Ramdhari Singh Dinkar

Ramdhari Singh (23 September 1908 – 24 April 1974), known by his pen name Dinkar, was an Indian Hindi language poet, essayist, freedom fighter, patriot and academic. He emerged as a poet of rebellion as a consequence of his nationalist poetry written in the days before Indian independence. His poetry exuded Veer Rasa (heroic sentiment), and he has been hailed as a Rashtrakavi ('national poet') and Yuga-Chāraṇa (Charan of the Era) on account of his inspiring patriotic compositions. He was a regular poet of Hindi Kavi Sammelan and is hailed to be as popular and connected to poetry lovers for Hindi speakers as Pushkin for Russians.

One of the notable modern Hindi poets, Dinkar was born in Simaria village of Bengal Presidency, British India, now part of Begusarai district in Bihar state. The government honored him with the Padma Bhushan in 1959 and nominated him three times to the Rajya Sabha. Similarly, his political thought was greatly shaped by both Mahatma Gandhi and Karl Marx. Dinkar gained popularity in the pre-independence period through his nationalist poetry.

Dinkar initially supported the revolutionary movement during the Indian independence struggle, but later became a Gandhian. However, he used to call himself a "Bad Gandhian" because he supported the feelings of indignation and revenge among the youth. In , he accepted that war is destructive but argued that it is necessary for the protection of freedom. He was close to prominent nationalists of the time such as Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Sri Krishna Sinha, Rambriksh Benipuri and Braj Kishore Prasad.

Dinkar was elected three times to the Rajya Sabha, and he was the member of this house from 3 April 1952 to 2 April 1964,

Biography

Dinkar was born on 23 September 1908, in Simaria village, Bengal Presidency, British India, (now in Begusarai district in Bihar) to Babu Ravi Singh and Manroop Devi. He was married in Tabhka village of Samastipur district in Bihar. As a student, his favourite subjects were history, politics and philosophy. At school and later in college, he studied Hindi, Sanskrit, Maithili, Bengali, Urdu and English literature. Dinkar was greatly influenced by Rabindranath Tagore, Keats and Milton and translated works of Rabindranath Tagore from Bengali to Hindi. The poetic persona of the poet Dinkar was shaped by the pressures and counter-pressures of life during the Indian freedom movement. A tall man at , with a fair complexion, prominent nose, large ears and broad forehead, he had a distinctive appearance.

As a student, Dinkar had to battle day to day issues, some related to their family's economic circumstances. When he was a student of Mokama High School, it was not possible for him to stay on until school closed at four p.m. and Dinkar too signed the oath-paper. together with Narsinghdas Agrawal. In 1928, the peasant's satyagraha under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel proved successful in Bardoli of Gujarat. Harivansh Rai Bachchan wrote that for his proper respect, Dinkar should get four Bharatiya Jnanpith Awards – for poetry, prose, languages and for his service to Hindi. He was a poet of anti-imperialism and nationalism, says well-known Hindi writer Kashinath Singh. aimed at socio-economic inequalities and exploitation of the underprivileged. It was written at a time when the memories of the Second World War were fresh in the mind of the poet.

In his , he said that despite various cultures, languages and topography, India stands united, because "however different we may be, our thoughts are one and the same". Dinkar made the understanding of historical perspectives much more direct by looking at the history of India's culture in terms of four major encounters: the autochthons (indigenous people); between Vedic beliefs and the philosophy propounded by the Buddha, as well as by Mahavira; between Hinduism and Islam; and finally between European civilisation and the Indian way of life and learning. These encounters at different periods of history have imparted strength to India's culture. The vast panoramic overview of Dinkar's historiography of India's composite culture verges on a kind of Darwinist evolutionism. He was also a recipient of Padma Bhushan in 1959 by the Government of India. He was awarded the LLD degree by Bhagalpur University. He was felicitated as by Gurukul Mahavidyalaya. He also became a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, in 1952. Dinkar's fans widely believe that he truly deserved the honour of (poet of India).

Death

Dinkar died on 24 April 1974 in Madras (now Chennai) after suffering a heart attack. His body was flown to Patna on 25 April and cremated on the bank of river Ganges.

Posthumous recognitions

On 30 September 1987, to mark his 79th birth anniversary, tributes were paid to him by the then President of India, Shankar Dayal Sharma.

In 1999, Dinkar was one of the Hindi writers featured on a set of commemorative postal stamps released by Government of India to celebrate the linguistic harmony of India, marking the 50th anniversary since India adopted Hindi as its official language.

The government released a book on Dinkar's birth centenary authored by Khagendra Thakur.

At the same time a statue of him was unveiled in Patna at the Dinkar Chowk, and a two-day national seminar was organised in Calicut University.

The Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, inaugurated an engineering college Rastrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar College of Engineering in the district of Begusarai named after the legendary Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.

thumb|282x282px|The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi lighting the lamp at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the works of Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, in New Delhi on 22 May 2015

On 22 May 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated golden jubilee celebrations of Dinkar's notable works and at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

Major poetic works

Dinkar's first published work of poetry was (1928). His other works are:

(1929)
(1935)
Hunkar (epic poem) (1938)
(1939)
(1940)
(1946)
(1946)
(1947)
(1947)
(1951)
(1951)
(1951)
Rashmirathi (1952)
(1954)
(1954)
(1955)
(1954)
(1954)
(1956)
(1957)
(1957)
(1957)
(1961)
(1963)
(1964)
(1964)
(1964)
(1970)
(1970)

Anthologies

(1960)
(1964)
(1973)
(1973)
(1974)
(1974)
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi, 2017.

Major prose works

Dinkar's major analytical and other prose works are:

(1946)
(1948)
(1952)
(1954)
(1954)
(1955)
(1955)
(1956)
(1956)
(1958)
(1958)
(1958)
(1959)
(1961)
(1965)
(1966)
(1968)
(1968)
(1970)
(1971)
(1971)
(1973)
(1973)
(1973)
(1973)

Literary criticism

, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.

Biographies

Sri Aurobindo: , Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
, Dr Diwakar, 2008.

Translations

translated by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. In , edited by Asit Kumar Bandopadhyaya, Sahitya Akademi, Delhi.
(101 selected poems of Tagore) translated by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar along with Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Hans Kumar Tiwari, and Bhawani Prasad Mishra, Sahitya Akademi, , 2001 (reprint).

Translations into Hindi and other languages

Dinkar's Urvashi: a saga of human love and Vedanta. Trans. by Krishna Kumar Vidyarthi. (New Delhi: Siddharth Publications, 1994. 165 p.)
Reflections on men and things (essays). (Ajmer: Krishna Brothers, 1968. 80 p.)
Kurukshetra. Trans. by R.K. Kapur. London: n.p., 1967.
[Rasmirathi] Sun charioteer. Trans. by R.D. Dunda, D. Nelson and P. Staneslow. (Minnesota: Nagari Press, 1981.)
Voices of the Himalaya: poems. Trans. by the author, Kamala Ratnam, V.K. Gokak and others. (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1966. vi, 70 p.)
Himalayas Xotros Poems (Spanish), Collection of thirty poems, Publisher – University of Conceyeion, Chile.
Sining Potos [Blue Lotus] (Russian), Collection of sixty poems, Progress Publishers, Moscow, Russia.
Kurukshetra: an aftermath of war, a new search for peace from the classical thought : light radiates through dialogue; translated by Winand M. Callewaert, P. Adeswara Rao; Heritage Publication Division, 1995.
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Reflections on men and things, Krishna Bros., 1968.

References

External links

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar at Kavita Kosh
Dinkar at Anubhuti
Dinkar's works in Pdf Format