Dr. Jayanti Naik (born 6 August 1962) from Amona in the Quepem taluka of Goa, is a Konkani writer and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

researcher from

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. She is a short story writer, dramatist, children's writer, folklorist, translator and was the first person to earn a doctorate from the Goa University's Department of Konkani. She is also a

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

award winner. In her career of some three decades, she has produced on average, a book a year.

Folklore and folk tales

Naik takes care of the folklore section of the

Goa Konkani Akademi The Goa Konkani Akademi (Goa Academy of Letters for Konkani) is an organization set up by the Government of Goa in 1986 to promote the Konkani in Goa. Its stated aim is to accelerate the pace of development of Konkani by encouraging writers, rese ...

, the aim of which is to "conserve and preserve (the) rich folklore of Goa". Her work includes ''Ratha Tujeo Ghudio'', ''Kanner Khunti Naari'', ''Tlloi Ukhalli Kelliani'', ''Manalim Gitam'', ''Pednecho Dosro'', and ''Lokbimb''. Naik has written 16 books on folklore. Her book on Konkani folklore, entitled ''Konkani Lokved'', has several folk tales current among the Konkani-speaking emigrants who made their permanent home in the southern Indian States of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

in their original form with regional slant, as they were graphically recounted to her. Naik's ''Amonnem Yek Lokjinn'' (

, 1993) focuses on the village of

Amona Amona may refer to: Places * Amona, Goa, a village in Goa, India *Amona, Mateh Binyamin, an Israeli outpost in the central West Bank *Isla de Mona, known in the pre-Columbian era as Amona Other *"Amona", a song on the album ''Necessary Evil A ne ...

and its surrounding regions. It covers its history religion, social practices, festivals and folklore, among other topics. In 2019 Rajaee Prakashan published 'Gutbandh' a collection of her articles on Goan folklore which had appeared in the Marathi newspaper Lokmat. She had also compiled and edited, ''Venchik Lok Kannio'', a collection of Konkani

folk tales Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used vary ...

in the Roman (Romi) script, which was published by the Goa Konkani Akademi, in 2008. It has been transliterated by Felicio Cardozo. 'Lokrang' (2008) is a collection of essays on Goan and Konkani folklore.

Konkani writing

In ''A History of Konkani Literature: From 1500 to 1992'', the linguist and Konkani writer Manohararāya Saradesāya (also Dr

Manohar Rai Sardesai Dr. Manohar Rai Sardesai (18 January 1925 – 22 June 2006) was a Konkani poet, writer and French translator from Goa, India. He received his ''Doctorat ès lettres françaises'' for his thesis "L'image de l'Inde en France" from the Universit ...

) says of the 1962-born Naik's collection of short stories, ''Garjan'': "''Garjan'' means ''The Roar'' and in fact here the woman conscious of her strength and her social rights "roars." It is a roar of revolt against the mightily and the rich in favour of the poor, the weak, the oppressed. There is vigour in her style but at times her expression lags behind her thoughts." He also comments on Jayanti Naik's ''Nimnnem Bondd'' (''The Last Revolt'') which "expresses dissatisfaction against the idea of God's justice" and adds: "It is true that the women writers are prone to a certain sentimentality but this sentimentality is hardly overdone." In 2019 Rajaee Publications published her third collection of short stories 'Aart'.

Women-centric

Jyoti Kunkolienkar rates Naik (along with

Hema Naik Hema Naik is a Konkani language writer from the coastal Indian state of Goa. She is a Sahitya Akademi Award winner and is the wife of the Konkani writer Pundalik Naik. She publishes books under the banner of Volvoi-based Apurbai Prakashan. Ea ...

) as the authors writing on women-centric themes in Konkani from Goa today.

Career

Besides English, her stories have been translated into Hindi, Marathi, Telugu and Malayalam. She is the editor of the Konkani Akademi literary journal 'Ananya'. Naik features in an anthology of Konkani writing, called ''Katha Darpan'' and published to mark the 138th anniversary of the

Institute Menezes Braganza Institute Menezes Braganza is a cultural institution set up by the Portuguese in colonial times, during the late 19th century. It was taken over by the Government of Goa and continues to play a role in cultural activities of Goa. In recent year ...

, in November 2009. Naik was earlier with the

Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (TSKK) is a Jesuit research-institute working on issues related to the Konkani language, literature, culture and education. It is based in Alto Porvorim, on the outskirts of the state capital of Goa, India. Aim Th ...

, a Konkani training and research centre run out of Alto Porvorim in

. She became the first person to obtain a Ph.D. in Konkani, after she defended her thesis around 2005.

Translations of her work

The Final Victory, a translation by Vidya Pai of Jayanti Naik's short story Jait. This appeared in the monthly Goa Today in October 1999. ''Asaadi'', a translation by Vidya Pai of Jayanti Naik's short story of the same name. (''Samyukta''—A Journal of Women's Studies, Vol III, No 2, July 2003, published by Women's Initiatives, Thiruvananthapuram. http://www.samyukta.org Editor GS Jayashree Post box 1162 Pattom Palace PO, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695004.) ''Basavo'', also translated by Vidya Pai, is an English version of Naik's story of the same name. This was part of the British Council project of a website of women's writing from South Asia edited by Mini Krishnan and Rakshanda Jalil. This is not available currently. ''Flowers and kumkum ----symbols of a woman's marital status'' (again by Vidya Pai) is a translation of Naik's essay ''Phool kumkum ---ayavpanache kurvo appeared on 3 May 2015 in ''Chitrangi''. *"Uma and the Human Sacrifice" by Augusto Pinto and published 3 parts in

The Navhind Times ''The Navhind Times'' is an English language newspaper in Goa. Founded in 1963 and based in Panaji, the capital of Goa, it is the largest selling newspaper, amongst the three locally published English newspapers in the state. The other two being' ...

