Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Harivanshrai "Bachchan" Srivastav (November 27, 1907ndash January 18, 2003) was a distinguished Hindi poet of Chhayavaad literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century Hindi literature. He is best known for his early work Madhushala (मधुशाला) [ [http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2003/stories/20030214007511800.htm Harivanshrai Bachchan, 1907-2003] Obituary, Frontline, (The Hindu), February 01 - 14, 2003.] . He is also the father of Bollywood film superstar, Amitabh Bachchan.

Biography

He was born as Harivanshrai Srivastav into a U.P. Kayasth family on November 27, 1907, at a small village (of Patti, in district of Pratapgarh, U.P.) near Allahabad in the United Provinces (modern Uttar Pradesh). He was called "bachchan" (meaning 'child') at home. He received his formal schooling in a municipal school and followed the family tradition of attending "Kayasth Paathshaalas (कायस्थ पाठशाला)" to learn Urdu as the first step to a career in law. He later studied at the Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University. In this period, he came under the influence of the independence movement, then under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

In 1926, at the age of 19, Bachchan married his first wife, Shyama, who was then 14 years old. However she died ten years later in 1936 after a long spell of TB at just 24 years of age. Bachchan married his second wife, Teji Suri, a Sikh, in 1941. The marriage produced two sons, Amitabh and Ajitabh.

From 1941 to 1952 he taught English at Allahabad University and then spent two years at Cambridge University, at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. There he studied with the famous English literature don, Thomas Rice Henn, and received a doctorate in English Literature for his work on the Irish poet W.B. Yeats. It was then that he used 'Bachchan' as his last name instead of Srivastav. Bachchan was the second Indian to get his doctorate in English literature from Cambridge University.

Returning to India, he taught briefly and then worked as a producer for All India Radio, Allahabad. In 1955, Harivanshrai moved to Delhi to join the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India and there he was closely involved with the evolution of Hindi as the official language of the nation.

Bachchan used to introduce himself as "Mitti ka tan, masti ka man, kshan-bhar jivanndash mera parichay. (मिट्टी का तन, मस्ती का मन, क्षण भर जीवन, मेरा परिचय)" (A body of clay, a mind full of play, a moment’s life - that is me).

Harivanshrai Bachchan died on January 18, 2003, at the age of 95, as a result of various respiratory ailments. His widow Teji Bachchan died three years later in 2007, at the age of 93.

Work

He is best known for his early lyric poems "Madhushala (मधुशाला)" ("The House of Wine"), first published in 1935, which was later translated into English and many regional Indian languages including Bengali, Marathi and Malayalam. It forms part of a trilogy, along with "Madhubala (मधुबाला)" (1936) and "Madhukalash (मधुकलश)"(1937) [ [http://society.indianetzone.com/literature/1/madhushala.htm Madhushala] indianetzone.com.] .

Bachchan published about 30 volumes of poetry. He translated Shakespeare's Macbeth and Othello, Omar Khayyam's "Rubaiyat", the "Bhagavad Gita (भगवत गीता)" and W.B. Yeats into Hindi. His works include "Nisha Nimantran (निशा निमंत्रण)", "Khadi Ke Phool (खादी के फूल)", "Ekant Sangeet (एकांत संगीत)" and "Satrangini (सतरंगिनी)". In November, 1984, he wrote his last poem "Ek November 1984" on Indira Gandhi’s assassination. Though not officially, he is considered in literary circles in India as the last "Rashtriya Kavi" (National Poet). His rendition of Madhushala was broadcast on All India Radio is still available.

His autobiography, consisting of four volumes namely Kya bhooloon kya yaad karoon (क्या भूलूं क्या याद करूं), Need ka nirmaan fir (नीड़ का निर्माण फिर), Basere se door (बसेरे से दूर) and Dashdwaar se sopaan tak (दशद्वार से सोपान तक) (abridged and translated into English as "In the Afternoon of Time") was chosen for the Saraswati Samman (सरस्वती सम्मान).

Honors

Bachchan was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament in 1966, and received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1969. In 1976, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan and the Saraswati Samman for his contribution to Hindi literature. In 1994, he was conferred with the "Yash Bharati" Samman by the Government of Uttar Pradesh. [http://news.webindia123.com/news/new/archives/ar_showdetails.asp?id=601160411&cat=India&n_date=2006] He is a recipient of the Soviet Land Nehru Award and the Lotus Award of the Afro-Asian writers conference. In 2003, an Indian postage stamp was released in his memory.

Other Information

* The creator of the great collection 'Madhushala (मधुशाला)' is often thought to be a great admirer of wonder solutions himself. It is wrongly believed that the creator of one of the most famous poems on wine (Madhushala) never drank liquor. In reality, he had never drank liquor till the time he completed Madhushala. He did drink, although sparingly, later in his life, a fact that he admits to in his autobiographyv.

Agneepath

One of his inspirational poems, "Agneepath" ("Path of fire"), was used as the theme (and its title as the title) for the 1991 blockbuster movie featuring his superstar son Amitabh Bachchan as a ruthless mafia don. This movie was a massive success earning Amitabh Bachchan a National Award for his performance. You can see Amitabh narrating the poem through out the movie.

The poem describes the entire gamut of sufferings that the human race had gone through and is going through.

Here is the actual poem - "Agneepath":

अग्नि पथ! अग्नि पथ! अग्नि पथ!

वृक्ष हों भले खड़े,हो घने, हो बड़े,एक पत्र-छॉंह भी मॉंग मत, मॉंग मत, मॉंग मत!अग्नि पथ! अग्नि पथ! अग्नि पथ!

तू न थकेगा कभी!तू न थमेगा कभी!तू न मुड़ेगा कभी!-कर शपथ! कर शपथ! कर शपथ!

ये महान दृश्य है, चल रहा मनुष्य है,अश्रु, स्वेद, रक्त सेलथ पथ, लथ पथ, लथ पथअगनीपथ! अगनीपथ! अगनीपथ!

"Vriksh ho bhale khade, ho ghane ho bade,""Ek pat chhav ki mang mat, mang mat, mang mat""Agneepath Agneepath Agneepath."

"Tu na thakega kabhi, tu na thamega kabhi, tu na mudega kabhi,""Kar shapath, kar shapath, kar shapath,""Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath."

"Ye mahaan drishya hai, chal raha manushya hai,""Ashru swed raqt se lathpath, lathpath, lathpath,""Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath."

Works

Poems (काव्य)
* Tera haar (तेरा हार) (1932)
* Madhushala (मधुशाला) (1935)
* Madhubala (मधुबाला) (1936)
* Madhukalash (मधुकलश) (1937)
* Nisha Nimantran (निशा निमंत्रण) (1938)
* Ekaant Sangeet (एकांत संगीत) (1939)
* Aakul Antar (आकुल अंतर) (1943)
* Satarangini (सतरंगिनी) (1945)
* Halaahal (हलाहल) (1946)
* Bengal ka Kaavya (बंगाल का काव्य) (1946)
* Khaadi ke Phool (खादी के फूल) (1948)
* Soot ki Maala (सूत की माला) (1948)
* Milan Yamini (मिलन यामिनी) (1950)
* Pranay Patrika (प्रणय पत्रिका) (1955)
* Dhaar ke idhar udhar (धार के इधर उधर) (1957)
* Aarti aur Angaare (आरती और अंगारे) (1958)
* Buddha aur Naachghar (बुद्ध और नाचघर) (1958)
* Tribhangima (त्रिभंगिमा) (1961)
* Chaar kheme Chaunsath khoonte (चार खेमे चौंसठ खूंटे) (1962)
* Do Chattane (दो चट्टानें) (1965)
* Bahut din beete (बहुत दिन बीते) (1967)
* Kat-ti pratimaaon ki awaaz (कटती प्रतिमाओं की आवाज़) (1968)
* Ubharte pratimaano ke roop (उभरते प्रतिमानों के रूप) (1969)
* Jaal sameta (जाल समेटा) (1973)

