Mumbai: Marketing professional, forest guard win Sahitya awards

Sushilkumar Shinde, who worked with a private firm in Mumbai, has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for 2019 (Marathi) for his collection of poems, Shahar Atmahatya Karaycha Mhantay. Salim Sardar Mulla, a forest guard employed with Kolhapur range, has been awarded the Bal Sahitya Puraskar for a children’s novel Jangal Khajinyacha Shodh.

Shinde started writing poems when he was in college. He says his wife and friends constantly encouraged him to write. He was soon approached by the Granthali publications, who were interested in his works. Soon, he got his poems published. Shinde said, “Poetry is something very close to my heart to express myself.”

Salim Sardar Mulla, who has been employed as a forest guard at Kolhapur since 2006, hails from Talandali village in Hatkanangale taluka of Kolahpur district. He had published an essay collection for kids, which he had written in 2000. The Akademi also selected 23 writers for the Yuva Puraskar 2019, which is given to writers below 35 years of age.