New Delhi: Renowned Hindi author Govind Mishra was conferred the 'Saraswati Samman' for his novel ‘Dhool Paudhon Par', published in 2008, at a function in New Delhi.
Giving away the award, constituted by the KK Birla Foundation, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that it has been recognised as the highest literary award in India.
Referring to the earlier speech of Govind Mishra, Singh said that it was true that those who had not read the works of our litterateurs, they remain uneducated.
"The way science and technology can be found in different Indian languages, it can't be found in any other language in the world," he said while giving the example of Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty which many people thought was his original.
Singh said that Heisenberg's friend, an Australian scientist has written that when he was discussing the issue with Heisenberg and asked as to where did he get his theory's basic concept, he had replied that he had got it while discussing Vedant with Rabindra Nath Tagore, the Home Minister said.
Referring to the Booker award, Singh congratulated the Foundation for keeping the name of the award not on some person's name but on Goddess of knowledge - Saraswati who he said was the ‘goddess of creation'.
Giving the example of how Google too is acknowledging the importance of Hindi as a language, he referred to the new Android One which the company had launched recently.
"Today Google too is feeling the importance of Hindi. They have developed a new software Android One. Hindi and Indian languages have everything. All Indian languages are sisters to each other. We talk of making India a superpower. But India will not become a superpower till the development is not related to India's soil and culture. Why is India considered as Vishwa Guru. It is because we have spiritual power," he said.
Govind Mishra is the second Hindi author who was conferred this honour after it was given to Harivansh Rai Bachchan in 1991. Born on August 1, 1939, in Atarra (Banda, Uttar Pradesh), Mishra completed his BA and MA (English) at the University of Allahabad.
In 1962, he was selected for the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax), where he attained the position of chairman, central board of direct taxes. After his retirement in 1997, he has been devoting himself solely to literary pursuits in Bhopal.
Mishra's published works include 11 novels, 14 short story collections containing 100 stories, five travelogues, five collection of literary essays, one poem collection and 2 story books for children.
Mishra's first novel ‘Wo Apna Chehra' was published in 1969. His famous novel ‘Lal Peeli Zameen' published in 1976 was much talked about. He is also the recipient of various awards like 'Sahitya Akademi Award', 'Vyas Samman' and 'Bharat-Bharti Samman'.
The novel, 'Dhool Paudhon Par', is about the struggle of modern Indian women. It is an artistic blend of reality and romance and can be read both for the realistic portrayal of the plight of Indian women in our times and for a love story.
The award is given annually to an outstanding literary work of an Indian citizen published during the last ten years in any of the languages included in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution, Foundation president Shobhna Bhartia said.
The responsibility for selection is that of the 'Chayan Parishad' which is under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti and various scholars and writers. The KK Birla Foundation has instituted three awards in the field of literature. These are Saraswati Samman, Vyas Samman (for Hindi) and Bihari Puraskar (for Hindi and Rajasthani writers of Rajasthan).
