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Saturday, December 27, 2014

STATIC CACTI

The chill was palpable
Visible and eloquent.
Frozen droplets hung
On the terror-struck twigs.
The machine-gun lay mute
 
In shock by the cold
Uniformed prostrate body
Swaddled in a blood-pool.


Soft waltzing tunes
On violins and saxophone,
Hot glowing coals in brazier burning,
Warming the ogling, whiskered colonels
Holding glasses of whiskey
 
Around the lissome beauty,
Back-wrapped in a lovely stole
And front alluringly open to the warmth.
Lewd laughters, tinkling glasses,
With somber shadows surrounding.


Earth stood still, wide-eyed,
All frozen and numb.
The snow-draped cacti
Saluting, static and dumb,
 
The sideways shaggy dome,
As the gazing sun shone
 
On the blood-shot leaden eyes
 
Reflecting the glory of a fight
To the last stuttering bullet,
Till all the shrapnels arrived
Whistling, ringing,
 
And singing their dirge.


A poem in memory of OP Shukla, my friend, 
who was killed in the China War on the NEFA front in 1962



Wednesday, December 24, 2014

बेनीपुरीनामा:१

सरसों के खेतों के बीच इठलाता हुआ एक गाँव था – बेनीपुर, गरीब किसानों का एक छोटा-सा गाँव. था, इसलिए कि जल्दी ही बागमती की धारा में वह डूब जायेगा. पिछले दिन  वहां उस लेखक का ११६ वा जन्मदिन मनाया गया  जिसने अपने नाम में उस गाँव को अमर कर दिया - रामब्रिक्ष बेनीपुरी. उस दिन वहां उसकी आधी सदी पुरानीं तीन किताबों – कैदी की पत्नी, पैरों में पंख बाँध कर और चिता के फूल – इनके नए संस्करणों का लोकार्पण किया गया . फेसबुक पर उसकी तस्वीर भी आई. बिहार के लिए वह  एक साहित्यिक उत्सव का दिन रहा . बल्कि यों कहें कि हिंदी के इतने बड़े लेखक का जन्मदिन तो पूरे देश के लिए उत्सव का दिन रहा . विलक्षण बहुविधा प्रतिभा के धनी थे बेनीपुरी. नाटक उनकी प्रिय विधा थी. जीवन भी  उनके लिए एक रंगमंच था. बेनीपुर में जो घर बनवाया उसका पोर्टिको रंगमंच के प्रारूप में बनवाया – सामने प्रोसेनियम के साथ. ‘अम्बपाली’ - उनका सबसे प्रिय नाटक था. उसके कई सफल प्रदर्शन हुए पटना में और फिर १९५५ में राष्ट्रीय नाट्य समारोह, दिल्ली में, सप्रू हाउस की रंगशाला में जिसमे राष्ट्रपति राजेन्द्र प्रसाद भी उपस्थित थे. मैं उस नाट्यमंडली का प्रतिभागी था - वृन्दवाद्य का वंशी-वादक और छायाकार भी . यहाँ के चित्र में बनीपुरीजी के साथ उसकी नायिका अम्बपाली (शोभा सिमोर) और उप-नायिका मधूलिका (अमला वर्मा) हमारी वापसी यात्रा में ताजमहल के प्रांगण में दीख रही हैं. नायक अरुणध्वज थे वीरेन्द्र नारायण, मेरे बड़े बहनोई. उस पूरी रंग-यात्रा के  ४०-५० चित्र मेरे संग्रह में हैं. उस प्रसंग का पूरा संस्मरण मेरे जीवन-वसंत का एक अलग अध्याय है. बस इतना जोड़ना चाहता हूँ कि वह वसंती बयार मेरे जीवन में बेनीपुर से ही प्रवाहित हुई जिसमे सरसों खेतों की उसी लहलहाती हरियाली की मदमाती सुगंध भरी रही.
    
