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Ramdhari Singh Dinkar – The Great Modern Hindi Poet

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar was a nationalist poet highly influenced by Rabindranath Tagore. In his life, he translated several wor
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar was a nationalist poet highly influenced by Rabindranath Tagore. In his life, he translated several works of the latter.

Index

  1. Introduction
  2. About Ramdhari Singh Dinkar
  3. Ramdhari Singh Dinkar – Career
  4. Literary Work
  5. Ramdhari Singh Dinkar – Awards and Honours

Introduction

Rabindranath Tagore (1) was an inspirational literary figure who has left his on a lot of young generation writers. His works in the Bengali language have been translated to Hindi on various occasions. Ramdhari Singh Dinkar was a nationalist poet highly influenced by Rabindranath Tagore. In his life, he translated several works of the latter. In this article, we will uncover the life of Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.

About Ramdhari Singh Dinkar

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar was born in Simaria, in Bengal on 23 September 1908. His father was Babu Ravi Singh and mother Manroop Devi. At a young age, Dinkar got married in the Samastipur district village Tabkha. As a kid, he was always interested in subjects like history and politics. He was also intrigued by philosophy. His course in college included subjects like Hindi, Sanskrit, Maithili, Bengali, and Urdu. He admired literary experts such as Rabindranath Tagore, Keats, Iqbal, and Milton. His ideology was significantly shaped during the struggle of India against the British. He has a slender figure and highly noticeable features, such as a sharp nose.

Dinkar’s family financial condition was not stable during his childhood. He could not afford to live in a hostel and had to skip school after lunch to catch the last steamer to his home. He traveled barefoot with no shoes to wear. His struggle against poverty is highlighted in his poems. He became a radical nationalist poet after his education.

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar – Career

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar

After Dinkar passed matriculation, the struggle against Britishers became aggressive, the Simon Commission was announced, and there were several demonstrations against it. During one of the protests, Britishers Lathi charged the protesters, and Lala Lajpat Rai (Lion of Punjab) succumbed to his injuries. These incidents and emotional agitation, Dinkar, came out as poems.

In 1924 Dinkar published his first poem in Chhatra Sahodar, a local newspaper. He also wrote poems on the peasants Satyagraha, and these were published in Vijay Sandesh. To escape the atrocities of Britishers, Dinkar used the pen name ‘Amitabh.’ In 1928 he wrote a poem on the sacrifice of Jatin Dad; he also produced two more poems Birbala and Meghnad-Vadh, which cannot be traced. It can be said that Dinkar’s poetic career started from Vijay Sandesh. His poems, in the beginning, were only printed in Desh Magazine, when he became a regular in the magazine, his poems were distributed in Kannauj too. In 1935 Dinkar’s first collection of poems called Renuka was published. The copy was even gifted to Mahatma Gandhi.

Historian Dr. Kashi Prasad Jaiswal adored Dinkar as a son. He provided his initial guidance. In 1937 after the death of Dr. Jaiswal, Dinkar expressed the world to be a dark place.

Literary work

Some of Dinkar’s work included social and political satires aimed at the conditions of the underprivileged in India.

His work Urvashi is based on love, passion and focuses on the relationship between a man and a woman. The spiritual depiction of this relation makes Urvashi a classic story.

Dinkar’s Kurukshetra is a poem about Mahabharata. It was influenced by the events of the second world war. Krishna Ki Chaetavani is also based on mythology. His Rasmirathi is known as one of the best depictions of Mahabharata.

His work Sanskriti ke Chaar Adhyay is divided into four significant chapters. The first one covers the culture of India from pre-Vedic times to the 20th century. The second part focuses on Jain and Buddhist religions; the third chapter covers the influence of Islam on Hinduism. The fourth chapter covers the effects of colonization on India.

The works of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar were influenced by the struggle of Indians against Britishers. He was a patriotic poet who had strong opinions about patriotism.

Some of his great works are:

  1. Renuka
  2. Urvashi
  3. Pranbhang
  4. Hunkar
  5. Rashmi Rathi

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar – Awards and Honors

Kashi Nagri Pracharini Sabha honored Dinkar from the Government of Uttar Pradesh. He has also received Sahitya Akademi Award in 1959 for his notable work Urvashi. He has also received Padma Bhushan in 1959 by the government is of India. He was awarded Sahitya-Chudamaniby Rajasthan Vidyapeeth in Udaipur on 8 November 1968. He is also the recipient of the Jnanpith Award in 1972 for Urvashi. Harivansh Rai Bachchan once said that Ramdhari Singh Dinkar deserves 4 Jnanpith awards for his contribution to literature.

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