Malayalam literature, she is a powerful voice. She raised her voice for the silenced. Her commitment to speaking the truth is evident in her stories, novels and articles. I express my sincere gratitude to Mathrubhumi for delegating me to present the Mathrubhumi Literary Award to Sarah Joseph," Ray said. Mathrubhumi MD M V Shreyams Kumar, who presided over the event, said, "Sarah Joseph is someone who expresses her opinions without any fear at a time when freedom of expression and freedom of press are being suppressed." E Santosh Kumar, a member of the jury that selected Sarah Joseph for the award, termed her "one of Kerala's most culturally valuable people". "Sarah, who started writing at the age of 52, quickly captured the aesthetics of literature. She integrated two different dimensions of literature and activism throughout her life, and has more great works in the offing,' he said. Novelist R Rajasree said, "Sarah Joseph's writing is like a revolution against certain common perceptions. The way she infuses women, love, body, life, motherhood, and affection in her writings has been the subject of many studies.' Sarah Joseph was selected unanimously for the award by a distinguished jury chaired by noted writer N S Madhavan, with Santhosh Kumar and M Leelavathi as its members. The committee recognised her literary contributions as a 'revolution of love' woven through cultural history with words. The writer has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and the Sahitya Akademi Award for her novel 'Aalahayude Penmakkal'.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
No language as tolerant as Kannada: Banu Mushtaq
International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq said on Monday that people have misunderstood Kannada and Kannadigas. Speaking at a felicitation organised by the Karnataka government at the Vidhana Soudha on Monday, she said she was often asked by national media outlets as to why there is 'intolerance' towards other languages in Karnataka. 'And I tell them... Your understanding of Kannada is incorrect. There's no language as tolerant as Kannada. It is a language that has given a platform to many others,' she said. The writer also said that Kannada holds the rare distinction of winning eight Jnanpith awards and one Booker Prize. ₹10 lakh reward At the function, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a cash reward of ₹ 10 lakh each for Ms. Mushtaq and the translator of her work Heart Lamp, Deepa Bhasthi. He also declared that the government would support translation of her further works from Kannada into other languages. He observed that Ms. Mushtaq had the courage to write against superstition and as the voice of Muslim women. Mr. Siddaramaiah said that literature has the power to build bridges in society and writers should strive to unite people rather than create divisions, he added. Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar described Ms. Mushtaq and Ms. Bhasthi as the global ambassadors of Kannada who lit the 'Kannada lamp' at world stage by winning the Booker Prize. (With PTI inputs)
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
The world of Banu Mushtaq, Kannadiga life in the margins
It is indeed a high moment for Kannada and Karnataka: Kannada literature finds itself on the global literary map, thanks to the labour of two women. Banu Mushtaq, a senior Kannada writer, has been awarded the 2025 International Booker Prize for Heart Lamp (Hridaya Deepa), her anthology of 12 short stories, translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi. Women's writing in Kannada has not received the recognition it deserves. Even most of the notable awards at the national level, the Jnanpith for instance, have been conferred on men. In this context, the Booker is indeed a historic moment for women's writing in Kannada which can boast of great talent from Triveni and MK Indira of yesteryears to Pratibha Nandakumar, Vaidehi, and Du Saraswathi, actively writing today. And there is more, where it comes from. Much more! Banu Mushtaq hails from Hassan, the south-western town in the plains of Karnataka, while Deepa lives in Madikeri, a town in the Western Ghat ranges. The ordinary lives of common people in her small town constitute Banu's fictional universe. The award, thus, signals the triumph of the small town. A practising advocate, and social activist, Banu is the author of six short story collections, a novel, an essay collection and a poetry collection. Several important honours, including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy award and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe award have come seeking her. Her short story Black Cobras, which depicts the plight of Hasina, an abandoned wife, was made into an award-winning film by Girish Kasaravalli, the eminent film director, in 2004. Hasina and Other Stories, another collection of her short stories, also translated by Deepa Bhasthi, had won the English PEN translation award in 2024. Banu began her career during the Bandaya or the protest movement of the heady 1970s and '80s. The movement culminated in the awakening of a new social consciousness, which led to the effervescence of new writing in Kannada. The unheard voices of marginalised groups were heard for the first time, heralding a non-Brahmin era in Kannada literary culture. Sara Aboobacker, Fakir Mohammad Katpadi, Boluvar Kunhi, and Banu