मेरे जीवन के प्रारंभिक २५ साल बेनीपुरीजी के अत्यंत निकट सामीप्य में बीते हैं. इधर फिर बेनीपुरीजी की याद इस तरह ताज़ा हो गयी कि उनकी कई किताबों को उनके तृतीय सुपुत्र महेंद्र बेनीपुरी ने पुनर्प्रकाशित किया – लगभग आधी सदी बाद. कुछ दिन पहले मैंने उनकी पुनर्प्रकाशित पुस्तक ‘ कुछ मैं कुछ् वे’ की समीक्षा के व्याज से उसी शीर्षक के अंतर्गत एक संस्मरणात्मक लेख ‘दोआबा’ पत्रिका में लिखा था. उसमे भी बेनीपुर की चर्चा थी. उस लेख में ‘हिमालय’ की भी चर्चा थी. बेनीपुरीजी से मेरे पिता आ. शिवपूजन सहाय का पहला संपर्क गांधीजी के असहयोग आन्दोलन के समय ही हुआ था जिसके बाद बेनीपुरीजी राजनीतिक पत्रकारिता की ओर मुड़ गए थे और मेरे पिता साहित्यिक पत्रकारिता की ओर. लेकिन बार-बार जेल जाते-आते भी बेनीपुरीजी शिखरस्थ साहित्यिक लेखन से कभी अलग नहीं रहे. बल्कि उनकी सर्वोत्कृष्ट कृति ‘माटी की मूरतें’ उनकी और कई कृतियों के साथ हजारीबाग जेल में ही लिखी गई. ‘कैदी की पत्नी’, ‘पतितों के देश में’     ( दोनों उपन्यास) और ‘जंजीरें और दीवारें’ (जेल-संस्मरण) सभी उनके बार-बार के जेल-जीवन से ही सम्बद्ध हैं. जेल से जब अंतिम बार १९४६ में छूटकर आए तो अपने साथ जैसे साहित्यिक कृतियों का एक पिटारा ही लेकर आए. तभी ‘हिमालय’ निकला और उनका नाम हिंदी के प्रथम-पंक्ति लेखकों में ऊपर आ गया. इसी समय मेरे पिता ‘हिमालय’ के संपादक होकर पटना आए और बेनीपुरीजी के साथ मछुआटोली में रहने लगे. मैं भी साथ था और तभी से वे मेरे लिए चाचाजी हो गए और मेरे जीवन के अगले २० साल जैसे उनके स्नेह-पाश में बन्ध गए. इन बीस वर्षों की स्मृतियों में एक पूरी संस्मरण-पुस्तक की सामग्री भरी पड़ी है.

बेनीपुरीजी का द्वितीय पुत्र जित्तिन (जितेन्द्र कुमार बेनीपुरी) उसी १९४६ से मेरा दोस्त रहा जिसके साथ न जाने कितनी बार मैं बेनीपुर गया. हमदोनों कुछ दिन पटना के सेंट जोसफ स्कूल में भी साथ पढ़े और बराबर दिली दोस्त रहे, एक दूसरे की कमीज़ और टाई साझा करने वाले.

जित्तिन बाद में देहरादून के मिलिटरी कालेज में पढ़ कर एयर फ़ोर्स का अफसर बना और मैं अंग्रेजी में एम.ए. करके प्रोफ़ेसरी करने लगा. लेकिन उससे पहले १९५६ में चाचाजी के साथ मैं जित्तिन के पासिंग आउट में पूना के पास खडगवासला गया. चाचाजी पूना में अच्युत पटवर्धन के भाई पामा पटवर्धन के यहाँ ठहरे. लौटने में हम बम्बई में  मुकुंद गोस्वामी के कालबादेवी वाले मठ  में रुके. कैमरा मेरा हरदम का साथी था. स्मृतियों का मेरा अल्बम फोटो-चित्रों से भरा है. इधर ‘बेनीपुरी चित्रों में’ जो पुस्तक निकली उसमे मेरे लगभग ४० चित्र प्रकाशित हैं. साथ ही एक भूमिका भी छपी है.
     
यहाँ प्रकाशित मेरा खींचा हुआ यह चित्र १९५६ का है जब हमलोग- मैं, मेरा बचपन का दोस्त जित्तिन, बेनीपुरीजी का दूसरा बेटा, उसका आर्मी का सहपाठी शुक्ल, सबसे बाएं, जो चीन-युद्ध में शहीद हुआ, बेनीपुरीजी जो मेरे लिए शुरू से चाचाजी रहे, दीदी, उनकी पत्नी, पृथ्वीराजजी, उनके अन्यतम मित्र-सपत्नीक, और प्रिथ्वी थिएटर्स के अद्भुत कलाकार सज्जन जो कई फिल्मो में भी आते रहे. चित्र में सबसे बाएं बेनीपुरीजी और हमलोगों के बम्बई में आतिथेय मुकुंद गोस्वामी जी  हैं जिनके मठ में हमलोग ठहरे थे.

पृथ्वीराजजी तब बम्बई के माटुंगा इलाके में रहते थे. चाचाजी के साथ हमसब लोग उनसे मिलने गए. मुकुंदजी के यहाँ गाढे दूध में उम्दा भांग छनती थी. बढ़िया भोग तो लगता ही था. सबने भांग पी हुई थी. मुकुंदजी ही अपनी बड़ी-सी शेवरले कार  चला रहे थे. उनका नशा भी उनकी कार  से होड़ ले रहा था. पृथ्वीराजजी का पता मुकुंदजी को मालूम था. फिर भी मुकुंदजी की कार आधे घंटे तक बार-बार वहीँ आस-पास चक्कर काटती रही और बहुत मुश्किल से हम पृथ्वीराजजी के पहली मंजिल के फ्लैट में पहुँच पाए.फिर तो दोनों मित्रों का प्रगाढ़ स्नेहालिंगन हुआ और उस महान नाट्य-सम्राट ने हम सबको गले लगा कर असीसा. पृथ्वीराजजी की श्रीमती ने बड़े प्रेम से भोजन कराया और भांग का चमत्कार तो ऐसा रहा कि ठहाकों की झालर टंग गई दोनों महारथियों के बीच. दो घंटे कैसे, कहाँ और कब बीत गए किसी ने नहीं जाना

