NAGPUR: More than being happy at getting the Sahitya Akademi award, Nagpur’s well-known Sindhi poet Vinod Asudani on Wednesday said he was delighted at becoming the first visually challenged author in any language honored with the prestigious literary award. He was awarded for his collection of Sindhi ghazals ‘Hathu Pakidjai’.
A resident of Jaripatka, Asudani is an English professor at Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management.
Asudani is known for his contribution towards promotion of Sindhi language as an author, psychotherapist, orator, and social activist.
Asudani said this is the first time a Sindhi litterateur from Nagpur has been selected for the coveted award.
Vinod Asudani expressed happiness that even literary works of specially challenged people are getting recognition at the national level. His award-winning work is a collection of 90 ghazals. Asudani said one of the ghazals was also the name of the book ‘Hathu Pakidjai’. He said that ‘Hathu Pakidjai’ was published in 2021 by Narendra Prakashan. Vinod Asudani is not only an accomplished poet but he also holds a doctorate in English and psychology.
The University of South America has honoured him with DLitt for his contribution to social work. He has published 37 books in three languages — Sindhi, Hindi and English. Of these, 18 books are translations from Sindhi to English, including books by five Sahitya Akademi awardees. He took up the translations to take classic regional works of literature to the international level. Well-versed in Hindi, Marathi, Sindhi, and English languages, he also has eight ghazal collections to his credit — five in Sindhi, two in Hindi, and one on English poetry. Born visually challenged, Asudani made a mark with excellence in academics by figuring in the merit list in Std X, XII and BA. He won gold medals while pursing MA in English, History and Sociology. He has also received the prestigious title of ‘Pandit’ in Hindi literature. His name is included in the International Dictionary of Intellectuals published by Cambridge University.