Mushtaq started chronicling the stories of their community for the first time. Standing on the firm ground of lived experience and observed life, Banu deployed writing as a powerful tool of social dissent. To put it in her own words: 'My stories are about women — how religion, society, and politics demand unquestioning obedience from them, and in doing so, inflict inhumane cruelty upon them, turning them into mere subordinates. The daily incidents reported in the media and the personal experiences I have endured have been my inspiration. The pain, suffering, and helpless lives of these women create a deep emotional response within me. I do not engage in extensive research; my heart itself is my field of study.' The first story in Heart Lamp, Stone Slab for Shaista Mahal to the last one in the collection, Be A Woman Once, Oh Lord! bear testimony to the fact that her writing is a searing indictment of our social system. Banu's commitment to progressive politics can be traced back to the Bandaya movement, which proclaimed, 'May poetry be a sword, a soulmate who feels for the pain of the people.' It couldn't have been easy for Banu as a Muslim speaking Dakhani Urdu, and as a woman writer writing in Kannada, to critique the patriarchal practices of an already beleaguered community. Banu candidly describes her predicament as a Muslim woman writer writing in a second language for a majoritarian reading community. She writes in the preface to her first collection (1990), 'I gradually became aware that even when I am writing in Kannada, I can only write about the Muslim world, its people, their joys and sorrows, their interests and angularities. Almost immediately, I also realised that the Muslim community will surely resist such revealing narratives. Even as I was coming to terms with this resistance from inside the community, I could equally clearly see how the larger community outside was as resistant to any critique coming from me.' It is remarkable that Banu has successfully negotiated this tightrope walk by simultaneously being a critical insider in the Muslim community, and a friendly outsider in the larger, not-so-friendly majority community. Her stories help us connect with the Muslim community in a small town like Hassan, which is invariably othered, reminding us of our common humanity. Deepa Bhashti's curation of stories showcases Banu's writing at its best. Deepa's translation has ably captured the rhythms and movements of Banu's lifeworld to lend a powerful voice to her various characters in English. Her interesting afterword provides a detailed account of the rationale behind her translation practice which has retained several Kannada and Urdu words while eschewing footnotes and italics altogether. Today, as new literates from the village, the small town, the city, and the metropolis have greater access to knowledge and technology, tremendous difference and diversity marks Kannada writing, bringing in lives and experiences that had not entered the hallowed space of the 'literary'. The Booker for Banu's stories has the potential to open the door to the diverse lifeworlds of the Kannada people through translation. Translations have always built bridges across communities. Which communities do the English translations of our regional literatures connect? Surely, Deepa's translation has brought home the Muslim world of Hassan to an international readership. Max Porter, chair of the International Booker Prize 2025, said: 'Heart Lamp is something genuinely new for English readers. A radical translation which ruffles language, to create new textures in a plurality of Englishes. It challenges and expands our understanding of translation.' But, as important, or perhaps more, is the bridge that it can build across the many linguistic worlds within India through our common, if alien, inheritance of English. Kannada literature can, as if by a sleight of hand, become Indian literature through English translations. There is yet another, perhaps the most important constituency that can be served through English translations. Increasingly, the educated class, which is the likely consumer of books, is growing monolingual in its orientation. While this class is comfortable using the local language or English for functional purposes, it largely reads in just one language: either Kannada or English, in the case of Karnataka. That the sales figures for English translations of regional texts are the highest in that very region bears out this claim. The English translations of regional literary texts can connect the more educated populace with the people around them. We are well-served by such translation activism. Most of the English translators of Kannada literature today are engaged in developing a pared down style and forging an informal and intimate English to express the varied voices, rhythms and styles of the emergent Kannada sensibilities of a new generation in a new age, helping the 'bullock carts to reach the global stage'! (Banu's words). International recognition — be it the 2018 DSC award for Tejaswini Niranjana's translations of Jayant Kaikini's stories or now the Booker for Deepa in 2025 — is bound to encourage translators and publishers to boldly experiment with 'a plurality of Englishes', explore new and creative ways of translating to bring alive novel life-worlds unknown to the mainstream culture, making for greater empathy for the worlds in the margins. Translation can, thus, be a potent bridge which can connect our polarised worlds. Vanamala Viswanatha is currently visiting professor, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. She has translated the works of major Kannada writers including U R Ananthamurthy, P Lankesh, Poornachandra Tejaswi, Vaidehi, and Sara Aboobakkar into English. Her latest work is a translation of Kuvempu's celebrated novel, Malegalalli Madumagalu (Bride in the Hills). The views expressed are personal
