FRIDAY brought a good news for the city of Nagpur when Sahitya Akademi announced its coveted awards in different languages. The authors to whom the awards were declared included Nagpur-based eminent engineer-turned-author Anant Yashwant Khare, popularly known by his pen-name Nanda Khare. He has been chosen for the coveted award for his Marathi novel ‘Udya’ (Tomorrow).

Nanda Khare is son of Yashwant Anant Khare and Sumati Khare. His father founded the highly reputed company by the name Khare and Tarkunde.

Born in 1946, Nanda Khare got educated at New English School and Saraswati Vidyalaya. Later, he earned engineering degree from Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay in 1967.

For 34 years, he was Partner/Managing Director of Khare and Tarkunde company. In 2001, he took retirement from the company. However, much before that he had started recording his reflections on political, economic, and other spheres of life as also construction sector. Those later bloomed into books.

Between 1981 and 1992, Nanda Khare was an active member of Marathi Vidnyan Parishad. From 1998 to 2017, he served on the Editorial Board of the publication ‘Aajcha Sudharak’. Between 2000 and 2011, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the publication. All of his works including novels, translations, and autobiography are critically acclaimed. Some of his best known and acclaimed works include ‘Antajichi Bakhar’, ‘Kahani Manavpranyachi’, ‘Jeevotpatti... Aani Nantar’, ‘Bakhar Antakalachi’, ‘Waarulpuraan’, ‘2050’, ‘Samprati’ etc. His autobiography ‘Evaji’ came in 2018 and was received with great enthusiasm in literary circles.

Khare’s award-winning novel ‘Udya’ came in 2014. He had written it in 2012. “It has a very complex theme. It deals with increasing surveillance, increasing corporatisation, and also impact of mining on human life as well as environment,” Khare told ‘The Hitavada’. As far as mining is concerned, he mentioned about a village near Ghugus in Chandrapur district where mining destroyed human life. “There are so many issues of importance that need attention. The political leaders are trading charges over snapping of electricity connections, but they are not championing the cause of reducing the use of electricity,” he observed.

Asked about his journey from an engineer to an acclaimed author, Khare said, “Engineering and writing both are parts of life.”

With this honour, Khare became the fourth author from the city to have featured in the list of Sahitya Akademi awardees.

The other eminent litterateurs from Nagpur who were honoured with Sahitya Akademi Award previously include legendary poet Grace, and noted author Asha Bage for their works ‘Varyane Halte Raan’ and ‘Bhoomi’ respectively. For the year 2019, Prof Madhusudan Penna, Dean of the faculty of Indian Religion, Philosophy and Culture, Kavikulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his Sanskrit epic ‘Pradnya Chakshusam’.