Janum Singh Soy

Janum Singh Soy is a retired professor of Hindi and a poet, novelist and editor who writes in the Ho language of Jharkhand. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of literature and education, from Jharkhand ^[1].

A teacher’s career

Soy was born on 8 August 1950 into the Ho community, a Scheduled Tribe ^[2]. He took a BA with honours in Hindi from Tata College, Chaibasa, in 1971 and an MA from Ranchi University in 1974 ^[2]. In 1977 he was appointed to the first post in the Hindi department at Ghatsila College, and he later headed the Hindi department at Kolhan University in Chaibasa ^[2]. His 1991 doctorate studied the literary and cultural side of Ho folk songs ^[2].

Writing in Ho

Over almost 40 years he has helped build a written literature in Ho ^[2]. His first book of poems, Baha Sagen (part 1), came out in 2009 ^[2]. The same year he published Ho Kudi, described as the only novel in Ho; it is written in the Devanagari script and has been on the syllabus of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission and Kolhan University since 2009 ^[2]. Further poetry collections followed between 2010 and 2013, and in 2013 he edited Aadhunik Ho Shisht Kavya, a collection of modern Ho poetry ^[2].

Honours

He received a prize for Ho Kudi as best novel in 2012, an award named after the Ho scholar Lako Bodra in 2014, and a lifetime achievement award from a Ho community body in 2021 ^[2].