Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar

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Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (born 1983) is an Indian writer from Santhal tribe in Jharkhand, best known for his literary works that explore the lives, experiences, and struggles of indigenous communities in India, particularly focusing on tribal cultures. [1] His debut novel, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey (2014), received widespread critical acclaim for its portrayal of tribal life and social issues. Shekhar's work contributes to the broader discourse on the representation of indigenous voices in Indian literature. [2]

Contents

Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar
Born1983
Jharkhand, India
OccupationWriter
LanguageHindi, English
NationalityIndian
GenreFiction, Literary Fiction, Tribal Literature
Notable works•The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey
•The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories
•My Father’s Garden
Notable awards Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, 2015

Life

Ethnically, Shekhar is a Santhal, one of India's Adivasi groups; this background is reflected in his fiction. [3] His stories are rich in "fine details that add to the deep dimensions" and "open to us a world we have deliberately dismissed" [4] and contain "a surplus of understanding that comes from a kind insider-outsider." [5] Indeed, he characterised his first novel as "the first full-fledged Santhal novel written in English, and published by a mainstream publisher." [6] Born in Ranchi, [7] Shekhar grew up in Ghatshila and Chakulia and went to school in Musabani. [8] [9] [10] His parents used to work with Hindustan Copper in Ghatshila. [11] By profession, he is a medical doctor employed as a medical officer with the government of Jharkhand, [12] [13] and has worked in Pakur and Chandil. [14] [15]

Though Shekhar writes primarily in English, he also translates from Santhali to English, [16] [17] [18] Hindi to English, [19] [20] and English to Hindi. [21]

Works

Awards and Recognition

For his debut novel, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey , Shekhar won the 2015 Yuva Puraskar, [30] [31] was shortlisted for the 2014 Hindu Literary Prize [32] and a 2014 Crossword Book Award in the Fiction category, [33] longlisted for the 2016 International Dublin Literary Award, [34] and jointly won the 2015 Muse India Young Writer Award. [35] The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey was named by The Hindu in December 2019 as one of the ten best fiction books of the decade. [36]

For his second book, The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories , Shekhar was shortlisted for the 2016 Hindu Literary Prize. [37] The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories was included by Frontline (magazine) in August 2022 in a list of 25 books “that light up the path to understanding post-Independence Indian literature.” [38]

Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire: Adventures in Champakbagh is Shekhar's first book for children. [39] This book features illustrations by Krishna Bala Shenoi. [40] It was shortlisted for a 2019 Neev Book Award in the category Junior Readers [41] and a 2019 Crossword Book Award in the children's books category. [42]

His fourth book, a novel entitled My Father's Garden, has been called "rich and surprising" [43] and "[packing] more emotion, detail and narrative heft than...books four times its size." [44] My Father's Garden was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature 2019. [45] [46]

I Named My Sister Silence was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature 2023. [47] [48] [49] The jury commented: “A novel of epic stature told with great beauty and brevity, it's[ sic ] power is felt viscerally in Hansda Sowvendra’s Shekhar’s translation. The writing offers rich imagery that does the storytelling using soundscapes and landscapes with equal felicity. Manoj Rupda plays on the theme that everything grand is eventually destroyed, be it a majestic elephant, a ship, or an entire tribal civilization eaten away by a corrupt society. The complex and emotionally wrenching relationship between the protagonist and his sister is at the heart of it, making this perhaps the most layered among many novels about sibling relationships.” [50]

I Named My Sister Silence was also shortlisted for a 2023 Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize in the Fiction category [51] and has been shortlisted for a 2024 Crossword Book Award in the Translation category. [52]

Controversy

On 11 August 2017, the government of Jharkhand banned The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories and summarily suspended Shekhar from his job, on the grounds that the book portrayed Adivasi women and Santhal culture in a bad light. [53] The key complainants appear to have been the ruling party in Jharkhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party; the opposition party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha; and an academic at Jamia Millia Islamia. [54] The government's actions were widely criticised. [55] [56] [57] [58] The ban on The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories was removed in December 2017 [59] [60] and Shekhar's suspension was removed and he was reinstated into his job in 2018. [61] [62]

