Harivanshrai's simple imagery stirred the soul

MUMBAI: Madhushala, the literary masterpiece of well-known poet Harivanshrai Bachchan who passed away in Mumbai on Saturday, intoxicated the Hindi heartland in the mid-1930s.
Thousands heard him in rapt attention at kavi sammelans as he unveiled his world view: A goblet of wine, a book of verse and a life trapped in perpetual struggle. Traces of Omar Khayyam? Harivanshrai often admitted that Khayyam''s Rubaiyat had moulded his sensibilities.
The uniqueness of Harivanshrai as a literary artist lies principally in his ability to overthrow chhayavaad, the swirl of mystical romanticism which then was the USP of Hindi literature.
Unmoved by criticism and steeled by domestic difficulties (financial worries, loneliness which was compounded by the untimely death of his first wife, Shyama), Harivanshrai continued to write, combining mature subtlety with discretion.
Harivanshrai''s Hindi translation of Macbeth and Othello has won critical acclaim. His four-part autobiography is considered a seminal work. Harivanshrai''s marriage with Teji Suri changed the course of his life and, by his own admission, his poetry. Taking a sabbatical from Allahabad University where he taught English, he went to the UK in the 1950s to obtain a doctoral thesis on WBYeats.
Harivanshrai was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1966. Three years later, he won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award. In 1976, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in recognition of his sterling contribution to Hindi literature. He also won the Saraswati Puraskar.
One is prompted to recall Harivanshrai''s description of a cup of wine in Madhubala: Mitti ka tan, masti ka man, kshan-bhar jivan — mera parichay!...(A body of clay, a mind full of joy, a momentary life — my introduction.)