2 litterateurs get Sahitya Bhasha Samman for Hariyanvi language

Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 6

For the first time perhaps, two litterateurs of Hariyanvi language have been selected for Sahitya Akademi Bhasha Samman 2018 by the Sahitya Akademi.

Harikrishna Dwivedi (74), a retired schoolteacher of Hindi from Pai village of Kaithal, and Dr Shamim Sharma (59), a resident of Hisar and working as principal in a college in Sirsa, have been jointly named for the Sahitya Akademi Bhasha Samman 2018 for Hariyanvi in the unrecognised languages category.

Born on August 14, 1944, Dwivedi is an eminent writer of Hariyanvi and retired as Hindi teacher in the Education Department, Haryana. He has published 10 books in Hariyanvi.

Dwivedi has been honoured with several awards and honours, some of them are Jankavi Mehar Singh Samman 2015, Shreshth Kriti Samman from Haryana Sahitya Akademi and Baburam Gupta Smriti Samman.

Dr Shamim Sharma was born on March 17, 1959, and is a well know writer in Hariyanvi. She has 33 years of teaching experience including 13 years as principal.

She has edited 10 volumes of Haryana Encyclopaedia sponsored by Haryana Government. Her published books include – ‘Kurushankh’, ‘Hastakshar’ (a collection of short stories), ‘Ajanmi Beti Ki Chitthi’, ‘Panchnad’ and ‘Jadubhara Saath’ (collection of poems). Besides these, she has penned seven publications under the common titles of Chaupal-based Hariyanvi humour.

She has been honoured for her pioneer work in social service with a gold medal by Mother Teresa and also with Sahitya Sevi Samman.

Elated at receiving the honour, Dwivedi said he never wrote for awards or honours, but for the public interest alone.

“However, it is always a matter of satisfaction and fulfilment when a person’s work is acknowledged and rewarded,” Dwivedi said.

Dr Shamim, who is a regular contributor for a humour column in Dainik Tribune for the past almost 19 years, it was a matter of great pride for her that she is among the first two litterateurs to receive Sahitya Awards for Hariyanvi language.

“When I started writing on Hariyanvi wit and humour, it was said that I am trying to dabble in men’s field. However, I continued and today it is a big reward for my work,” she said.

She said it was unfortunate that the youth today considered it below their status to speak in Hariyanavi and this, she said, hampered the development of the language.