Thiruvananthapuram: "His voice still resonates in my ears. Harivanshrai used to recite to us lines from his 'Madhushala' so melodiously and appealingly. As a human being too, he has left a lasting impression among friends and colleagues," says Dr K S Mani, who has translated Harivanshrai Bachchan's celebrated work 'Madhushala' into Malayalam.

"I have had several occasions to meet Harivanshrai Bachchan since the early 1960s as a member of the Central Hindi Advisory Board. Those were quite unforgettable. It was with a heavy heart I heard the news of his passing away," Dr Mani said, reminiscing his associations with Bachchan.

"Bachchan's style was quite attractive and lucid. He broke fresh ground in Hindi poetry, by channelising its romantic tradition to new areas. His Madhushala and subsequent works differed from Omar Khayyam's Rubiyyat in the sense that he dealt with different aspects of life."

"It was in 1997 that I showed interest in translating Madhushala into Malayalam. I wrote to him and he gladly gave his consent. Translating Bachchan was an enjoyable experience. He wanted a few copies of the translations to be sent to him when I completed it."

"As a person, he was very sociable and loving and evinced keen interest in trends in other languages, "Prof Mani, who has also translated the works of many celebrated poets into Malayalam and rendered Jnanpith winner M T Vasudevan Nair's Mahabaratha- based novel 'Randam Oozham' into Hindi as "Doosri Bari', recalled.

PTI