Hinduism: Details about 'Harivansh Rai Bachchan'
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Harivanshrai Srivastav "Bachchan" (November 27, 1907 - January 18, 2003)was a distinguished Hindi poet, perhaps best known for his early work Madhushala. He is also the father of Bollywood movie star, Amitabh Bachchan.
LifeBorn Harivanshrai Srivastav, to a Kayasth family in a small town near Allahabad in the United Provinces (modern Uttar Pradesh); He was called "bachchan" (meaning 'child')at home. He received his formal schooling in a municipal school and followed the family tradition of attending Kayasth Paathshaalas to learn Urdu as the first step to a career in law. He later studied at the Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University. In this period, he came under the influence of the independence movement then under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. From 1941 to 1952 he taught English at the Allahabad University and then spent two years at Cambridge University. He recieved a doctorate in English Literature for his work on the Irish poet W.B. Yeats. It was then, that he used ‘Bachchan’ as his last name instead of Srivastav. Bachchan was the second Indian to get his doctorate in English literature from Cambridge. Returning to India, he taught briefly and then worked as a producer for All India Radio, Allahabad. In 1955, Harivanshrai moved to Delhi to join the Ministry of External Affairs of the government of India and there he was closely involved with the evolution of Hindi as the official language. In 1926 Bachchan married his first wife, Shyama, then 14 years old. Shortly after her death Bachchan married Shrimati Teji Suri in 1941. He has two sons, Amitabh, and Ajitabh. Bachchan used to introduce himself as Mitti ka tan, masti ka man, kshan-bhar jivan — mera parichay. (A body of clay, a mind full of play, a moment’s life - that is me.). Harivanshrai Bachchan passed away on January 18, 2003, at the age of 95. WorkHe is best known for his early lyric poem Madhushala (The House of Wine), which has been translated into English and many regional Indian languages including Bengali, Marathi and Malayalam. It forms part of a trilogy, along with Madhubala and Madhukalash. Bachchan has published about 30 volumes of poetry. He has translated Shakespeare's Macbeth and Othello, Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat, the Bhagavad Gita and W B Yeats to Hindi. His works include Nisha Nimantran, Khadi Ke Phool, Ekant Sangeet and Satrangini. In Nov 1984 he wrote his last poem Ek November 1984 on Indira Gandhi’s assassination. His four volume autobiography, (abridged and translated into English as In the Afternoon of Time) was chosen for the Saraswati Samman. HonorsBachchan was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament in 1966 and received the Sahitya Akademi award three years later. In 1976 he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Hindi literature. He is a recipient of the Soviet Land Nehru Award and the Lotus Award of the Afro-Asian writers’ conference. In 2003, an Indian postage stamp was released in his memory. TriviaHis least claim to fame is that he is the father of the great movie star (and talented actor) Amitabh Bachchan. This may be Bachchan's greatest claim to success. Creator of the great collection Madhushala is often thought to be a great admirer of wonder solutions himself. To the surprise of many, he never drank as much as a single drop of liquor. He, however, belongs to the clan of kayashtha which is famous for their eating and drinking merrily. Sources
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