Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Harivansh Rai Bachchan (né Srivastava; 27 November 1907 – 18 January 2003) was an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. Bachchan is best known for his early work Madhushala. He was the father of Amitabh Bachchan, and grandfather of Shweta Bachchan Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan. His wife Teji Bachchan was a social activist. In 1976, he received the Padma Bhushan for his service to Hindi literature.

Early life

Bachchan was born in Babupatti, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in British India on 27 November 1907 into a Hindu Kayastha family. His family name was Srivastava. He began using the pen name "Bachchan" (meaning child) for his Hindi poetry. From 1941 to 1957, he taught in the English Department at the Allahabad University and then spent the next two years at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, completing a PhD regarding W. B. Yeats.

Personal life

Bachchan married Shyama in 1926 who died of tuberculosis in 1936. In 1941, he married Teji Suri. Their elder son Amitabh Bachchan was born on 11 October 1942, followed by their younger son, Ajitabh, on 18 May 1947.

He had used the pen name Bachchan ("child-like" in colloquial Hindi), under which he published all of his works. When looking to get their elder son admitted to a school, he and Teji decided the family's surname should be Bachchan instead of Srivastava, as both parents opposed the caste system. Thus, it became the legal surname of the family. He was close friends with the Hindi cinema thespian Prithviraj Kapoor.

Bachchan died on 18 January 2003 due to respiratory failure.

Writing career

Bachchan was fluent in several Hindi languages (Hindustani and Awadhi). He incorporated a broadly Hindustani vocabulary, written in Devanagari script. While he could not read Persian script, he was influenced by Persian and Urdu poetry, particularly Omar Khayyam.

Works used in movies

Bachchan's work has been used in movies and music. Couplets from "Agneepath" are used throughout the 1990 film Agneepath, featuring his son Amitabh, and also later in the 2012 remake Agneepath, starring Hrithik Roshan, as well as in the TV serial Ishqbaaz. "Agneepath" was also included as a chapter in the NCERT Hindi class 9th textbook, Sparsh.

Miṭṭī kā tan, mastī kā man, kṣan bhar jīvan, merā paricay. (मिट्टी का तन, मस्ती का मन, क्षण भर जीवन, मेरा परिचय) (Body of clay, mind of fun, life of a moment, my introduction)