(This article has been republished from The Quint’s archives on the occasion of Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s death anniversary. It was first published on 27 November 2015.)
Harivansh Rai Bachchan, the torchbearer of Chhayavaad or the romantic upsurge in Hindi literature, always introduced himself humbly with these lines.
A body of clay, a mind full of play, a moment’s life – that is me.
There is a playfulness in his words, even as he gives us a sense of life and its challenges and the lyrical beauty of his rebellious thoughts still make him stand out as a poet and writer. We pay a tribute to the great poet on his death anniversary.
His earliest work Madhushala is still a popular favourite and has been recited by his son, the iconic film actor Amitabh Bachchan as well as music legend Manna Dey.
Amitabh Bachchan often shares his love for his father’s poems with his fans via his personal blog.
Poets be not old or young... poetry be not old or young... it simply be dead or alive... those that are dead may never be revived by the assurance of words, opinions of many and the false breathing of minds... But those that are alive, may never be destroyed by the written nonsensical observes... critic postulations... or coffee house insults...
That is the summation of Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan, PhD from Cambridge, poet and philosopher extraordinaire, loving Father and devoted husband, will powered, firm in belief, and disciplined beyond repair... As the hour glass dissolves the sand particles into the emptiness of the vessel beneath… the silence of my new location, eats into my very skin... destroys its ambiance of sound and climbs up onto the peak of imagination and blog writing. There is not much to say of one that has had so much to say on all and every... there is not much to say of one that has discovered the essence of life itself... there is not much to say of any Father that has left us, traveled beyond and has believed that in his ‘going’, he was wishing to be in a space that was well founded and divine ..May his presence in the ultimate divine be equally rewarding and sublime... for that is what we would have wished for...
On Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s birth anniversary, we join Big B in his tribute to his father, one of India’s most revolutionary poets, who was lovingly nicknamed Bachchan (meaning ‘kid’) by his parents.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)