Goa between 13 and 27 October 2012 *"A fulfillment of a Desire" by Augusto Pinto published in 4 parts in The Navhind Times' Goa between 19 May to 8 June 2013 *"If Vozhoryo Curses then ..." translated in 4 parts in The Navind Times, Goa between 22 December 2012 and 5 January 2013 *"Biyantul: A Cinderella Story translated in 3 parts in The Navhind Times, Goa between 6 April 2013 and 20 April 2013. The Salt of the Earth, a collection of eleven selected short stories of hers translated into English by Augusto Pinto was published in 2017 by Goa 1556 publishers. It contains a Preface by Dr Jayanti Naik and an Afterword by the translator entitled 'The Bahujan Writes Back'. The stories in this volume are 1) Biyantul: A Cinderella Story; 2) The Fulfillment of a Desire; 3) The Victory; 4) The Curse of Vozhrho; 5) An Account of Her Life; 6) Ramaa 7) Naman: The Invocations: 8) Fil'Mine Mana; 9) Life Sentence; 10) Uma and the Human Sacrifice; 11) Basvo: The Nandi Bull.

Publications

Naik is a prolific author and besides folklore has written literature in a variety of genres including short stories, poetry, drama and children's literature. A list of her books is appended. # Garjan (Short Stories, 1989) # Ratha Tujea Ghudeo (Folklore, 1992) # Kaner Khunti Nari (Folklore, 1993) # Talay Ukhal’li Khellyani (Folklore, 1993) # Manalim Geetam (Folklore, 1993) # Amonem – Ek Lokjinn mona – Folk Culture(Folklore, 1993) # Pednecho Dosro he Dussehra Festival of Pernem(Folklore, 1995) # Nagsherachem Sur he Voice of Nagsher(Folklore, 1996) # Lokbimb (Folklore, 1998) # Sorpanchi Karamat Snake's Traits(Translation, 1998) # Konknni Lokkanyo onkani Folk Tales(Folklore, 2000) # Vaghmamachi Fajitee ncle Tiger's Comeuppance(Children's Literature, 2000) # Chad Shanyank Fatrachem Shith he Over Smart Ones Get Stones in Their Rice(Children's Literature, 2001) # Athang (Short Stories, 2002) # Navrangi Phul he Flower of Nine Colours(Children's Literature, 2002) # Bhurgheamkhatir Lokkanyo olk Tales for Children(Children's Literature, 2002) # Karlechi Banvad he Banvad of Karla Village???(Folklore, 2002) # Sanulyanchi Kavnulam (Children's Literature, 2004) # Goenchim Lokkala oan Folklore(Children's Literature, 2004) # Ganvran (Folklore, 2005) # Rajratna (Folklore, 2005) # Lokrang (Folklore, 2008) # Lokmanthan olk Churning(Folklore, 2008) # Venchik Lokkannio olk Tales from Everywhere(Folklore, 2008) # Kukumadevichi Deepmaal (Drama, 2009) # Mirgveno (Poems, 2010) # Visarjan mmersion(Translation, 2012) # Deshantaricheo Lokkatha - Bhag 1 olktales from .....(Folklore, 2013) # Kalmayaa almaya ...(Drama, 2014) # Mhaji Mati, Mhaji Mansha y Land and My People(Sketches, 2015) # The Salt of the Earth: Stories from Rustic Goa translated with an Afterword by Augusto Pinto (Goa 1556) (Short Stories in English, 2017) # Gutbandh (Folklore essays in Marathi, 2019) # Aart (Short Stories, 2019) A collection of 9 essays by various critics on her Konkani short stories are collected in Jayantichi Katha: Aswaad ani Samiksha ed. Avadhut Amonkar, Rajaee Publications, 2006. This book also contains a detailed biographical and bibliographical information about her till 2005. Detailed interviews with Jayanti Naik appeared in Jaag monthly in September 1998, in the March -May issue of Jaag in 2005, as well as in Goa Today in March 2005.

Awards and recognition

She is the recipient of a number of State and National level awards, most noteworthy of which are the Kala Akademi Literary Award in 2002; the Dr TMA Pai Foundation's Best Konkani Book award for Konknni Lokkanyo in 2002; Sahitya Akademi Literary Award in 2004 for her collection of short stories ‘Athang’; and the Yashadamini Puraskar in 2009. She was awarded the 2019

Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize or Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation is a literary honour in India, presented by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, given to "outstanding translations of creative and critical works" in 24 m ...

for her translation of the Hindi novel Zindaginama by

Krishna Sobti Krishna Sobti (18 February 1925 – 25 January 2019) was an Indian Hindi-language fiction writer and essayist. She won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1980 for her novel ''Zindaginama'' and in 1996, was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the ...

into Konkani.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naik, Jayanti 1962 births Living people People from South Goa district Konkani-language writers Women writers from Goa Indian folklorists Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Konkani 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Women folklorists Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation