ENGLISH PROJECT WORK

POET

HARIVANSHA RAI BACHCHAN

INTRODUCTION• Harivansh Rai Shrivastav alias

Bachchan (Hindi: हरि�वं�श ��य बच्चन) (27 November 1907 – 18 January 2003), was a noted Indian poet of Chhayavaad literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a famous poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is best known for his early work Madhushala (मधु�श�ला�). He is also the father of Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan.

PERSONAL LIFE AND EDUCATION

Born in a Srivastava Kayastha family, in the village of Babupatti (Raniganj) in the district of Pratapgarh, U.P. he was the eldest son of Pratap Narayan Shrivastav and Saraswati Devi. He was called Bachchan (meaning Kid at home). He received his formal schooling in a municipal school and followed the family tradition of attending Kayastha Paathshaalas to learn Urdu as the first step to a career in law. He later studied at the Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University

From 1941 to 1952 he taught in the English Department at the Allahabad University and after that he spent the next two years at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, Cambridge University doing his doctoral thesis on W.B. Yeats. It was then, that he used ‘Bachchan’ as his last name instead of Srivastava. Harivanshrai’s thesis got him his PhD at Cambridge. After returning to India he again took to teaching and also served at All India Radio, Allahabad.

Career

BACHCHAN’S STYLE

Bachchan used to introduce himself as:-

“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's me)”

His Poems Madhushala Madhubala Madhukalash Nisha Nimantran (1938) Ekaant Sangeet (1939) Aakul Antar (1943) Satarangini (1945) Kaadi ke Phool (1948) Milan Yamini (1950) Pranay Patrika (1955) Buddha aur Naachghar (1958) Tribhangima (1961) Char kheme Chaunsath khoonte

(1962) Do Chattane (1965) Bahut din beete (1967) Kat-ti pratimaaon ki awaaz (1968) Jaal sameta (1973) Nirman

Miscellaneous Bachpan ke saath kshan bhar

(1934) Khaiyyam ki madhushala (1938) Sopaan (1953) Mcbeth (1957) Othello (1959) Omar Khaiyyam ki rubaaiyan

(1959) Abhinav sopaan (1964) W.B. Yeats and Occultism (1968) Naagar geet (1966) Hamlet (1969) Bhaasha apni bhaav paraaye

(1970) Pant ke sau patra) (1970) Pravaas ki diary (1971) King Lear (1972) Tooti Chooti kadiyan (1973) So-ham hans (1981) Jo beet gai so Bat gai

Autobiography / Rachanavali

Kya bhooloon kya yaad karoon (1969)

Need ka nirmaan fir (1970) Basere se door (1977) Dashdwaar se sopaan tak

(1985), In the Afternoon of Time

Bachchan rachanavali ke nau khand (1983)

Awards And Recognition

In 1966, Harivansh Rai Bachchan was nominated to the Rajya Sabha and in 1969 he received the Sahitya Akademi Award. Seven years later the Government of India bestowed on him the Padma Bhushan in recognition for his contribution to Hindi literature. In addition he was also awarded the Sovietland Nehru Award, the Lotus Award of the Afro-Asian writers' conference and the Saraswati Samman. The Uttar Pradesh government conferred him the "Yash Bharati" Samman in 1994. A postage stamp was released in 2003 in his memory.

Works

Harivansh Rai Bachchan is best remembered for his 142 verse lyrical poem "Madhushala" (The House of Wine), which was published in 1935. This work catapulted him as the foremost Hindi poet and was subsequently, translated into English and a number of Indian languages. The poem became a craze and was even performed on stage. "Madhushala" was a part of his poetic trilogy, the other two being Madhubaala and Madhukalash.. In 1969, he published the first of his four part autobiography 'Kya bhooloon kya yaad karoon'. The second part 'Need ka nirmaan fir' was published in 1970, the third 'Basere se door' in 1977 and the last part 'Dashdwaar se sopaan tak' in 1985. The series was well received and an abridged English translation by Rupert Snell, 'In the Afternoon of Time', was published in 1998. It is now considered to be a landmark in Hindi literature.

His Influential Work

One feels a sense of life and playfulness after reading his poems, the two aspects which would become the hallmark of his poetry. In a career that spanned for about 60 years, he was the torch bearer of the Chhayavaad or Romantic upsurge literary movement .There was a time when thousands and thousands would fill into theaters and auditoriums just to listen to him recite his poems, a particular favorite being the epochal 'Madhushala'. His poetry is noted for its lyrical beauty and rebellious attitude with imagery that is unfettered and sensuous that placed him in a different league from his contemporaries in the Chhayavaad movement. Harivansh Rai Bachchan became the epitome of the romantic rebel. Through his poems he focused on the common man's urge for freedom and the sensuousness underlying in this quest, which made him a literary star embraced by the public.

At the age of 95, in 2003, Harivansh Rai Bachchan breathed his last. He was suffering from respiratory ailments. Four years later his wife passed away at the age of 93.

Death

THANK YOU

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