Guwahati: Manipur’s noted author, translator, and columnist Kakchingtabam Brajamani Sharma and Lakshmi Bhusan Chakma, a well known writer and researcher especially for the Chakma community in the state of Mizoram, were conferred with the prestigious VKIC Samman Award 2023 here on Tuesday.
The award was handed over by Nandita Gorlosa, Minister for Indigenous and Tribal Faith and Culture Department, Power, Mines and Minerals, and Cooperation, Government of Assam, in connection with the 26th Foundation Day of the Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture (VKIC), Guwahati, a project of Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumamri, which is a spiritually oriented service mission.
Brajamani Sharma, a devout Hindu Sanatan Dharma practitioner, was born to the late K Iboton Sharma and late K Sanahaibi in Kakching Khunou, Manipur.
He passed his matriculation in 1964 and did his PUC science at Manipur College. He is a gold medalist in Acharya Purohitam (Sanskrit MA) and also holds an MA (Pol Sc).
He travels extensively within Manipur, as well as to other parts of the country and abroad, to spread the teachings and message of the Hindu Sanatana Shastras through his discourse. He has translated many books, including the Srimad Bhagavad Geeta, Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana. He is not only a regular columnist in different Imphal-based local dailies; his lecture series on Geeta have been broadcast by TV channels.
Presently, he is president of the Divine Life Society at Kakching Khunou Branch. Sharma is the first Meitei but the third recipient of the award from Manipur.
Sixty-six-year-old Lakshmi Bhushan Chakma was born to Hare Chandra and the late Vidyadhari Chakma in Khagharasuri Lunglei Sub division of Mizoram.
Chakma is not only a police officer in the Mizoram Police Department; he is also a noted scholar and writer. He has published books in Chakma. One of his notebooks – Changmha Pattham Paidhya, was accepted as a text book in the Council Schools to introduce Chakma as a subject. To establish cultural values, he wrote two dramas, Dwapada Path and Ana, in Chakma and staged them many times, which were well received by the public at large.
The Foundation Day lecture on “A phenomenological Reading of Indigenous Faith with special reference to the North East of Bharat” was delivered by Prof. Bhagat Oinam, Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advance Study, and Chairperson, Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Later, a cultural presentation was shown by Zeliangrong Herakha Youth and Cultural Organization, Guwahati Unit.