चित्र में बाएं बैठा हुआ है ओमप्रकाश शुक्ल. यूपी के शाहजहांपुर का, जित्तिन का जिगरी दोस्त’ और मेरा भी अभिन्न. आर्मी में कर्नल के पद पर था जब चीन-युद्ध में नेफा में शहीद हुआ. उसकी स्मृति में मैंने एक अंग्रेजी में कविता लिखी है – Static Cacti जो इसी ब्लॉग में आगे  जल्दी ही  पढ़ी जा सकती है.

बेनीपुरीजी के लगभग २५० पत्र मेरे पिता के नाम हैं जिनमे से चुनकर ५३ ‘शिवपूजन सहाय साहित्य समग्र’    (खंड ९) में छपे हैं. ‘पैरों में पंख बाँध कर’ में उनके यात्रा संस्मरण हैं. उनकी दूसरी यात्रा-संस्मरण पुस्तक है ‘उड़ते चलो, उड़ते चलो’..यूरोप की दो यात्राएं कीं १९५१ और १९५२ में.  दोनों बार पेरिस गए. दूसरी यात्रा में पेरिस से शिवजी को १८.५.५२ को पत्र में लिखा – अभी-अभी उस प्रसिद्द थिएटर से आया हूँ जिसकी स्थापना मोलिये के सम्मान में लुइ चौदहवें ने की थी. कौमेदिये फ्रान्सिसे इसका नाम है. इसका सारा खर्च सरकार उठाती है. इस थिएटर का वातावरण ही देख कर मुग्ध हो जाना पड़ता है. चारों ओर कला के नमूने -. कहीं मोलिये, कहीं वाल्तेअर, कहीं हूगो, कहीं  रेसीन.’कोमेडी’ और ‘ट्रेजेडी’ की दो प्रस्तर प्रतिमाएं. मोलिये का वह सोफा जिस पर बैठ कर उसने अंतिम बार अभिनय किया था फिर स्टेज पर ही बेहोश हो गया और फिर होश में नहीं आया.....

एक अपढ़ किसान परिवार में जन्मे इस महान लेखक – हिंदी के इस साहित्य-रत्न – बेनीपुरी को पाकर हिंदी धन्य हुई, बेनीपुर की धरती धन्य हुई, धन्य हुआ बिहार और सारा देश जिसने इस सिरमौर लेखक को सर-आँखों पर लिया.

बेनीपुरीजी की 'माटी की मूरतें' की एक कहानी  'बुधिया' का मेरा किया हुआ अंग्रेजी अनुवाद इसी ब्लॉग में नीचे पढ़ा जा सकता है.            



Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Extract from Work in Progress

