Remembering the famous writer and journalist Hari Motwani who had hardly any formal education but had risen on the horizon of Sindhi literature as a small shooting star
Today (May 07) is the death anniversary of famous writer and journalist Hari Motwani. He was born on 30th November 1929 in Larkana Sindh. After partition, he moved to India.
Hari Motwani was a phenomenon in Sindhi literature. He had hardly any formal education, but had risen on the horizon of Sindhi literature as a small shooting star.
He was in the small business 30 years ago but in the company of some Sindhi writer friends he was inspired so much that he started his literary monthly “Koonj”. It took him no time to arrive at the literary scene as a robust short story writer and had a few collections to his credit. He tried his hand at novel writing and succeeded beyond expectations. His second novel “Ajho” received the prestigious award from the Sahitya Akademi. Hari had received many awards from Govt. as well as non-government trusts. He had received an award at the hands of Mother Teressa for his novel Ajho.
Hari had been publishing leading literary quarterly magazines for over three decades now. As a matter of fact, he was one of the major publishers in Sindhi language and had been publishing Sindhi Books, some of which have received Sahitya Akademi awards – outstanding among them being Prof. M.U. Malkani’s ‘History of Sindhi Prose.
Awards
Award for Literary Contributions, 1993 (At Mumbai by Prof. Ram Panjwani Cultural Centre)
- Award for best Short Story collection ‘Khuddar’ 1994 (At Mumbai by Govt. of Maharashtra).
- Shri Ramkishan Jaidayal Harmony Award for Novel ‘Ajho’, 1994 (At New Delhi at the hands of Mother Teressa).
- Award for Novel “Ajho”, 1995 (At Bangalore by Sahitya Akademi, Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India).
- Award for Literary Contributions, 1996 (At Bangalore by Sharat Chander Birthday Celebration Committee).
- Saraswati Puraskar at Hindi Sahitya Sammelan on Hindi Diwas, 14th September 2001 (At Prayag) .
He authored a number of books including the following:
- ‘Abbo’ (Father), Novel, 1988.
- ‘Ajho’ (Shelter), Novel, 1990.
- ‘Khuddar’ (A person of self-respect), Short Stories, 1991.
- ‘Jurial Jin Saan Jind’ (My Soul is United with them) A Travelogue, 1988.
- ‘Aakhri Panna’ (Last pages), an Autobiography 1997.
Hari was also the Member of Sindhi Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi since 1998.
He produced Sindhi Film ‘Ho-Jamalo’ based on national integration in 1970.
Hari Motwani, who was settled in Mumbai, died on 7th May 2006. On his wish, his ashes were scattered in River Indus near Kotri.
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