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Chanchala Priyadarshini 01/28/2021 It is twilight in Mumbai and a mother
of twins serves them their evening snack of fruits and biscuits, instructing
them to do their homework. She is rushing to meet some known but mostly unknown
faces on Zoom; she is happy and somewhat nostalgic. Halfway around the world it’s a beautiful
Saturday morning in California, when a teacher wakes up earlier than usual. She
gets ready and wraps her beautiful red sari, while humming in Hindi. A science
teacher on the opposite American coast sets aside her grading and reads through
her notes written in Devanagari script. Meanwhile,
in Houston the morning is hot and humid. A physicist shuffles through papers scattered on her study, finally pulling
out a poetry journal. She flips though the
yellowed pages and rereads the lines of her father’s poem for what may be the thousandth
time. A couple dozen people from different
time zones gather on Zoom at precisely 10 AM Boston time. In Boston, a city of many firsts, Sahitya
Sarit Boston (SSB) has organized a literary arts event a very first of its kind
to recite, revive, remember poetry from classic Hindi literature. This took
place on September 5th, 2020, which is celebrated as the teacher’s
day in India, in honor of great scholar and teacher Dr Radha Krishnan. At this event by Sahitya Sarit Boston
(SSB) honored Hindi poems and poets from the 1400s Bhakti Kaal (Devotional
Age) to 1900s Adhunik Kaal (the
modern age). Chanchala Priyadarshini, the
founder of Sahitya Sarit Boston, inaugurated the event with a verse from the Bhakti-Kaal:
a musical take of Goswami Tulsi Das’ “Madhav
Moh Paas Kyuun Chhute†in Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi . One of the most prominent names of Bhakti
Kaal is Sant Kavi Kabir. He belonged to the Nirgun tradition of Bhakti
Kaal. Dr. Rahul Ray of Boston remembered Kabir, as he beautifully sang Kabir-bani
“Main Gulam teraâ€. This poem talks about complete surrender to the divinity.
Preetpal Singh of Boston also remembered Kabir by reciting a doha “Guru
Gobind Dou Khade Kake Lagoon Paonâ€, where a disciple questions whom to attend
first: his teacher or the god. When we talk about Bhakti kaal, Gurubaani
from Sikhism finds a prominent place in this era. Amandeep Singh, melodiously sang a Shabad
written and composed by fourth guru of Sikhism Sri
Guru Ram Das ji, “Sa Dharti Bhai Hariawaliâ€, meaning wherever my true guru
sits fills with greenery. Another Bhakti Kaal poet, Abdul
Rahim, was remembered, when Dr Vasant Machwe recited his dohe; Chanchala
Priyadarshini also discussed Rahim and his presence as Navaratna of the Delhi
court during Moghul empire, concluding the program with Rahim’s Doha’ “Rahiman
Paani Rakhiyeâ€. From 1903 to 1916 is known as the Dwivedi
era in honor of Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, the first editor of “Saraswatiâ€.
Acharya Diwedi promoted the use of ‘Khari Boli’ as the language of Hindi poetry,
which was previously used in prose, through his magazine. Two poems
written by a prominent poet of this era,
Maithili Sharan Gupt, were presented at the meet. Sonali Jaidka Kanujia of Boston enthusiastically
presented Gupt’s “Nar Ho Na Nirash
Karo Mun Ko,†where poet calls for a person to overcome his/her woes by performing their duties. Amit Khare of Boston soulfully recited verses
from Gupt’s Khand Kavya, ‘Panchavati’.
Khand Kavya’s literal meaning is ‘Epic in Part’; it essentially is a collection
of long poems, depicting scenes from the life of a legend. Panchawati, consists of thirteen
chapters, where the poet illustrates Ram, Sita and Laxman’s stay in the woods
of Panchawati. Ayodhya Singh Upadhyay Hariaudh of the same
era, was also remembered at the meet. Acharya
Hariaudh’s book of poems “PriyE
PrawAs†is considered the first epic of “Khari Boliâ€. Acharya Hariaudh was a great scholar of Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and
English. Parveen Minocha of Boston read his Poem ‘ Ek Boond’, meaning a
droplet. The poem draws a metaphor of a tiny droplet leaving the comfort of his
mother cloud’s lap, bracing to face the open wild world. Continuing with the theme of classic
literature, Mahadevi Verma was represented by two women poets at the meet. Mahadevi Verma is considered one of the four
pioneers of Chhayawaad. The
genre, Chhayawaad, is a beautiful amalgamation of mysticism and
romanticism. Dr. Pallavi Prakash of SNDT
Mumbai discussed Vedana: an intense feeling of longing, and its portrayal
in Mahadevi’s poetry. She read a
poignant poem, “Tum Mujhmein Priye Phir Parichay Kyaâ€. The poem portrays a lover and his beloved becoming
so close that they both lose their own individual identity, and their
boundaries from one another cease to exist. Here words lover and beloved are used symbolically.
