SAHARSA, April 1 -- Sahitya Akademi awardee, 2025, for his memoirs in Maithili called Dhatri Paat San Gaam, renowned writer Prof Mahendra is a worried man seeing the world sitting on explosives. He hopes literature will restore the glorious past to pave the way for a shining future.

Prof Mahendra who was conferred Sahitya Akademi award 2025 on Tuesday at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi, spoke to HT on phone and discussed importance of literature in finding peace in a society ravaged by conflicts.

His memoirs are his reminiscences from childhood to the world of letters.

He recalls how he used to discover the reasons for his father's sadness. "Whenever I found my father sad, I used to go to my mother to know the reasons for his sadness. My ...