While many know him today as Amitabh Bachchan’s father, one of the greatest superstars in the history of Indian cinema, Harivansh Rai Bachchan had carved out his own legacy as a poet.
Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement. (Photo credit: prathaculturalschool.com)
New Delhi: Harivansh Rai Bachchan is one of the most famous names in the literary circle of India. His poetry lives on till today, immortalising his legacy as an author whose pen could talk. While many know him today as Amitabh Bachchan’s father, one of the greatest superstars in the history of Indian cinema, Harivansh Rai Bachchan had carved out his own legacy as a poet. In this article, we will take a look at some of the interesting facts about one of the most talked-about Indian poets.
Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Early Life and Education
Harivansh Rai Bachchan was born on November 27, 1907, in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in British India. He belonged to a Hindu Kayastha family and Srivastava was his family name. For his poetry, he started to use the pen name “Bachchan”, which means child. He was a professor in Allahabad University’s English Department from 1941 to 1957. He spent the next couple of years at St Catharine’s College in Cambridge where he completed a PhD on W. B. Yeats.
The Bachchan Legacy: Family and the Surname
In 1926, Bachchan married Shyama who passed away in 1936 due to tuberculosis. He married Teji Suri in 1941 and Amitabh Bachchan, their elder son was born on October 11, 1942. Their younger son Ajitabh was born on May 18, 1947.
Harivansh published all of his works under the pen name Bachchan. When he had to admit Amitabh to a school, Harivansh and Teji came to the conclusion that the surname of the family, instead of Srivastava, should be Bachchan as both of them were against the caste system. Thus, Bachchan became the family’s legal surname. Harivansh was a close friend of Prithviraj Kapoor, the Thespian of Hindi cinema.
Poetic Journey of Harivansh Rai Bachchan: Madhushala and Beyond
Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th-century Hindi literature and was also Hindi Kavi Sammelan’s poet. He is best known for his early work Madhushala. He was fluent in several Hindi languages and was influenced by Urdu and Persian poetry, particularly by the poems of Omar Khayyam. Some of his famous poems are Barsaat Ki Aati Hawa, Madhushala, Chal Mardane, Tera Haar, Madhukalash, Raat Aadhi Kheench Kar Meri Hatheli, Bengal ka Kaavya, Ekaant Sangeet, Pranay Patrika and Soot ki Maala.
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