Tanti, Bairi receive awards

GUWAHATI, March 19: The prestigious Padmath Vidyabinod Literary Award and the Bhuparjatak (globe-trotter) Ramth Biswas Literary Award, instituted by the Ramath Bhattacharya Foundation, Mumbai were given away to Assamese Poet Sameer Tanti of Guwahati and Bengali Poet Ajit Bairi of West Bengal respectively at a function held at Vivekanda Kendra here on Sunday. 

Each of the two awards carries a cash prize of Rs. 51,000, a citation and a memento, besides a specially-designed muga scarf. The function, conducted by chief adviser of the foundation and a veteran poet-jourlist Sukumar Bagchi, was attended by distinguished persolities in a packed auditorium. The awards were handed over by renowned Assamese poet Harekrish Deka and Bengali academician Mukti Choudhury.

In his welcome address, the general secretary of the foundation and renowned producer of Hindi TV serials Shyamashis Bhattacharya explained the background of instituting the two awards in memory of their two great ancestors — Pandit Padmath and Bhuparjatak Ramth — both of whom were illustrious sons of undivided Assam, and said that mainly because of his father Ramath Bhattacharya’s zeal the decision to institute these awards was taken eight years ago. A brief speech on the life and works of the founder-President of the Foundation late Ramath Bhattacharya, who himself was an established poet, was delivered by poet Harekrish Deka.

An informative souvenir edited by Sukumar Bagchi and published on the occasion by the Foundation was released by Mukti Choudhury. She thanked the Foundation for giving awards to an Assamese poet and a Bengali poet together and said, this was a positive gesture in bringing the two communities closer.

Receiving the award, poet Tanti expressed gratitude and happiness for the award in the me of famous Pandit Padmath. The Ramth Biswas literary award recipient poet Ajit Bairi offered sincere thanks to the Foundation authorities for their contribution in the fields of literature and culture.

Two books of poems by Ramath Bhattacharya were also released on this occasion by poet Deka and Srimati Choudhury. 

Previous recipients of the awards include Assamese poets Ajit Barua, Hiren Bhattacharya, Nilamoni Phukan, Hirendrath Dutta, Bhaben Barua, Harekrish Deka, Santa Tanty and Bengali poets Bijit Kumar Bhattacharya, Pabitra Mukhopdhyay, Tarun Sanyal, Swapan Sengupta, Shyamal Kanti Das, Ratneshwar Hajra, Udayan Ghosh.