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References

  1. ↑ "Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar". The Times of India. 3 November 2017. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  2. ↑ "Notes of a native son: Hansda S Shekhar". The Times of India. 12 August 2017. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  3. ↑ Ziya Us Salam, 'A Santhal Suppressed', Frontline (13 October 2017).
  4. ↑ Binoo K. John (30 November 2015). "The tribal world strikes back at Indian writing in English through a doctor". Scroll. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  5. ↑ Sumana Roy (17 October 2015). "Faith in the local". Livemint. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  6. ↑ Sujit Prasad, '“I Am a Santhal, and My Opinion Too Should Matter,” says Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar', antiserious.com (16 August 2017) [repr. from the Boston Coffee House Magazine 2014].
  7. ↑ Kaartikeya Bajpai (18 January 2015). "Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar is a dedicated doctor and writer". DNA. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  8. ↑ Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, 'Not just one', The Hindu Business Line (24 July 2015)
  9. ↑ Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (23 April 2016). "Ghatsila: A nostalgist's map". Mint Lounge/Livemint. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (April–June 2018). "Black". The Indian Quarterly. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  11. ↑ Paromita Chakrabarti (2 September 2018). "Playing with Fire: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar on his first children's book". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  12. ↑ Binoo K. John (30 November 2015). "The tribal world strikes back at Indian writing in English through a doctor". Scroll. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  13. ↑ Sudipta Datta, 'Who is Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, fighting a ban', The Hindu (19 August 2017).
  14. ↑ Ziya Us Salam, 'A Santhal Suppressed', Frontline (13 October 2017).
  15. ↑ Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, 'Horses', FiftyTwo (9 July 2022).
  16. ↑ Parimal Hansda (20 August 2017). "Eight melancholic, introspective poems by Parimal Hansda on being a Santhal today". Scroll. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  17. ↑ Shibu Tudu. "Memories of the Kirta Dangra". Asymptote. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  18. ↑ Shibu Tudu. "Memories of the Kirta Dangra (Santhali)". Asymptote. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  19. ↑ Manish Mundra (16 September 2017). "I am from the Earth". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  20. ↑ Ranendra (2 August 2018). "Baba, Crows and Black Smoke". Usawa literary Review. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  21. ↑ "Sumi Budhi aur Sugi". Pratham Books StoryWeaver. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  22. ↑ "Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire: Adventures in Champakbagh". Goodbooks. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  23. ↑ "Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire". Speaking Tiger Books. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  24. ↑ Duckbill Books (21 July 2018). "New Indian Kids' and YA Books in August 2018". The Duckbill Blog. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  25. ↑ "Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire". Speaking Tiger Books. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  26. ↑ Prasun Chaudhuri (1 April 2018). "'Those accusing me of objectifying women were all bullying women'". The Telegraph, Kolkata. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  27. ↑ "My Father's Garden". Speaking Tiger Books. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  28. ↑ "Who's There?". Penguin Random House India. Retrieved 22 April 2020.[ permanent dead link ]
  29. ↑ "Sumi Budhi and Sugi". Pratham Books StoryWeaver. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  30. ↑ Sahitya Akademi. "List of Yuva Puraskar winners (2011-2017)". Sahitya Akademi. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  31. ↑ Sudipta Datta, 'Who is Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, fighting a ban', The Hindu (19 August 2017).
  32. ↑ "Here's the shortlist". The Hindu. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  33. ↑ Arunima Mazumdar (4 April 2015). "Meet the contenders: the Crossword Book Award 2014 shortlists for fiction and non-fiction". Scroll. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  34. ↑ "The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey". International Dublin Literary Award. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  35. ↑ GK News Network (21 December 2015). "Shahnaz Bashir's The Half Mother declared winner of Muse India award". Greater Kashmir. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  36. ↑ "Best fiction books of the decade". The Hindu. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  37. ↑ "Shortlist for The Hindu Prize 2016 announced". The Hindu. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  38. ↑ Anusua Mukherjee and Abhirami Girija Sriram (26 August 2022). "India at 75 - Fiction". Frontline. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  39. ↑ Kanishka Gupta (9 August 2018). "Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar on writing his first children's book, depicting small-town India in fiction". Firstpost. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  40. ↑ "Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire: Adventures in Champakbagh". Goodbooks. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  41. ↑ "Neev Literature Festival 2019 Book Awards". Neev Literature Festival. Archived from the original on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  42. ↑ "Crossword Book Award: Women writers sweep fiction shortlist". Outlook. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  43. ↑ Keshava Guha (2 February 2019). "'My Father's Garden by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar: Something rich and surprising". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  44. ↑ Saudha Kasim (7 February 2019). "The Simple Prose of My Father's Garden Cuts Like a Knife". TheWire. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  45. ↑ Scroll Staff (4 October 2019). "JCB Prize 2019 shortlist: An acknowledgement that Indian fiction is now raw, brutal and angry". Scroll. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  46. ↑ Press Trust of India (3 November 2019). "Madhuri Vijay's debut novel 'The Far Field' wins 2019 JCB prize for Literature". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  47. ↑ The JCB Prize for Literature (2 September 2023). "The JCB Prize 2023 Longlist Announcement". YouTube channel of The JCB Prize for Literature. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  48. ↑ Utkarsh Mani Tripathi (20 October 2023). "The 2023 JCB Prize shortlist is about leaving, forgetting and finding our roots". Vogue India. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  49. ↑ Team Lounge (20 November 2023). "Perumal Murugan wins JCB Prize for Literature 2023 for 'Fire Bird'". Mint Lounge. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  50. ↑ The JCB Prize for Literature (2 September 2023). "I Named My Sister Silence". The JCB Prize for Literature 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  51. ↑ Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival (4 November 2023). "Shortlists 2023". Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  52. ↑ Scroll Staff (8 November 2024). "The 2024 Crossword Book Awards has announced shortlists of five books in each of its five categories". Scroll. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  53. ↑ Sudipta Datta, 'Who is Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, fighting a ban', The Hindu (19 August 2017).
  54. ↑ Ziya Us Salam, 'A Santhal Suppressed', Frontline (13 October 2017).
  55. ↑ Sanjay Srivastava, 'What the ban on The Adivasi Will Not Dance tells us about India’s political life', Hindustan Times (14 August 2017).
  56. ↑ Ruchir Joshi, 'The reader will not dance', The Hindu (13 August 2017).
  57. ↑ 'Dubbed 'porn', book on tribals banned in Jharkhand', The Times of India (13 August 2017).
  58. ↑ 'Writers, Activists Condemn Banning of ‘The Adivasi Will Not Dance’ in Jharkhand', The Wire (29 August 2017).
  59. ↑ Scroll Staff (13 December 2017). "Four months after ban, Jharkhand finds nothing objectionable in Hansda Shekhar's book on Adivasis". Scroll. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  60. ↑ Prashant Pandey (14 December 2017). "Jharkhand: Govt finds nothing objectionable in Santhal writer's book, ban could be lifted". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  61. ↑ ICF Team (17 August 2018). "Suspension on Writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar Revoked". Indian Cultural Forum. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  62. ↑ Paromita Chakrabarti (2 September 2018). "Playing with Fire: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar on his first children's book". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
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