Prof Ratneshwar Mishra of Bihar’s Purnia district received the Sahitya Akademi Award for translation for his book ‘Azadi’ in Maithili.
Chaman Nahal’s novel Azadi, also known as C Nahal in English, is considered his best, and the author won the Sahitya Akademi Award for it in 1977. The novel, published in 1975, recounts his experiences living in Sialkot during the partition.
Prof Mishra is a resident of Bishnupur in Purnia district and the first scholar from Seemanchal, Bihar’s most backward region, to receive a Sahitya Akademi Award. He retired as head of the history department from Lalit Narayan Mithila University (LNMU) Darbhanga, where he was the son of the founding vice chancellor, late Prof Madaneshwar Mishra.
Prof. Mishra has written books in English, Hindi, and Maithili.
Prof Mishra, the first scholar from Seemanchal, Bihar’s most backward region, to receive the Sahitya Akademi Award, is from Bishnupur in the Amour block of Purnia district. He retired as head of the department (HOD) history from Lalit Narayan Mithila University (LNMU) Darbhanga, where he was the son of the founding vice chancellor, late Prof Madaneshwar Mishra. Prof. Mishra has written books in English, Hindi, and Maithili.
“I was assigned the task of Maithili translation in 2014, and it was completed in 2018,” Mishra explained. “Throughout all of these years, I lost my wife, who had always stood by me,” he added.
“The book by C Nahal, ‘Azadi,’ needs to be widely read,” said Purnia-based social activist Vijay Kumar Shreevasatava, “and the Maithili translation will facilitate reading to a large section of people, especially those living in Mithila region.”
