Mahadevi Verma (26 March 1906 – 11 September 1987) was an Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, sketch story writer and an eminent personality of Hindi literature. She is considered one of the four major pillars[a] of the Chhayawadi era in Hindi literature.[1] She has also been addressed as the modern Meera.[2] Poet Nirala had once called her "Saraswati in the vast temple of Hindi Literature".[b] Verma witnessed India before and after its independence. She was one of those poets who worked for the wider society of India.[3] Her poetry, along with her work towards social upliftment and women's welfare, were depicted in her writings. These works, especially her anthology Deepshikha,[4] greatly influenced both readers and critics.[5]
She developed a soft vocabulary in the Hindi poetry of Khadi Boli, which before her was considered possible only in Braj Bhasha. She was well-versed in music. Her songs were characterised by a tone that conveyed sharp expressions in a nuanced and euphemistic style.[6] She started her career as a teacher, who went on to become the principal of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth. Verma chose to live an ascetic life,[7][8] despite being married. She was also a skilled painter and creative translator. She had the distinction of receiving all the important awards in Hindi literature. As the most popular female litterateur of the last century, she remained revered throughout her life.[9] Her birth centenary was celebrated in 2007. Later, Google also celebrated this day through its Google Doodle.[10]
Verma was originally admitted to a Convent school, but upon protests and an unwilling attitude, she was admitted to Crosthwaite Girls College in Prayagraj (then Allahabad).[7] According to Verma, she learned the strength of unity while staying in the hostel at Crosthwaite. Students of different religions lived together there. Verma started to write poems secretly; but upon discovery of her hidden stash of poems by her roommate and senior Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (known in the school for writing poems), her hidden talent was exposed.[20]
While others used to play outside, me and Subhadra used to sit on a tree and let our creative thoughts flow together...She used to write in Khariboli, and soon I also started to write in Khariboli...this way, we used to write one or two poems a day...
— Mahadevi Verma, Smrti Chitra (Memory Sketch) English Translation[21]
She and Subhadra would also send poems to publications such as weekly magazines and managed to get some of their poems published. Both the budding poets also attended poetry seminars, where they met eminent Hindi poets, and read out their poems to the audience. This partnership continued until Subhrada graduated from Crosthwaite.[22]
In her childhood biography Mere Bachpan Ke Din (My Childhood Days),[23] Verma has written that she was very fortunate to be born into a liberal family at a time when a girl child was considered to be a burden upon the family. Her grandfather reportedly had the ambition of making her a scholar; although he insisted that she comply with tradition and marry at the age of nine.[24] Her mother was fluent both in Sanskrit and Hindi, and was a very religious and pious lady. Mahadevi credits her mother for inspiring her to write poems and to take an interest in literature.[25]
Having been wed as a child, Mahadevi was expected to go live with her husband following her graduation in 1929, which she refused[26] as she found his hunting and meat-eating offensive.[27] Her remorseful father offered to convert along with her if she wanted to divorce and remarry (as Hindus could not legally divorce at the time) but she refused, saying she wanted to remain single.[28] She even unsuccessfully tried to convince her husband to remarry.[24] Later, she reportedly considered becoming a Buddhist nun but eventually chose not to, although she studied Buddhist Pali and Prakrit texts as part of her master's degree.[24]
Professional career
Literary
Nihar (IPA: Nīhār) was her debut collection of poems. In 1930, Nihar,[29] in 1932, Rashmi,[30] in 1933, Neerja[31] were composed by her. In 1935, her collection of poems called Sandhyageet[32] was published. In 1939, four poetic collections were published with their artworks under the title Yama.[33] Apart from these, she had written 18 novels and short stories in which Mera Parivar (My Family), Smriti ki Rekhaye (Lines of Memory), Patha ke Sathi (Path's Companions), Srinkhala ke Kariye (Series of Links) and Atit ke Chalachrit (Past Movies) are prominent.[34] She is also considered the pioneer of feminism in India.[35]
Varma's career had always revolved around writing, editing, and teaching. She contributed significantly to the development of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth in Allahabad .[7] This kind of responsibility was considered a revolutionary step in the field of women's education at the time. She also had been its Principal.[36] In 1923, she took over the women's leading magazine Chand. In the year 1955, Varma established the Literary Parliament in Allahabad with the help of Ilachandra Joshi, and took up the editorship of its publication. She laid the foundation for women's poets' conferences in India.[37] Mahadevi was greatly influenced by Buddhism. Under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, she took up public service and worked in Jhansi alongside the Indian freedom struggle.[38]
In 1937, Mahadevi Varma built a house in the village of Umagarh, Ramgarh, Uttarakhand, 25 km from Nainital. She named it Meera Temple. She started working for the village people and their education till she stayed there. She did a lot of work, especially for women's education and their economic self-sufficiency. Today, this bungalow is known as Mahadevi Sahitya Museum.[39][40][41] In the series of attempts, she was able to raise the courage and determination for the liberation and development of women.[42]
The way she has condemned social stereotypes made her to be known as a woman liberationist.[43] She had also been called a social reformer due to the development work and public service towards women and their education.[44] Throughout her creations, there are no visions of pain or anguish anywhere, but the indomitable creative fury reflected in the society's indomitable desire for change and an innate attachment towards development.[44][45]
In Hindu Stree Ka Patnitva (The Wife-hood of Hindu Women) marriage is compared to slavery. Not being affiliated with any political or financial authority, she writes, women are assigned to lives of being wives and mothers. Her feminism is often overshadowed by her poetic persona. Through poems like Cha, she explored themes and ideas of female sexuality, while her short stories such as Biblia, discuss the subject of experiences of women's physical and mental abuse.[46]
She spent most of her life in Allahabad (Prayagraj) of Uttar Pradesh. She died in Allahabad on 11 September 1987.[47]
Works
Verma was a poet as well as a distinguished prose and story writer. Her creations are as follows.
