Mumbai: Dr Harivanshrai Bachchan burst upon the horizon of Hindi poetry as a bright star one evening in 1935 with his recitation of 'Madhushala' to a huge audience, unfolding to listeners an enchanting world with rings of Omar Khayyam.

He was to carve out another niche for himself decades later with his autobiography in four volumes, beginning with "Kya Bhoolun Kya Yaad Karoon" (what to forget and what to remember), regarded till date as a literary masterpiece.

In a literary career spanning over more than 50 years, he captured the imagination of readers and continued to hold it with an unbroken series achievements.

Born in Allahabad on November 27, 1907, Bachchan had early education there and later studied at both Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University.

He then taught at Allahabad University from 1941 to 1952 before moving to Cambridge for research and obtained doctorate on "W B Yeats and Occultism".

On return, Harivanshrai Bachchan resumed teaching for a year and after a short stint as a producer in All India Radio, he joined the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi as an officer on special duty in 1955.

He remained there for about 10 years and was intimately associated with the evolution of Hindi as the official language.

In recognition to his contribution to the world of literature and Hindi language, he was nominated to Rajya Sabha in 1966.

He was also awarded 'Padma Bhushan', KK Birla Foundation's first 'Saraswati Samman', 'Sahitya Akademy' award, Soviet Land Nehru prize and Afro-Asian Writers' Conference Lotus prize.

For the last several years, he had been living with his film star son Amitabh Bachchan in Mumbai.

His early writings consisted of the famous trilogy of 'Madhushala', 'Madhubala' and 'Madhukalash', noted for his profound sensitivity and simple diction. This was followed by some of the finest lyrical poetry. He has about 30 collections of poems to his credit.

He translated the works of Omar Khayyam, Bhagwat Gita, W B Yeats and Shakespeare among others.

His prose writing is equally important and his autobiography in four parts was chosen for the 'Saraswati Samman'.

For Harivanshrai Bachchan, who whipped up a literary frenzy and pleasant intoxication through his classic work 'Madhushala', poetry had always been a reflection of his own life tempered by poverty, tragedies, achievements and bouts of bliss.

Bachchan saw many a difficult days as his debt-ridden family managed to eke out a living between paying up loans and selling jewellery, without ever giving up their traditional hospitality to all those who dropped into their house for that hot cup of tea and lunch.

Bachchan's early years when he juggled between school and giving tuitions to make a living, left a deep impression on his young mind as he vividly recounted the marriages, sickness and deaths that periodically occurred in his family as well as the moonlight nights spent on a river bank and tried to trap them between pages of his poems.

Bachchan, who failed college twice, ironically went on to become the first Indian to acquire a PhD in English from the prestigious Cambridge University after being a able to secure a grant to pursue his research and studies in UK.

His strong leaning for literature saw him translating the work of the eminent Urdu poet Ommar Khayyam's 'Rubayyat' into Hindi while his love for English poetry saw him penning a thesis on the work of W B Yeats.

Bachchan's relationship with the Nehru family also began during his years in Allahabad. It was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who got him a job in his Ministry in Delhi as an under-secretary to translate official documents from English into Hindi, which he continued till his retirement.

It were his poems like 'Budh aur Nachghar', 'Satrangini', 'Pranay Patrika', 'Madhukalash', 'Tribhangima', 'Aarti' and 'Angare', which earned him a strong fan following.

His inimitable writing style came through lines like "Jo beet gayi so baat gayi/ drawing room mein marta hua gulab/ din jaldi-jaldi dhalta hai/ path ki pahchaan/ bahut dino par/ mera sambal yug ki udasi" from his poem 'Gaurav Gram Mein'.

"Jyoti-parv-aaj phir se/ premgeet-aadarsh prem/ mera-bharat – ajadi ka geet/ chal mardane/jyoti-parv-aatma deep aaj phir se" from the poem 'Sankalanein' also saw him rise to new pinnacles of success.

Bachchan also wrote the first four volumes of his autobiography, which draws a portrait of provincial life in the first decades of the century and describes with remarkable candour and struggles, joys and heartbreak in early years of his life. The volumes also dwell at length on the death of his young wife, ensuing trauma and remarriage.

The volume also quotes an interesting episode, which forced the then young poet to give up writing poetry. The volumes states how in 1937, he got an invitation to recite his poems at a function in Bareilly. After he had finished reading out his poetry, he went to the station where a tall, lean man warmly greeted him.

"So at last you have come. You do not know how intense my desire was to meet you. Today, I wanted so badly to hear your poems in your own voice. If you had not come, I would never have forgiven life for its cruelty", said the ardent fan.

In the Tonga, he kept holding the hand of the poet and insisted that the poems concerned should be included in the poet's selection the next day.

PTI