Damayanti Sinku (1961- ): Author Profile
Community: Ho people
Dr. Damayanti Sinku (दमयन्ती सिंक) is an essential voice in contemporary Adivasi literature whose work has significantly contributed to the preservation of the Ho language. Sinku was born in Khairpal village in the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand on December 10, 1961. She went on the receive a B.A. degree in Hindi, followed by an M.A. and Ph.D. in Ho language and literature. Her Ph.D. thesis was titled: "Ho Janjati mein Ba Geet: Ek Sanskritik Adhyayan" (Ba Songs in the Ho Tribe: A Cultural Study). After a brief foray in the rural development sector, Sinku returned to academia and became a key figure in tribal language studies as a professor of the Ho language at the Department of Tribal and Regional Languages at Ranchi University.
Dr. Sinku’s contributions to Ho literature include the Ho-Hindi Dictionary (Kaji Buru) (2007) and several other significant works such as: Singhbhum Ke Shaheed Ladaka 'Ho' ("The Martyrs of Singhbhum", 2015), Ho: Ek Parichay (Ho: An Introduction), Puti Reya Seteng Dabura Ko (a pamphlet that lists several important texts in the Ho language), Ho-Vyakaran Ondo Nibandhavali (Ho Grammar and Essays), Marad Gomake Jaypal Singh (Ho translation), and Ho Seekh (Learn Ho).
Sinku often brings her academic background and interest in Ho language, history, and culture to her poetry as well. Her poem "Our Jharkhand" captures this by blending references to the natural beauty of the land with the names of important figures from Adivasi history. This is also seen in Singhbhum Ke Shaheed Ladaka 'Ho' (2015), a collection of essays about people and events from Jharkhand's history such as the Kharsawan Massacre of 1948 and the Gua Massacre of 1980.