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
I must admit, I always had my eye on the Jnanpith: Gulzar
MUMBAI: Renowned writer Gulzar was honoured with the 58th Jnanpith award for the year 2023 for his 'outstanding contribution to Indian literature and the world of Urdu writing' at a warm, informal ceremony at his Pali hill residence on Thursday. In his brief acceptance speech delivered in impeccable Urdu, Gulzar, dressed in spotless kurta-pyjama with a stole wrapped around his shoulders, advocated the need to strike a greater rapport with Indian languages which, he pointed out, sparkle with myriad moods and metaphors and cater to a larger readership across geographies and cultures. 'You can't dismiss Marathi, Tamil, Bangla or Gujarati as regional languages,' he said. 'They boast a rich tapestry of experiences and expressions. These tongues remind those writing in big-ticket languages that they have better writers under their wings.' Likening writing to a game of hopscotch, Gulzar said, 'Today, a poet or a writer will have to draw more marked-out squares on India's soil as we face graver social issues: a decline in secularism, human values, the environment and gender justice.' Lauding the Jnanpith award for taking in its sweep all Indian languages and their varied literary forms and styles, Gulzar said, 'The Jnanpith is like the final 'thappi' (pat) on a writer's back.' He added, tongue firmly in cheek, 'I must admit that I had my eye on the Jnanpith. The award is like a lighthouse amidst a stormy ocean.' Acknowledging Gulzar as 'the voice of our times', the Jnanpith citation praised him for blending the plebeian and the classical in his vast literary oeuvre. In his use of the language, Gulzar has amply demonstrated how contemporary Urdu is willing to adapt and modify to the exigencies of the age we live in, the citation added. The award carried a silk shawl, citation, traditional 'shreefal' (coconut) and a bronze replica of Vagdevi Saraswati, the Goddess of learning, knowledge, self-control and introspection. Accepting a cheque of ₹11 lakh from Mudit Jain, one of the trustees of the Bharatiya Jnanpith, Gulzar remarked wryly: 'Anyone envious of the award amount is allowed to take a look at the cheque only once', even as a serene Buddha, frozen in marble, kept a kind vigil over the gathering. When a friend asked after his health, Gulzar, 90, quipped, 'Jee, thoda nasal irritation hai, but I feel romantic when I sneeze.' The Jnanpith team came to Mumbai as Gulzar missed the official function, held at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi last week with President Draupadi Murmu in the chair, as he was unwell. In her speech, President Murmu praised Gulzar's contribution to literature and prayed for his speedy recovery. She felicitated Jagadguru Swami Rambhadracharyaji, renowned Sanskrit scholar and the second recipient of the award. Gulzar's close friends attended the exclusive do at 'Boskyana': noted music director Vishal Bharadwaj and his wife, well known vocalist Rekha, Ashok Bindal, Pawan Jha, Ajay Jain, senior journalist Vishwanath Sachdev, publisher Arun Shevte, photographer Pradeep Chandra and his son-in-law Govind Sandhu, an entrepreneur and music buff. Meghna, Gulzar's film-maker daughter, was away location-hunting for her next film, said Sandhu. Talking to HT, Sachdev recalled Gulzar's 'powerful and soul-stirring imagery and his perceptive understanding of human emotions.' 'Shorn of well-worn cliches such as 'husn-ishq', 'shama-parwana' and the hapless 'bulbul' held captive by a ruthless 'sayyaad' (huntsman), Gulzar-ji's poetry displays ample resilience and creative force to tackle contemporary themes,' he said. 'Moreover, Gulzar-ji gladly dips into Bhojpuri, Brij, Haryanvi, Bagheli, Maithili and Punjabi, North India's rustic dialects, to deepen the literary content of his poetry.' Pointing out that the young generation was 'kind of hooked' onto Gulzar's poetry, Divyesh Bindal said, 'He is there on Facebook and YouTube. What I like about him is that he can pack one or two lines with great meaning. It's mind-blowing.' The 18-year-old Gulzar admirer, who is preparing to go to the US for further studies, had come along with his grandfather to congratulate his favourite poet. Cinema experts say that Gulzar's oeuvre is incredible: film scripts, plays, essays, travelogues, short stories, monologues and anecdotes—and, of course, the lilting film lyrics that mirror India's changing moods over five decades from 'Mora gora ang laiee le' ('Bandini', 1963) to 'Bidi jalayeele' ('Omkara', 2006). Gulzar's poems such as 'Kitaabein jhaankti hai band almariyon ke sheeshe se', 'Saans lena bhi kaisi aadat hai' and 'Aadmi bulbula hai paani kaa' have acquired the status of proverbs in the public consciousness, said Jha. Gulzar is currently gearing up to finish his book 'Aamchee Mumbai' on the city that gave him shelter and hope in circa 1960.
