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 5^th, 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 tera”. 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 Paon”, 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 Hariawali”, 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 Rakhiye”.

From 1903 to 1916 is known as the Dwivedi era in honor of Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, the first editor of “Saraswati”.  Acharya Diwedi promoted the use of  â€˜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,  â€˜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  â€œPriyE PrawAs” is considered the first epic of “Khari Boli”.  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 Kya”.  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 Badalee”. 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 Pratikha”.  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 Chale”. 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 Maa”, 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 prabhu”.  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 Rakhiye”. 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.

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