Hindi Academy’s ‘Bhashadoot Sammaan’ function held on Wednesday turned out to be a comedy of errors.
To mark Hindi Divas celebrations, the Academy decided to felicitate writers, mostly bloggers, writing in Hindi. It sent out e-mails to nine writers informing them that they had been chosen for the ‘Sammaan (award)’ .
However, on Monday the Academy sent out another mail to three of the nine shortlisted writers stating that the e-mails were sent to them “due to human error” and they should “ignore the previous mail”.
“Arun Dev, Santosh Chaturvedi and I received e-mails from the Academy’s official email ID and the letter announcing our names, undersigned by the Secretary, Jeetaram Bhatt, on Saturday. Two days later, we received another e-mail stating that it was a mistake. Not that we are after awards, but it was humiliating,” said Ashok Pandey, a Hindi writer who runs the website ‘Asuvidha’.
Add to this another awkward twist: Rahul Dev, a 28-year-old blogger, received a call from the Academy on Saturday allegedly telling him about the award. The Lucknow-based writer had already decided to boycott the function after three of his writer-friends’ names were retracted, but he was told by his friends on Wednesday that his “daughter” received the award on his behalf.
“I am not even married, where did they find my daughter,” he asked.
It was later clarified that another writer from Gurgaon by the name of Rahul Dev was shortlisted and given the award. Lucknow-based Rahul Dev was mistakenly called by the Academy officials.
Interestingly, the Hindi Academy’s vice-chairperson, Maitreyi Pushpa, till late Wednesday evening was under the impression that Lucknow-based Rahul Dev’s daughter had received the award. “I don’t know which Rahul Dev was shortlisted,” she told The Hindu in her defence.
Upset
Of the nine writers, only five turned up for the function. Upset with the last-minute change in the list, Academy’s governing council member Om Thanvi resigned, adding to the controversy.
“The list sent by Ms. Pushpa to Minister of Arts and Culture was rejected on Monday. He changed the names…This is dangerous to the autonomy of the Academy,” alleged Mr Thanvi.
Another writer, Arun Dev, said that the incident exposes the functioning of the language academies under the Delhi government. He alleged that the names were changed a day before the programme on the request of ‘a minister’.
“Why else would we (three writers) receive a mail confirming our names for the awards and then be told that it was a mistake? Moreover, how can a Minister decide on the names when the Academy is autonomous,” he asked.
Arts and Culture Minister Kapil Mishra rubbished the allegations and said that he was not aware of the goof-ups.
“I couldn’t even attend the function as the Delhi government is busy fighting dengue and chikungunya,” Mr Mishra said.
Those felicitated at the function received a memento and a shawl, but no monetary award. Some Hindi academicians launched a campaign on social media against the Academy claiming that it is run by politicians.
When The Hindu asked Ms. Pushpa about the email exchange between the Academy and the writers and alleged change of list, she said: “Whatever has happened is now history. The programme was a success.”
Expressing his disappointment over the incident, renowned writer Ashok Vajpayi said such academies are meant to be autonomous and there should be no outside interference. “If this has happened, then it is very unbecoming of the Hindi Academy. It shows their inefficiency and ineptitude,” Mr. Vajpayi said.
We received
e-mails announcing our names. Two days later, we were told it was a mistake. Not that we are after awards, but it was humiliating