Dr. Parul Kumar of Boston melodically
recited Mahadevi Verma’s “Main Neer Bhari Dukh ki Badaleeâ€. The poet metaphorizes
her life to a cloud filled with water representing sadness. Dr. Kumar also shared
some highlights from Mahadevi Verma’s life: she was the founding member of Prayag
Vidyapeeth, a pioneering educational institute for women in the early
1900s. She also headed the Vidyapeeth
for many years, doing tremendous work for women’s education. One of the four founders of Chhayawad,
Sumitranandan Pant was also honored. Pant portrayed vivid imagery of beauty and
love in his poetry. Apart from tender and
emotional poems, he also wrote humanist and socialist poems. Aditi Majumdar of North
Carolina read Pant’s “Vun Vun Upavan†where the poet describes the
beauty of floras on the advent of Spring. Medhavi Malviya of Boston read “Yeh Dharti
Kitana Deti Hai†by Pant. The poem
chronicles a once ignorant child, who planted money in the flowerbed to grow a
money tree, maturing into a responsible adult who cares for humanity. Pragativad Kaal,
meaning progressive
poetry, started roughly at the end of second quarter of twentieth
century. One of the most
prominent poets of this era was Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. He was a
multifaceted poet who wrote tender ballads of love and valorous verses of wars,
penned patriotic poems and scripted epics of mythological era. “Krishn
ki Chetavani†from Dinkar’s famous epic “Rashmirathi†was
recited by Anupam Mishra. The poem describes Krishna’s failed peace proposal to
Kauravas and his final warning to Duryodhan, the eldest son of
Dhritrastra. This lyrical poem depicts both
worldly and divine forms of Krishna. Dinkar was
remembered once again when Maneesh Srivastava of Boston recited one chapter of
the part epic, “Parshuram ki Pratikhaâ€. The poem was written in the early sixties, just
after China’s attack on India. The poem calls on government as well as society for
their patriotism by alluding to Parshuram, the valorous warrior from the
ancient India. In early 1900s many poets were
actively participating in freedom movement and they were writing poems rich in
patriotic tones and flavors. Sohanlaal
Dwivedi was one of the Gandhians and a great poet of that era. Rachana Srivastava of California recited his poem
“Koshish Karane Walo ki Kabhi Haar Nahi Hoti†meaning one who perseveres
will accomplish their goals. Dr. Ila Prasad of Houston, presented a
poem from Dr. Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena who was a pioneer of Prayogwaad kaal,
meaning experimental era. This later evolved to become the Adhunik kaal or
the modern era of Hindi literature. She soulfully recited Saxena’s “Leek Par
Wo Chaleâ€. The poem teaches that feeble and tired feet should walk on a
paved path, whereas courageous people carve their own path. Subhadra Kumari Chauhan was a poetess
of pre-independence India who primarily wrote strong nationalist poetry. Manju
Mishra of California recited Chauha’s poem “Yah Kadamb Ka Ped Agar Maaâ€, a
poem illustrating a child’s imagination. Jyoti Shrivastava of Madhya Pradesh presented
Chauhan’s “Aradhana.†This poem details a woman entering a courtyard,
prepped to meet her cherished divinity; she finds him there meditating for his
own spirit. Fifteenth century and Vaishnav
Bhakti poet Narottam Das Thakur’s bhajan was presented by New England’s Kiran
Nath. She graced the occasion with her soulful singing of his bhajan, “Seesh
Paga Na Jhaga man prabhuâ€. The
bhajan portrayed a devotee’s complete surrender to the almighty. In this meet we heard and paid tribute
to one very prominent name of Indian literature, Gurudev Rabindranth Tagore.
Very few of us know that the versatile poet of Bengali literature also wrote in
Brijboli, a dialect of Hindi, by the pen name “Bhanu Singha.†Swapna Roy
of Boston, a Rabindra Sangeet vocalist, beautifully sang Tagore’s Brijboli geet “Gahan Kusume Kunje Majhe
Mridul Bansi Baaje†meaning in the dense forest of flowers, someone is
playing a melody on flute. In pre-independence India, patriotic
songs of revolutionary tones written in Khari boli were recited all over nation,
overcoming any language barrier. Mahendra Bakshi of New Hampshire brought one
of these precious patriotic songs to the SSB event when he recited “Aa Gaya Hai
Karm Yug†by Satyadev, where poet calls on the youth to wake up and perform
karma. Besides reciting classic poems each
poet read their own poems as well. Ila
Prasad nostalgically read a poem of her father Dr. Dineshwar Prasad, who was
professor of Hindi at the Ranchi University and had worked on revival of many
dialects of Hindi. Dr. Prasad’s poem Sankalp, or determination, talked
about everyday struggles of life and accepting them. Maneesh read his poem on Black
Lives Matter. Rachana read her poem on the life and plight of daily wedges laborers.
Pallavi read her poem about her father whereas Parveen and Chanchala read poems
on mother’s emotions. Sonali, in her
poem “Waqt†or time, remembered her college days. Medhavi remembered her
childhood home in her poem when she sees the autumnal maple trees of her adult
home. Preetpal also remembered his childhood, specifically the school and
teachers. Aditi read her short poem on love and Manju talked about boundaries
in her poem. Amit, Amandeep and Jyoti dedicated their poems to teachers; each
one of them discussed different significances of having a good teacher in one’s
life and a pupil’s reciprocation by showing respect to the teacher. Vasant ji’s
poem was about the renovating and making of independent India, while
remembering legends of the past like Ramanujam, the great mathematician, and
Radha Krishnan the renowned teacher whose birthday is celebrated as teacher’s
day in India, the very holiday this event celebrated. The poetry event, that was hosted by
Sahitya Sarit Boston on Teachers’ Day of 2020, started at Bhakti kaal and ended
with that same era. Chanchala Priyadarshini concluded the event by remembering
Abdul Rahim Khankhana through reciting his couplet “Rahiman Pani Rakhiyeâ€.
This poem promotes the value of paani, or water, a metaphor of
multiple meaning. The thankful host
conveyed her gratitude to the guest poets and the appreciative attendees
reciprocated with their kind words of thanks to the host. ![]() You may also access this article through our web-site http://www.lokvani.com/ |
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