Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and the World Of Wars
Edited By: Vikas Mavi
23 September 2022 (New Delhi): There will be hardly someone who loves Hindi literature, but has not read Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. He is regarded as one of India’s most legendary poets. He has made a tremendous contribution to Hindi literature with his words. Dinkar is recognised as one of the most successful and well-known modern Hindi poets. Ramdhari Singh, also known by his pen name Dinkar, was a well-known Indian Hindi and Maithili poet, freedom fighter, and academic. He was born on September 23, 1908.
What were his thoughts about the war?
He wrote poetry before Indian independence and thus became known as a rebel poet. Dinkar’s poetry was heavily influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and his political thought was greatly shaped by both Mahatma Gandhi and Karl Marx. He acknowledged that war is destructive, but argued that it is necessary to protect freedom. He was close to leaders like Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Sri Krishna Sinha, Rambriksh Benipuri, and Braj Kishore Prasad, among others.
Dinkar was featured on commemorative postal stamps
During Emergency, Jayaprakash Narayan had attracted a gathering of one lakh (100,000) people at the Ramlila grounds and recited Dinkar’s famous poem: ‘Singhasan Khaali Karo Ke Janata Aaati Hai.’ Dinkar was one of the Hindi writers featured on a set of commemorative postal stamps released by the Government of India in 1999 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of India’s adoption of Hindi as its official language.
His books are also very popular among young writers
His ‘Rashmirathi’ which has seven cantos, is considered among the best retelling of the life of Karna of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The lines written by him in “Krishna ki Chetavni”, “Janjeer badha kar saadh mujhe, Haan haan Duryodhan bandh mujhe,” is enough full one’s heart with thunder. On May 22, 2015, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi inaugurated the golden jubilee celebrations of Dinkar’s notable works like Sanskriti ke Chaar Adhyaye and Parshuram ki Pratiksha at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.