Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Noted writer Gyan Chaturvedi to be awarded Vyas Samman
HE WAS GIVEN THE AWARD ON THE BASIS OF HIS WORKS PUBLISHED DURING 2012-2021
NEW DELHI: Noted Hindi writer Dr Gyan Chaturvedi’s 2018 satirical novel, Pagalkhana, has been selected for the 32nd Vyas Samman, 2002.
Instituted by the KK Birla Foundation in 1991, the annual Vyas Samman is given to an outstanding Hindi literary work by an Indian citizen published during the last 10 years. It carries award money of ₹4 lakh.
After considering the works published during 2012-2021, a selection committee headed by eminent litterateur Prof Ramji Tiwari picked Dr Chaturvedi’s Pagalkhana (mental asylum) for the 2022 award.
The novel, written in 2018, builds a poignant narrative about common, innocent people in a heart-touching manner. In this novel, Dr Chaturvedi narrates the story of a booming market’s dare, a society prostrating before it, and a few rare people who muster the courage to challenge it, said a press release by the KK Birla Foundation on Thursday. Having started his writing career in the 1970s, Dr Chaturvedi received India’s fourth highest civilian award,
Padma Shri, in 2015. He has also won the Madhya Pradesh government’s Sharad Joshi Samman for outstanding achievement in the field of satire and essay, besides the Delhi Academy Award and the Indu Sharma International Katha Samman.
Born in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi on August 2, 1952, Dr Chaturvedi is a renowned cardiovascular disease expert. He recently retired as the head of a BHEL hospital in Madhya Pradesh after working for over three decades. The 71-year-old has published several satirical writings. His first novel, Narak-Yatra (trip to hell), based on the education system of India’s medical science, was an instant hit among Hindi readers.
Besides the Vyas Samman, the KK Birla Foundation also gives out the Saraswati Samman and the Bihari Puraskar. Saraswati Samman, which carries an amount of ₹15 lakh, is given to an outstanding literary work of an Indian citizen in any of the languages included in Schedule VIII. Bihari Puraskar with an award of ₹2.5 lakh, is given to Hindi/Rajasthani writers from Rajasthan.