GUWAHATI, March 23 ? The 12th Assam Valley Literary Award was presented today to noted litterateur Rebati Mohan Dutta Choudhury, more popularly known as Sheelabhadra, his pen name, to his readers, for his contribution to the field of literature. The Award was presented to Sri Dutta Choudhury at a glittering function at the Rabindra Bhawan here by noted Oriya litterateur and president of the Sahitya Akademi Ramakanta Rath. Accepting the Award, Sri Dutta Choudhury observed that awards, however, do not signify excellence. Recognitions from the wise is the primary thing. But, he said that he was pleased to receive the Award because it confirmed the true love of the people to him. He also made an observation that the excellence of literature in a particular language does not depend on the number of people who speak that language. He cited the examples of Halldor Laxness, who won the Nobel Prize for his Independent People, written in Icelandic, and of Isaac Bashevis Singer, another Nobel Laureate, who writes in Yiddish, an almost dead language, to drive home his point.
Describing Sheelabhadra as a writer who has a poignant concern for man, behind his apparent simplicity, Sri Ramakanta Rath said that he (Sheelabhadra) finds materials for his fictions in ordinary, eventless lives. Because, unlike them, he finds tragedy in their lives. His characters represent the variety, the brief but frequent storms, the travails of living from one day to the next and the experience of solitude man?s life is made of. Though Sheelabhadra has sympathy for his characters to the extent which makes him unable to dwell at length on the mischief they do to each other, he (Sheelabhadra) is not for condoning all their mischief. ?This perhaps explains why he so often reverts to the past, so often prefers to see what his memory shows him to what he finds around himself,? said Sri Rath, the creator of Sri Radha which is widely acknowledged as a modern classic. Sri Rath presented Sri Dutta Choudhury with a scroll of honour, a trophy and a draft of Rs 2 lakh which made the Award, on behalf of the Williamson Magor Education Trust, the sponsors.
Williamson Magor Director RS Jhawar and Sri Parimal Barkakoti of the Williamson Magor Education Trust also addressed the function. A cultural show was also organised on the occasion. It may be mentioned here that Sri Dutta Choudhury has already made public to institute three merit scholarships for the meritorious students of the Gauripur PC Institution, where he did his schooling, in memory of his parents Ramani Mohan Dutta Choudhury and Amiya Dutta Choudhury and his brother-in-law Nirode Chandra Choudhury, with the cash amount of the Award.