Sahitya Akademi awardee Kolakaluri Enoch feted

Hyderabad: Padma Shri Acharya Kolakaluri Enoch, who has been selected for the Sahitya Akademi Award 2018 in Telugu language essay writing category, was felicitated by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind at its office at Chatta Bazar in Old City. Speaking on the occasion, the eminent writer opined that the Literature should bridge the differences between different social and religious groups. My primary focus during all these years remained on the uplift of weaker, underprivileged and marginalised sections of the society. While equating pomegranate to that of Indian society, he said that even though seeds are encapsulated in different sections of the fruit, all the seeds when combined is called as the fruit. Similarly, he noted that people living in this country represent diverse faiths and castes but remain as one nation and are knitted together with human compassion.

While welcoming the gesture of the JIH, he lauded the efforts of the organisation for striving to maintain communal harmony, peace and brotherhood amongst different religious groups. He assured the leaders present on the occasion of exploring the religious scriptures of Islam and interpreting it towards eliminating any misunderstandings. State president of JIH Hamid Mohammed Khan felt that finalizing his name for the prestigious award by the Centre was nothing less than a proud moment for the entire Telugu people. He hoped that Enoch would continue to provide his literary services to the people and receive more awards at national level. State secretary at JIH Sadiq Ahmed said that his organisation, which has been striving for bridging the communities for several decades in the country, would continue to work hard toward ensuring peace and human values. The programme was attended by general secretary at Telangana Kavula Sangham Abdul Rasheed and director at Telugu Islamic Publications Sheik Hussain and other writers.

It may be mentioned here that Enoch was selected for the award for his collection of essays titled, ‘Vimarshini.’ Sahitya Akademi announced its annual awards in 24 languages in the beginning of December. The award, which carries a memento, a shawl and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, will be presented to Enoch in New Delhi on January 29, 2019. Enoch was born to Ramaiah and Veeramma at Vejendla of Guntur District on July 1, 1939. He graduated in BA (Hons) from Andhra University in 1959. He began his literary career with a short story ‘Uttaram’ in 1954. Enoch has so far written 180 poems, 180 stories, nine novels, and 30 playlets, apart from literary criticism. Enoch worked as a Telugu teacher in Guntur, Chittoor, Kadapa, Anantapur, Tirupati and served as the vice-chancellor at Sri Venkateswara University. The celebrated writer also won Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi Awards in 1986, 1988 and 1998 in different categories. He was also honored by the Government of India in 2014 by Padma Shri award.