8 Indian writers get Tagore Literature Awards

New Delhi, Jan 27: Eight Indian writers have been conferred Tagore Literature Awards for the year 2009 here by Kim Yoon-ok, the First Lady of the Republic of Korea in the presence of Indian luminaries from the field of art, literature and culture.

Instituted by Samsung Electronics and Sahitya Akademi, the first Tagore Literature Awards 2009 awarded the best literary contributions in eight Indian languages - Bengali, Bodo, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Punjabi and Telugu.

The winners of the first Tagore Literature Awards 2009 were chosen across different genres of essays, poetry, biography/autobiography etc. for literary works between the year 2005-08 in eight Indian languages.

The winners for the First Tagore Literature Awards are: Alok Sarkar for 'Apapabhumi' (Bengali); Brajendra Kumar Brahma for 'Raithaihala' (Bodo); Bhagwandas Patel for 'Mari Lokyatra' (Gujarati); Ms. Rajee Seth for 'Ghame-Hayat Ne Mara' (Hindi); Naseem Shafai for 'Na Thsay Na Akas' (Kashmiri); Chandrasekhar Kambar for 'Shikara Soorya' (Kannada); Jaswant Singh Kanwal for 'Punya Daa Chanan' (Punjabi); Kovela Suprasannacharya for 'Antharangam' (Telugu).

Speaking on the occasion, J. S. Shin, President and CEO, Samsung South West Asia HQ, said, "Named after the legendary Rabindranath Tagore - as revered in Korea as he is in India - the Tagore Literature Awards are celebrating the power of literature to unify people across religions, regions and cultures."

Yoo In Chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Government of Korea; Jawhar Sircar, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India; Sunil Gangopadhyaya, President of the Sahitya Akademi, Sharmila Tagore, noted film personality; Pabitra Sarkar, well-known Tagore Scholar and Former Vice Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University were present at the awards ceremony.

Agrahara Krishna Murthy, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, said, "The initiative taken by the Korean Government and the Korean Embassy in Delhi towards instituting Tagore Literature Award for Indian languages is a fine gesture which leads to promotion of Indian literature as well as cultural and literary bonds between the two countries."

The Tagore Literature Awards will recognize the best of literary contributions in eight different Indian languages every year, with 24 Indian languages being covered by the end of the third year. The same cycle of eight languages being rewarded every year will continue thereafter.

The award presentation ceremony was followed by a recitation of Tagore's poetry by an Indian and a Korean child.
Noted Tagore scholar Pabitra Sarkar took the audience down the memory lane visiting Gurudev's works and his lifetime.

The afternoon had a fitting finale with the rendition of a collection of Rabindra Sangeet played on Sarod, by Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan.