The re[no]bel Poet

Mere adharon par ho antim, vastu na tulsidal pyaalaa ..
Meri jiwha par ho antim, vastu na gangaajal haalaa..
Mere shav ke peechhe chalne waalo, yaad ise rakhnaa..
 Ram naam hai satya na kehnaa, kehnaa sachchee Madhushaala..

The stanza has been taken from the famous poem ‘MADHUSHALA’, but these words may not sound very familiar to all. However this is the writing of a great romantic revolutionary of Hindi poetry who no longer is physically present between us but will stay alive through his work 

Dr. HARIVANSHRAI BACHCHAN’ passed away silently into the night on January 18, 2003, immersing the world of Hindi poetry in darkness forever. Dr Bachchan was 94 yrs and had been suffering from serious respiratory ailments for quite sometime. However his condition became bad to worse in the last few days so much so that an intensive care unit had to be set at Amitab Bachchan’s residence ‘Prateeksha’.

Fame knocks at his door

Dr. Bachchan or rather Bachchanji as he was popularly called, got instant fame after the publication of his poem Madhushala in 1935. Till date he must have published some 30 collections of his poetry, but he is known mostly for his poetic trilogy of Madhushaala, Madhubaala and Madhukalash, and more so for the first of these. Bachchanji recited this poem on different occasions to huge crowds and at various kavi sammelans, as it became a literary craze. 

His stardom was an unique occurring in Hindi literature as it was mostly the gift of the 135 versed poem- Madhushaala, which undoubtedly is one of the most enduring works of Hindi literature. This amazing popularity of Madhushaala could be a coincidance or a zara hatke style of writing compared to the then existing of Chaayavaadi poetry. As it happened in the year 1935, which saw the appearance of Kaamayani (a Prabhand Kavya) (classic poetry) which was represented by Hindi Chaayavaadi (romantic) poetry, and Premchand’s Godaan which was directed towards the aesthetics of the future. The Chaayavaadi school followed a particular style of lyricism and included spiritual and mythological motifs. However the idealism of this school could not break free from the element of mystery and used a polished language that the common man could not understand. This is one of the reasons that Madhushaala made a place for itself in the hearts of millions with a simply understandable language and imagination. Thus making a poetic affirmation of writing for the people in a language which common man could read and understand himself. Thus Madhushaala has been translated into English and various regional Indian languages such as Bengali, Marathi and Malayalam. It has been choreographed, and performed on stage too. It also happens to be the first pieces of Hindi poetry that was set to music, with its best-selling cassettes and CDs attracting generations of listeners.

It is little wonder that Bachchanji got a rousing reception and became a literary superstar of his time. But despite his great popularity, his initial breakthrough did not lead to the sustained growth a poet because after madhushala a literary revolution brought about a strong stream of emerging poets who broke free of the limitations of the Chaayaavadi concept thus diversifying the essence of romanticism. But Bachchanji stuck to his romantic idiom and continued to run in a parallel stream.

 The post-independence period had Bachchanji become a popular poet from a bygone era. Although he continued to write and publish he never again quite managed to reproduce that inspiration. However, he carved out another niche for himself decades later with his autobiography in four volumes, beginning with “Kya Bhoolun Kya Yaad Karoon” (what to forget and what to remember), which is regarded even now as a literary masterpiece. Rupert Snell, translated this work into English and the synopsis has been entitled ‘In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography’. In a literary career spanning over more than 50 years, Bachchanji captured the imagination of readers and continued to hold it with an unbroken series achievements.

Making of Dr. Harivanshrai Bachchan

Harivanshrai Srivastav was born on 27th November 1907, in an ordinary Kayasth family in a small town near Allahabad. He was called “bachchan” at home, which means “child.” He received his formal schooling in a municipal school and attended Kayasth Paathshaalas to learn Urdu, which was the family tradition so as to help getting jobs in court. He completed his later education both at the Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University. Since he gave up his university education to participate in the great upsurge of nationalism that began in 1930.

However he realized shortly that this was not the path he wanted to follow, so he went back to university. However from 1941 to 1952 he taught in the English Department at the Allahabad University and after that he spent the next two years at Cambridge University doing his doctoral thesis on W.B. Yeats. It was then, that he used ‘Bachchan’ as his last name instead of Srivasta. Bachchanji’s thesis got him his PhD at Cambridge. He however is the second Indian to get his doctorate in English literature from Cambridge. After returning to India he again took to teaching and also served at All India Radio, Allahabad.

In 1955, Bachchan shifted to Delhi to join the External Affairs Ministry as an officer on Special duty and during the period of 10 years that he served he was also associated with the evolution of Hindi as the official language. He also enriched Hindi through his translations of major writings. Besides Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, he will also be remembered for his Hindi translations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Othello and also the Bhagvad Gita. However in Nov 1984 he wrote his last poem ‘Ek November1984’ on Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

Personal life

He got married to Shyama his first wife in 1926. She was just 14 yrs old. But she died 10 yrs later after suffering from a long spell of TB. Shortly after her death Bachchanji married Teji Suri in 1942. The birth of his two sons Amitabh and Ajitabh changed the course of his life as his days of hardship ended when both his sons did extremely well in their careers – Amitabh became a superstar and a multi billionair and Ajitab turned out to be a successful business magnate in England

AWARDS

Bachchan was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1966 and received the Sahitya Akademi award three years later. In 1976 he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his immense contribution to Hindi literature. He was also honoured with the Saraswati Samman, the Sovietland Nehru Award and the Lotus Award of the Afro-Asian writers conference, for his unique contribution to the world of letters. But if ever asked to introduce himself, he had a simple introduction: Mitti ka tan, masti ka man, kshan-bhar jivan — mera parichay. (A body of clay, a mind full of play, a moment’s life - that is me.) Truly a man of erudition and zest.

Thus to conclude few lines from his own poem Madhushala

 Kabhi na kand bhar hkali hoga,
  Laakh piyenge, do laakh piyenge,
  Patthakgan hain pinewale
  Pustak meri madhushala  

[Never will the cup empty, no matter how many people drink from it. The readers are the ones who will drink from my book-Madhushaala]