Who have got Hidhi GYANPEETH AWARDS?

Answer 1

39th Jnanpith award conferred on writer Vinda Karandikar
Source
Online edition Hindu
Friday, Aug 11, 2006

NEW DELHI: It was an evening where the lines of creativity between science and literature got blurred.

Conferring the 39th Jnanpith Award for 2003 on noted Marathi writer Vinda Karandikar at a glittering ceremony here on Thursday, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam described him as an essayist, critic and translator who has made a notable contribution to Marathi poetry and literature.

"His life is an example of extraordinary achievement realised through ceaseless search for aesthetic perfection."

"Philosophy of life"

Mr. Kalam said that after hearing Mr. Karandikar read out his poem in Marathi, he felt he should learn the language. "I was reminded of my childhood and my professor who taught mathematics. He was a professor, poet and philosopher. Only 50 students were to attend his class, but there were always 200 people because he taught the philosophy of life," he said.

Stating that even at an early age Mr. Karandikar had decided to fight strong sectarian prejudices and superstitions, Dr. Kalam said his effort towards the process of liberation was to synthesise the West and the East, the past and the present and the materialistic and the spiritual worlds.

"To achieve this, he has passed through several twists and turns in his journey after his formal education. I understand that he was inspired by personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Bertrand Russell, Freud and Einstein. His poems generally reflect a high level of practical thoughts," he said.

Born in 1918 at Dhalwal in Maharashtra, Mr. Karandikar is said to have reinvented himself in each new collection of his poems. His first publication, "Swedganga," put him on the map of the Marathi literary world, with poetry that is imbued with variety and depth. Mr. Karandikar is also known for his inimitable style in love poems and poems for children.

Belief in science

Reading out his speech in English, a frail Mr. Karandikar said: "I believe that poetry should aspire to be co-extensive with life; it should try to cope with the variety and complexity inherent in the human situation."

Emphasising his belief in science, not in religion, Mr. Karandikar said knowledge was not power, but the true liberator of mankind.

"But by knowledge I mean not only the knowledge of the world without man, but also the knowledge of the world within man and of society which he has brought into being; so Freud or Marx, Lincoln or Gandhi is as much of a liberator of man as Darwin or Einstein."