Preeti Barua with brother and poet Hiren Bhattacharyya at her residence on Thursday. Picture by S.H. Patgiri

Feb. 17: The telephone has been ringing since Tuesday, so has the doorbell. But noted educationist and social worker Preeti Barua is not complaining. She is enjoying receiving calls or meeting those who have come calling to congratulate her for joining the list of the Sahitya Akademi award-winners from the state.

However, 70-year-old Barua, a former principal of Handique Girls? College, has not lost sight of the causes she has been espousing for long like girl child education and creation of employment opportunities for women.

Barua, who has won the Sahitya Akademi award for best translation in Assamese, is involved in the causes so much so that she has decided to donate the Rs 20,000 she will be receiving in cash as part of the award to organisations promoting these. ?As I am actively involved with many socio-cultural organisations, I am planning to utilise the money for different social causes,? she said.

The author, however, rued that had the amount been bigger, she could have generously donated the money for promotion of education for girl children and vocational training for widows and unemployed women. ?It is sad but true that the amount of money given for any literary award in the country is quite small compared to the kind of hard work put in by the writers. Moreover, the writers are hardly provided any sort of grant by the government for publication of their work,? she said at her Zoo Road residence.

Besides the cheque for Rs 20,000, the award carries an engraved copper plaque. The award will be conferred on her on August 23 at a glittering function in New Delhi.

Barua has received the award in recognition for her translation work Rathachakra, depicting a heart-rendering story of miseries of village women. Originally written in Marathi by Shreepad Narayan Pandse, the novel bagged the prestigious Jnanpith award. Barua had translated its Hindi version by R.S. Kelkar to Assamese.

Translator of numerous best-sellers from Hindi, English and Bengali literatures, Barua said she has been involved in translation since her school days. An active member of Asom Mahila Sangha since the 60s, Barua is also serving as chief adviser of the Assam Lekhika Sanstha.

As of now, she is translating Mulk Raj Anand?s Coolie. She nourishes plans to translate books of her choice from other languages into Assamese. An avid reader of world literature, Barua holds command over Assamese, Be-ngali, English and Hindi. She stressed the need for translation to introduce Assamese readers to world literature.

Some famous translation creations of Barua include Sankirna Toran (1997), Aakash Nila Step (1967), Urdu Short Stories (1998), Veeresalingam (1978), Asuri Nadir Jot and Joka. She also published her own short-story collection Nirarthak in 1962.