Miscellaneous (विविध)
* Bachpan ke saath kshan bhar (बचपन के साथ क्षण भर) (1934)
* Khaiyyam ki madhushala (खय्याम की मधुशाला) (1938)
* Sopaan (सोपान) (1953)
* Mcbeth (1957)
* Jangeet (जनगीता) (1958)
* Othello (1959)
* Omar Khaiyyam ki rubaaiyan (उमर खय्याम की रुबाइयाँ) (1959)
* Kaviyon ke saumya sant: Pant (कवियों के सौम्य संत: पंत) (1960)
* Aaj ke lokpriya hindi kavi: Sumitranandan Pant (आज के लोकप्रिय हिन्दी कवि: सुमित्रानंदन पंत) (1960)
* Aadhunik kavi: 7 (आधुनिक कवि: ७) (1961)
* Nehru: Raajnaitik jeevanchitra (नेहरू: राजनैतिक जीवनचित्र) (1961)
* Naye puraane jharokhe (नये पुराने झरोखे) (1962)
* Abhinav sopaan (अभिनव सोपान) (1964)
* Chausath roosi kavitaayein (चौसठ रूसी कवितायें) (1964)
* W.B. Yeats and Occultism (1968)
* Markat dweep ka swar (मरकट द्वीप का स्वर) (1968)
* Naagar geet (नागर गीत) (1966)
* Bachpan ke lokpriya geet (बचपन के लोकप्रिय गीत) (1967)
* Hamlet (1969)
* Bhaasha apni bhaav paraaye (भाषा अपनी भाव पराये) (1970)
* Pant ke sau patra (पंत के सौ पत्र) (1970)
* Pravaas ki diary (प्रवास की डायरी) (1971)
* King Lear (1972)
* Tooti Chooti kadiyan (टूटी छूटी कड़ियां) (1973)
* Meri kavitaayi ki aadhi sadi (मेरी कविताई की आधी सदी) (1981)
* So-ham hans (सोहं हंस) (1981)
* Aathve dashak ki pratinidhi shreshth kavitaayein (आठवें दशक की प्रतिनिधी श्रेष्ठ कवितायें) (1982)
* Meri shreshth kavitaayein (मेरी श्रेष्ठ कवितायें) (1984)
* Jo beet gai so Bat gai

Autobiography / Rachanavali (आत्मकथा / रचनावली)
* Kya bhooloon kya yaad karoon (क्या भूलूं क्या याद करूं) (1969)
* Need ka nirmaan fir (नीड़ का निर्माण फिर) (1970)
* Basere se door (बसेरे से दूर) (1977)
* Dashdwaar se sopaan tak (दशद्वार से सोपान तक) (1965), In the Afternoon of Time [http://www.amazon.com/Afternoon-Time-Autobiography-Harivansh-Bachchan/dp/0670881589/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208694070&sr=1-2]
* Bachchan rachanavali ke nau khand (बच्चन रचनावली के नौ खण्ड) (1983)

References

* [http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/18bach1.htm Obituary] at Rediff web portal.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2673563.stm news report] of Bachchan's death on BBC news.
* [http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2003/stories/20030214007511800.htm Sharma, Rajendra (2003) "Obituary: The romantic rebel: Harivanshrai Bachchan, 1907-2003" "Frontline, India's National Magazine" 20(3): February 01-14, 2003] .
* [http://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF_%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%9A%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%A8 Harivansh Rai Bachchan's profile on the Hindi Wikipedia]

External links

* [http://hi.literature.wikia.com/wiki/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF_%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%9A%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%A8 Harivanshrai Bachchan at Kavita Kosh] hi icon
* [http://sanskritdocuments.org/hindi/literature/madhushaalaa_unic.html Madhushala in Hindi] hi icon
* [http://www.geocities.com/hrbachchan Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan - A comprehensive resource of information about the great Hindi poet] hi icon
* [http://www.4to40.com/poems/index.asp?article=poems_madhushala Madhushala (displayed as images on HTML page)] hi icon
* [http://sanskrit.gde.to/hindi/literature/madhushaalaa.pdf Madhushala in PDF format] hi icon
* [http://vijayshri.friendcircles.com/ Hindi Madhushala] hi icon
* [http://www.abhayasharma.net/htmldocs/harivanshrai1.htm Birth Centenary Celebration of Dr. Harivanshrai Bachchan]