1. C. Ashapoorna Devi
(The
Jnanpith Award consists of a citation plaque with
a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge and wisdom along
with cash prize of ₹11
lakh)
Ashapoorna Devi (8 January 1909 – 13 July 1995) was a prominent
Bengali novelist and poet who was honoured with a number of prizes and awards. In
1976, she was awarded Jnanpith Award (the first woman to receive the award) and
the Padma Shri by the Government of India. For her contribution as a novelist
and short story writer, the Sahitya Akademi conferred her with its highest
honour, the "Sahitya Akademi Fellowship", in 1994.
[The
trilogy "Pratham Pratishruti" (1964), "Subarnolata" (1967)
and "Bakul Katha" (1974)]
Most of Ashapoorna Devi's writings marked a spirited protest both for men
and women, against the inequality and injustice stemming from the gender-based discrimination
and narrowness of outlook ingrained in traditional Hindu society. Ashapoorna
Devi's stories lay threadbare the oppression women have to face and made a
fervent appeal for a new social order, though not subscribing to the modern
theoretical feminism of western mode. Her magnum opus, the trilogy "Pratham
Pratishruti" (1964), "Subarnolata" (1967) and "Bakul Katha"
(1974), symbolises an endless struggle for women to achieve equal rights.
2. B. Kalhana
("Kings
of Kashmira" - The 1879 English translation of "Rajatarangini" by
Jogesh Chandra Dutt)
The author of the "Rajatarangini" ("The River
of Kings") Kalhana, a Kashmiri, chronicles the rulers of the Kashmir valley
from earliest times, from the epic period of the Mahabharata to the reign of
Sangrama Deva (c.1006 CE), before the Muslim era. The list of kings goes back
to the 19th century BCE. Some of the kings and dynasties can be identified with
inscriptions and the histories of the empires that periodically included the
Kashmir valley, but for long periods the Rajatarangini is the only source. The
work consists of 7826 verses, which are divided into eight books called "Tarangas"
(waves). Kalhaṇa’s
account of Kashmir begins with the legendary reign of Gonarda, who was contemporary
to Yudhisthira of the Mahabharata, but the recorded history of Kashmir, as
retold by Kalhana begins from the period of the Mauryas. Kalhaṇa’s account also states that the
city of Srinagar was founded by the Mauryan emperor, Ashoka, and that Buddhism
reached the Kashmir valley during this period. From there, Buddhism spread to
several other adjoining regions including Central Asia, Tibet and China.
3. B. Kiran Desai
"Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard" a novel by Kiran
Desai published in 1998 was the debut novel of the author. The book won the Betty
Trask Award (awarded for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 in
Commonwealth Nations) in 1998. The novel set in the Indian village of Shahkot (Punjab)
and follows the exploits of a young man, Sampath Chawla, trying to avoid the
responsibilities of adult life. Fed up with his life in Shahkot, Sampath goes
to a guava orchard and settles himself in a guava tree, where he uses the
gossip he learned while working at the post office to convince people he is
clairvoyant and soon becomes a popular "holy man". Kiran Desai based
this book on a real-life story in which a man, Kapila Pradhan, lived up a tree
for 15 years.
Desai's second novel "The Inheritance of Loss"
(2006) was widely praised and it won the 2006 Man Booker Prize.
4. A. Vijay Tendulkar
Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar (6 January 1928 – 19 May 2008) was
a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist,
political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marathi. He is best
known for his plays "Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe" ("Silence! The
Court Is in Session") (1967), "Ghashiram Kotwal" (1972), and "Sakharam
Binder" (1972). Many of Tendulkar's plays derived inspiration from
real-life incidents or social upheavals, which provides clear light on harsh
realities. Tendulkar had been a highly influential dramatist and theatre
personality in Maharashtra for over five decades.
Tendulkar's "Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe" is regarded
as a key milestone in the history of Indian Theatre and has been translated
into 16 languages in India and abroad. The BBC showed its English version, filmed
by Satyadev Dubey. Actor-director, Om Shivpuri, directed the Hindi translation
of the play as "Khamosh! Adaalat Jaari Hai".
"Ghashiram Kotwal" based on the life of Nana
Phadnavis (1741–1800), one of the prominent ministers in the court of the
Peshwa of Pune and Ghashiram Kotwal, the police chief of the city, is another
remarkable play by Tendulkar. Its theme is how men in power give rise to
ideologies to serve their purposes, and later destroy them when they become
useless. Legendary Marathi theatre and film director Jabbar
Patel's production of the play in 1973 is considered a classic in Modern Indian
Theatre.
(A poster
of "Samna", the 1974 Marathi crime drama directed by Jabbar Patel -
his debut film as Director, starring Mohan Agashe, Dr. Shreeram Lagoo, Smita
Patil, nominated for the "Golden Bear Award" at the 25th Berlin
International Film Festival)
Tendulkar also wrote screenplays for Bollywood movies "Nishant"
(1974), "Aakrosh" (1980), and "Ardh Satya" (1984) which
established him as an important "Chronicler of Violence". He also
wrote screenplays for groundbreaking Marathi movies which include "Samna"
("Confrontation") (1975), "Simhaasan" ("Throne")
(1979), and "Umbartha" ("The Threshold") (1981).
5. C. Firaq Gorakhpuri
Raghupati Sahay (28 August 1896 – 3 March
1982), better known under his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri, was a writer, critic
and one commentator, one of the most noted Urdu poets of India. Sahay,
after completing his Master's degree in Urdu, Persian and English literature,
was selected for the "Indian Civil Service" (British India) (I.C.S.),
but he resigned to follow Mahatma Gandhi's "Non-cooperation
Movement", for which he went to jail for 18 months. Later, he joined
Allahabad University as a lecturer in English literature where he wrote most of
his Urdu poetry, including his magnum opus "Gul-e-Naghma" which
earned him the Jnanpith Award, and also the 1960 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu.
Gorakhpuri was well-versed in all traditional metrical forms
such as "ghazal", "nazm" (Urdu poetry, that is normally
written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose style poems), "rubaai"
(a poem or a verse of a poem consisting of four lines) and wrote volumes of
Urdu poetry and prose, several volumes on literary themes in Hindi as well as English
prose on literary and cultural subjects.
Firaq Gorakhpuri was awarded "Padma Bhushan", the
third highest Civilian Award of India in 1968.
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