Sumitranandan Pant: The man who revolutionized Hindi literature

Sumitranandan Pant one of the famous poets of the twentieth century was famous for romanticizing his poems inspired by nature, people and their beauty. He was born on May 20, in Kausani village in Uttrakahnd into an educated middle-class Brahmin family in the year 1900.

He enrolled in Queens College in Banaras in 1918. He began reading the works of Rabindranath Tagore and Sarojini Naidu. He also read about English Romantic poets such as Wordsworth and Blake. These poets had a major impact on his life and work.

He published Pallav in 1926. His work made him famous and earned him recognition. He came to be associated with Hindi renaissance. He expressed dissatisfaction through his book and said: "think in one language and express themselves in another."

One of the major poets fo the Chhayavvadi school of Hindi Literature, he wrote mostly in Sanskritized Hindi. He authored twenty-eight published works including poetry, verse plays and essays.

He also wrote progressive, socialist and humanist poems. David Rubin talking about Pant once said: "In the early forties the new psychological and experimental "schools" were emerging. It was typical of both Nirala and Pant that they themselves anticipated these trends and, by the time the new approaches were in vogue, they had already moved on to newer areas of experimentation.

Source: https://www.devdiscourse.com/Article/agency-wire/8154-sumitranandan-pant-the-man-who-revolutionized-hindi-literature

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Women and Urdu Literature

Urdu literature is coming to its own. Due to the Progressive Writers’ Movement, and the subsequent addition of European-like genres and styles into the literary tradition of Urdu, as it has been explored, it was only a matter of time before women would begin writing and enriching the largely male-dominated sphere of language. Just recently, in June 2017, in a mushaira held in Delhi, many women poets read their unique, innovative poems, which did not necessarily follow any traditional Urdu approach. And perhaps that is why, they will give new direction to Urdu poetry, and help it from becoming a stagnating literary tradition focussed solely on ghazals and shers of poets of a bygone era. In this interview, Professor Rakhshanda

Jalil gives an insight into the contribution of women to the Urdu literary canon, and of how the landscape is slowly, but surely, changing in their favour.

Not necessarily ‘crude’,’obscene’. It was considered ‘gharelu’, of the domestic realm, so that it would be more flavoursome, more idiomatic, like more pungent. Not necessarily crude, I wouldn’t use that word. But the distinction between high literature and low literature being so sharp, that ‘rekhti’ was considered closer to folk, as it were. There were established poets even in the Mughal empire – a man called Nazni, who is mentioned in this wonderful book which you must read (it is available in English translation, translated by Akhtar Khambar). It was a book written by Mirza Baig. It is called The Last Mushaira of Delhi or Dilli Ki Aakhari Kshama, and it is like a galaxy of greats. It is a fictional account of a mushaira that could well have taken place – we don’t know whether it actually did – but the who’s who’s, from Ghalib, to Mir, to
Dagh, just about everybody, is there. And this man Nazni is there. (He is a real character, not a fictional character). And Nazni writes in ‘Rekhti’.

So what I am trying to say is that the presence of rekhti poets, of men writing in women’s voices is there almost till the Mutiny times. So we have had established poets reading in mainstream mushairas in women’s rekhti idiom.

But why did they use it?

It was just a genre, it was a bonafide style. And Nazni did a bit of histrionics as well. He would ask for an ‘odhni’ to be brought, and he would put that on, and he would speak on women’s issues, women’s saas, bahu, etc. – that kind of thing. And he would use the women’s idiom, the ‘muhavare-wali zabaan’. ‘Muhavaras’ are in the realm of low ‘geet’. It never had the place in standard Urdu.

And do look out for this book, if at all you’re interested by Carla Petievich called When Men Speak as Women.

There is a tradition like this even in Hindi literature….

Of course, the baara-masa tradition. And why just Hindi, in all the bhaashas, baara-masa tradition – which is a poetry of ‘viraah’ (separation) from the beloved who is gone, which could be romantic, it could be secular, and it can be religious. So the notion of ‘viraah’ has been picked up by the baara-masa poets in Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi, Braj, Khadi Boli, Urdu

Source: http://anandfoundation.com/women-urdu-literature/

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This city based theatre group is reviving classic Hindi literature

The year was 1958. Prolific Hindi writer Mohan Rakesh had penned down a fictitious story on the mythological character of Kalidas. Ashadh Ka Ek Din was a three-part Hindi drama, where, contrary to the existing norms, Kalidas was not a mystic. He was a common man, living in Kashmir with his lover Mallika, leading an average family life. The play was a realist drama coupled with human emotions including rage, mirth and jealousy.

This refreshing approach to mythology made Kalidas a relatable character for the first time in the history of Hindi literature. The play went on to spur the beginning of a new movement in Hindi literature called the Nai Kahani (New Story) movement. The idea was to challenge the idealistic nature of Hindi writing and emphasise on real time social issues such as social inequality, disparity and injustice. Moreover, the stories belonging to this period had no sense of catharsis and provided no false hope of a better tomorrow.

“Rakesh’s stories and the works of his contemporaries such as Premchand and Manto have alarming relevance even in the 21st century. Despite that, Hindi literature is fast disappearing from bookstores. So, we took up the challenge to revive these stories,” says actor KC Shankar. Along with his troupe Jashn-e-Qalam, Shankar has been staging dramatic readings of works by authors like Manto and Harishankar Parsai since November 2014. The troupe will perform Mohan Rakesh’s Parmatma Ka Kutta, Chhoti Si Cheez and Uski Roti on November 28.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/this-city-based-theatre-group-is-reviving-classic-hindi-literature/story-rqyKT8onc1RkD4IFqSqxcK.html

Read more about: Hindi Literature Video