A section of critics is those who believe that the poetry of Mahadevi is very personal. Her agony, anguish, and compassion, are artificial.
Moral critics like Ramchandra Shukla have put a question mark on the truth of her anguish and feelings. He quotes:
Concerning this anguish, she has revealed such sensations of heart, which are extraterrestrial. As far as these sensations are concerned and how far the sensations are real, nothing can be said. (English translation)[54]
On the other hand Hazari Prasad Dwivedi consider her poetry to be a collective criterion.[c] Poetic works like Deep from (Nihar), Madhur Madhur Mere Deepak Jal from (Neerja) and Mome Sa Tan Gal Hai, concludes that these poems not only explain Mahadevi's self-centeredness but also to be considered a representative form of general posture and texture of her poems. Satyaprakash Mishra says about her philosophy of metaphysics related to cinematography:
Mahadevi did not only differentiate and distinguish from the earlier poetry of the object craft of Shadowism and Mysticism under rationalism and examples but also showed in what sense it is human. There is a poetry of change of sensation and newness of expression. She did not accuse anyone of sentiment, adoration etc. but only described the nature, character, appearance and uniqueness of Chhayavad. (English translation)[55]
American novelist David Rubin has said the following about her works:
What arrests us in Mahadevi's work is the striking originality of the voice and the technical ingenuity which enabled her to create in her series of mostly quite short lyrics throughout her five volumes a consistently evolving representation of total subjectivity measured against the vastness of cosmic nature with nothing, as it were, intervening—no human social relationships, no human activities beyond those metaphorical ones involving weeping, walking the road, playing the Veena, etc.[24]
Prabhakar Shrotriya believes that those who consider her a poet of anguish and despair do not know how much fire there is in that suffering which exposes the truth of life. He says:
In fact, the centre of Mahadevi's experience and creation is fire, not tears. What is visible is not the ultimate truth, what is invisible is the original or inspiring truth. These tears are not the tears of easy simple anguish, but how much fire goes behind them, the thunderstorm, the electric roar of the cloud, and the rebellion are hidden. (English translation)[56]
Varma's poetic world indeed comes under the shadow of Chhayavaad (shadows), but to see her poetry completely unconnected to her era, one would be doing injustice to her. Mahadevi was also a conscious writer. During the Bengal famine in 1973, she published a poetry collection and also wrote a poem called "Banga Bhu Shanth Vandana" related to Bengal.[57] Similarly, in response to the invasion of China, she had edited a collection of poems called Himalaya.[58]
Besides these, in 1979, the famous Indian filmmaker Mrinal Sen produced a Bengali film on her memoir Woh Chini Bhai[62] titled Neel Akasher Neechey.[63] On 14 September 1991, the Postal Department of the Government of India, issued a doubles stamp of ₹2 along with Jaishankar Prasad, in her honour.[64]
Literary contributions
Mahadevi Varma (bottom row third from left) along with Hazari Prasad Dwivedi and others
The emergence of Mahadevi Varma in literature happened at a time when the shape of Khadi Boli was being refined. She introduced Braj bhasha softness to Hindi poetry. She gave us a repository of songs with a heartfelt acceptance of Indian philosophy. In this way, she did important work in the three fields of language, literature and philosophy which later influenced an entire generation. She created a unique rhythm and simplicity in the composition and language of her songs, as well as the natural use of symbols and images that draw a picture in the mind of the reader.[65] Her contribution to the prosperity of Chhayavadi poetry is very important. While Jaishankar Prasad gave naturalization to the Chhayavadi poetry, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala embodied the liberation in it and Sumitranandan Pant brought the art of delicateness, but Varma embodied life to the Chhayavadi poetry. The most prominent feature of her poetry is emotionalism and intensity of feeling. A such lively and tangible manifestation of the subtlest subtle expressions of the heart makes 'Varma' among the best Chhayavadi poets.[66] She is remembered with respect for her speeches in Hindi. Her speeches were full of compassion for the common man and firm in the truth. At the 3rd World Hindi Conference, 1983, Delhi, she was the chief guest of the closing ceremony.[67]
Apart from the original creations, she was also a creative translator with works like her translation ' Saptaparna ' (1980). With the help of her cultural consciousness, she has presented 39 selected important pieces of Hindi poetry in her work by establishing the identity of Vedas, Ramayana, Theragatha and the works of Ashwaghosh, Kalidas, Bhavabhuti and Jayadeva. In the beginning, in the 61-page ' Apna Baat ', she gives thorough research with this invaluable heritage of Indian wisdom and literature, which enriches the overall thinking and fine writing of Hindi, not just limited female writing.[68]
^"Mahadevi Verma". www.sawnet.org. South Asian Women Writers (SAWnet). Archived from the original on 26 February 2005. Retrieved 7 December 2020.Archived from the on 28 September 2007
^ ab"Padma Awards"(PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
^हिंदी के विशाल मन्दिर की वीणापाणी, स्फूर्ति-चेतना-रचना की प्रतिमा कल्याणी (ISO:Hindī ke viśāl mandir kī Vīṇāpāṇī, sphūrti-caitanā-racanā kī pratimā kalyāṇī, English translation: Veenapani Another name of Goddess Saraswati in huge temple of Hindi having a stature in conscious creations) - Nirala.
^The truth is that Mahadevi's outlook goes from person to person. The world's well-being is rooted in her pain, anguish, compassion and sadism (English translation)- Hazari Prasad Dwivedi
.jpg)
