Community News | Sydney
Rekha Rajvanshi Receives UP Hindi Sansthan’s ‘Hindi Videsh Prasar Samman’
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n the 10th of January, we commemorated World Hindi Day. Various Hindi activities and events were held all around the world, including Australia, to mark the day. When it comes to Hindi in Australia, a few names come to mind. Rekha Rajvanshi, an Australian Hindi writer and poet, is one among them. Rekha was awarded ‘Hindi Videsh Prasaar Samman’ by the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan Lucknow for promoting Hindi in Australia on November 28th, 2021. The award carries an added cash prize incentive worth Rs. 250,000. A teacher by profession, Rekha moved to Australia twenty years ago and started teaching Hindi in a community school after about a month of her arrival in Sydney. She is passionate about Hindi. She taught Hindi to Australian adults at the Centre for Continuing Education, University of Sydney, and to children at the Saturday School of Community Languages and Indo-Aust Bal Bharthi Hindi School. Rekha has published eight books, edited three books by Australian writers and co-edited one poetry book. She is also an award-winning NAATI accredited English to Hindi translator, who received an Excellence in Translation award for translating Aboriginal dreamtime stories in 2014. Rekha’s extensive work includes poetry (blank verse, geet, ghazal, and nazmas), stories, articles, children’s poetry, and translations. Lucknow Doordarshan anchor interviewed Rekha after the award and said that she’s amazed at how a poet can write in so many genres so well. Rekha’s poems touch people’s hearts and take them on a rollercoaster of emotions. Rekha’s works — poetry and stories are also included in
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the Hindi curriculum of Indian universities.
where Hindi, Punjabi, and Tamil are also taught along with many other languages.
Rekha founded the Indian Literary and Art Society of Australia, ILASA Inc (Bhartiya Sahituya aur Kala Sanstha, Australia) in 2010 and has organised programmes to promote Hindi in Australia, such as: Kavi Sammelans, Poetry Competitions, Hindi Dramas, and a conference to promote Hindi literature in Australia. She has been a pioneer in organising Hindi Diwas in Australia.
If we want our younger generation to learn about India’s rich heritage, cultural values, and traditions, we need to teach them our language. Our literature is also very rich, and when we read a book from a different country and culture, we learn about its people, rituals and discover many similarities and differences. Literature helps build a bridge.”
When asked how she felt after receiving this award, Rekha replied “I am passionate about Hindi and I think we writers don’t work for an award. We just follow our passion, and if our work is recognized, it encourages us. Australia is a multicultural country,
FEBRUARY I 2022
Rekha worked hard to bring together all the Hindi writers, poets, and Hindi lovers of Australia on one platform and connected them with writers from all over the world. Rekha is the true ambassador of Hindi literature in Australia.
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