Goa’s young short-story writer Ramnath Gawade has again made Konkani literature proud. His short story has found a place with India’s legendary writers like Rabindranath Tagore, Munshi Premchand, Annabhau Sathe, Amruta Pritam, R K Narayan, Ruskin Bond and many others.
Short stories of altogether four writers of ‘Konkani origin’ have figured in the book “The Greatest Indian Stories Every Told”: Jnanpith Awardee Damodar Mauzo, Goa’s legendary writer Laxmanrao Sardesai and Vivek Shanbhag from Karnataka.
The book, edited by Arunava Sinha, has compiled short stories of 50 writers from all over India, including those honoured with the Nobel Prize, Jnanpith and Sahitya Academy awards.
The blurb on the back page of the book states:
“The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told – is a selection of some of the finest literary short fiction written by Indian writers since the genre came into being in the country in the late nineteenth century. Including early masters of the form, contemporary stars, as well as brilliant writers who came of age in the twenty-first century, this anthology takes in its sweep stories from the various regions, languages, and literatures of India. These authors are some of the most feted in the annals of Indian literature and have, between them, won virtually every major literary prize on offer—including the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Jnanpith Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award, and numerous state, national, and international honours.”
कथा एका संडासाची, the original story of Ramnath Gawade, a 54-year young writer from Mollem in Dharbandora taluka, has been translated into English by Vidya Pai, as “Tale of a Toilet.”
Gawade, a first-generation student and writer from the tribal community of Goa, has to his credit 6 short-story collections, four novels including one published in a book format, children’s literature and drama in Konkani and Marathi.
He has received several accolades including the Sahitya Academy Award for children’s literature, Goa Konkani Academy, Kala Academy Goa, Konkani Bhasha Mandal, Sahitya Parishad, Directorate of Art & Culture of Govt of Goa, Yuva Sahitya Sammelan, Mohini Puraskar as well as Portugal-based Fundacao Oriente.
The book The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told (click to order) is available on Amazon. It contains the 50 best stories of the late Nineteenth Century.
Brief bio-data of Ramnath Gawade:
