Mumbai, Oct 10 (IANS) Senior Gujarati journalist Hiren Mehta Saturday bagged the Lalit Essay Award 2008 of the Maharashtra Rajya Gujarati Sahitya Akademi, an official said.
Akademi president Hemraj Shah said that Mehta, a senior editor with the leading Gujarati magazine Chitralekha, has bagged the prestigious award for his book “Ajab Duniya Andaman-ni.”

It is an eye-opener account of the several weeks the Mumbai-based Mehta spent in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2007, and compiled in a book form last year, Shah said.

Well-known Gujarati author Varsha Adalja has bagged the first prize for her novel, “Partham Paglu Mandyu,” while the second prize went to Indu K.D. Mehta for her novel “Aakhri Padav”.

In the Short Story category, the first prize has been awarded to Utpal Bhayani for his work, “Wahivat,” and the second prize is for Vanlata Mehta for her short story “Ek Daglu Aagal.”

Two people share the top honours in the poetry category - Mukesh Joshi for “Be Pankti Na Gharm,” and Sandeep Bhatia for “Kaach Nadi Ne Pehle Kaanthe”.

Similarly, the second prize has also gone to two poets - Nita Ramaiya for “Rang Dariyo Jee Re” and Hiten Anandpara for “Ek Pinchhu Hawama Tare Chhe”.

In the category for children’s literature, Dhiruben Patel bagged the top prize for her work “Sutarpheni”, while Hansa P. Kumar gets the second prie for “Nainle Tedavu Neender Pari Ne”.

The first prize in each category is Rs.15,000 and the second prize is Rs.10,000, Shah said.