Harivansh Rai Bachchan was an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is best known for his early work Madhushala. He was also the husband of social activist, Teji Bachchan, father of Amitabh Bachchan and Ajitabh Bachchan, and grandfather of Abhishek Bachchan. In 1976, he received the Padma Bhushan for his service to Hindi literature.
Bachchan was born at Babupatti, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in British India on 27 November 1907 into an Awadhi Hindu Kayastha family. His family name was Srivastav. He began using the pen name "Bachchan" (meaning child) instead of Srivastava when he wrote Hindi poetry. From 1941 to 1957, 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, completing a PhD on W.B. Yeats.
Bachchan was fluent in several Hindi languages (Hindustani and Awadhi). He incorporated a broadly Hindustani vocabulary, written in Devanagari script. While he could not read Persian script, he was influenced by Persian and Urdu poetry, particularly Omar Khayyam.
Bachchan's work has been used in movies and music. For example, couplets of his work "Agneepath" are used throughout the 1990 film Agneepath, featuring his son Amitabh Bachchan, and also later in the 2012 remake Agneepath, starring Hrithik Roshan. and recently in the TV Serial Ishqbaaz.
Harivansh Rai Bachchan is renowned for the iconic 142-verse lyrical poem "Madhushala" (The House of Wine), which he released in 1935 and is still being celebrated today. His work revolutionized Hindi poetry and was soon rendered into English and other Indian languages. The poem was wildly popular and it was no surprise when it made its way onto the stage as a performed piece. His poetic trilogy included "Madhushala", alongside the other two works "Madhubaala" and "Madhukalash".
He has become well-known due to the success of this trilogy. His four-part autobiography commenced with the publication of 'Kya bhooloon kya yaad karoon' in 1969. In 1970, the second part of the series 'Need ka nirmaan fir' was printed and then in 1977, the third instalment 'Basere se door' was released. After a long wait, the last section of the book 'Dashdwaar se sopaan tak' was eventually printed in 1985.
The series was met with great acclaim and Rupert Snell was commissioned to translate an abridged version into English, which was published in 1998 and titled 'In the Afternoon of Time'. This is a renowned work that is now seen as a ground-breaking achievement in Hindi literature.
Bachchan was a very talented writer, having released up to thirty collections of poetry, essays, travelogues and even some songs for the Hindi film industry during his time as a teacher and in the External Affairs ministry. He was not shy to perform his poems in front of large groups of people, leaving them mesmerized. He wrote his poem 'Ek November 1984' that was dedicated to Indira Gandhi in November 1984, shortly after her assassination.
As we told you that Bachchan ji had written many poems as a prominent literary poet and he was honored with many honors and awards for this, which we have mentioned below.
Harivansh Rai Bachchan passed away in 2003 at the age of 95. He was afflicted with breathing problems. His wife died four years later at the age of 93.
After the demise of his first wife in 1936, Harivansh Rai Bachchan married Teji Suri in 1942. As per his own admission, his marriage to Teji changed the course of his life and his poetry. His literary career thrived, resulting in a 63-year-old literary journey. Harivansh Rai Bachchan fathered 2 renowned sons; Amitabh Bachchan who became a renowned Bollywood actor and Ajitabh Bachchan, a businessman. During his stint in Delhi, Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan developed a close friendship with Indira Gandhi and blended into the social intellectual circles of Delhi. The husband-wife duo, throughout their career, sought to promote Hindi as the national, official language of India and represented India on various international and cultural forums.
Bachchan married Shyama Bachchan in 1926. The latter died of tuberculosis in 1936. In 1941, he married Teji Suri.
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