DR RAJENDRA PRASAD

Early childhood in Jeeradei

Jiradei is a small village – not very different from what it must have been more than a century and a half ago. Like any other village in India it is surrounded by open agricultural land dotted with trees, some of them very old with long shady branches. A thin winding metalled road leads north from the village to the railway station, about a kilometer away. The station was earlier named ‘Bhantapokhar’, but is now renamed ‘Jiradei’. It lies on the Chhapra-Gorakhpur broad gauge railway line; about 80 kms west of Chhapra. Siwan, now the district headquarters for Jiradei, comes just about 10 kms earlier on the same line, from where another line branches off towards Hathua. During the British days, Siwan was a subdivisional town under Saran district, but is now a new district in its own right. It takes about two hours from Chhapra by road to drive down to Jiradei. From the main road you take a cut south across the railway line to reach the village. Just as you enter the village, a full-size statue of Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the  Indian Republic, standing on a pedestal in a park, comes into view,
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Almost at the centre of the village Jiradei stands the large sprawling ancestral house of Dr Rajendra Prasad – lately renovated- with a canopied statue of Rajendra Babu erected in the front garden. The renovated building retains most of the original structure of the house that must have been raised during the period when Shri Chadhur Lals served as the Dewan of Hathua Raj. Chadhur Lal, a small zamindar in his own right, was the elder brother of Rajendra Babu’s grandfather Mishri Lal who died at an early age. The building has the typical structure of the house of a small zamindar family, with a quadrangular courtyard in the centre and spacious verandahs on all four sides, each side having several single-door rooms, one beside another.
It was in one of these rooms that Rajendra Babu was born on December 3, 1884. The room lies totally vacant today like most other rooms. The emptiness slowly envelopes you as you stand there musing about that great moment when a noble soul, a truly illustrious son – a ‘gem of the nation’ was born here….
Just a little away, on the outer verandah, lies a broad wooden chowki, near the entrance to the main hall. Stuck on the wall overhead is a marble tablet saying that it had served as the bed for Mahatma Gandhi when he stayed there for two days – from the evening of 16 to morning of 18 January, 1927.After the Gauhati Congress (December, 1926) Gandhi was on a tour of Bengal and south India propagating his three-point agenda of Khadi, eradication of untouchability and communal harmony
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Rajendra Babu’s  Autobiography begins with a short account of his ancestors, who are believed to have come and finally settled, seven or eight generations before, in this village, Jiradei. The family saga begins with Chaudhur Lal, the elder brother, who had one son, Jagdev Sahay. Misri Lal, the younger brother, also had only one son, Mahadev Sahay, who was just one and a half years old when Misri Lal died at an early age of 21 years. After the death of Misri Lal, it was Chaudhur Lal who brought up Jagdev Sahay, his own son, and Mahadev  Sahay, his nephew, with equal paternal affection and care. Chaudhur Lal had served as a well-respected Dewan of Hathua Estate for long and had wielded considerable prestiege and influence. This must have been around 1890. Chaudhur Lal was already in his seventies, and the affairs of the zamindari were being looked after by his son, Jagdev Sahay. Unfortunately, Jagdev  Sahay died of cholera at an early age. Later, Chaudhur Lal and his wife also died within a year or two. The entire burden of ‘the management of the estate now fell on the inexperienced shoulders of Mahadev Sahay. All this sad turn of fortune’s wheel happened when the education of of his two sons – Mahendra Prasad and Rajendra Prasad was at stake.
 This was around 1901, when Rajendra Prasad was studying for his entrance examination in Chhapra. But the story of Rajendra Babu’s early education begins at Jiradei several years before, around 1890, when he was only about five-six years of age. Mahadev Sahay was fond of wrestling and horser-riding, a trait which his two sons also inherited.

In an interesting episode, when both the brothers had gone in a barat (bridegroom’s marriage party), a customary horse-race between the bride’s and bridegroom’s parties took place. Being good horse-riders, the two brothers also took part in the race, which was usually held in the open fields of the countryside. New horses were usually provided on such occasions by the bride’s party. And the one which was brought for Rajendra Prasad was rather raw and ‘unbroken’, though quite swift and spirited. And soon it took its rider literally for a rough ride across the village fields and disappeared in no time like an arrow shot from a bow. Everyone, including the elder brother,  Mahendra Prasad, got worried, and several riders were sent out to scout for Rajendra Prasad, fearing the worst. The rascal had been known to have thrown off many a rider from its back in the past. After searching for the animal and the rider near and far, the scouting riders returned harried and crestfallen. Mahendra Prasad  now grew more and more anxious. He was an expert rider himself and imagined the worst that could have happened. All the gaiety and merriment of the occasion turned into dismal apprehension. Night had fallen, hours went by, and no one knew what to do. Just then, out in the distance, people saw a horse and its rider slowly emerging from the darkness. Rajendra Prasad had finally been able to tame the devil, without getting dislodged from his seat. He had only too wisely allowed the beast to tire itself out after galloping for miles around. Thereafter, it had no strength left but to meekly obey its rider.

The earlier chapters of the Autobiography recount several other amusing episodes, when he was still a small child, studying Urdu and Persian at home, under Maulvis, along with his two cousins.

The Maulvi lived in a room in the house adjoining ours. The maktab (school) was located in a verandah of his house. We would sit on a takhatposh (wooden cot) and the Maulvi on his own. The school began early in the morning….Our classes would seem interminable as after an hour and a break at noon we would start again and continue till an hour before sunset. After sunset we would begin again and study in the light of an oil lamp

In the evening session, we would feel sleepy but were afraid of dozing lest the Maulvi beat us. Jamuna Prasad, my elder cousin, was full of ruses to make the Maulvi let us go early. One ruse was to empty a packet of dust in the lamp on the pretext of adjusting the wick, unseen by the Maulvi. The dust would absorb the oil and the lamp would start flickering in a few seconds. The Maulvi would curse the maid-servant for the inadequate supply of oil and would break up the class.

One of his uncles, Baldev Prasad, ‘a man full of zest’, ‘ well-read in Persian’, ‘a fine soul, full of humour’, ‘clever in the use of the catapult’ was very fond of playing pranks. The first Maulvi Saheb who  had been appointed to ‘ initiate us into the alphabet’ was a special target for his hilarious jokes.

The Maulvi who was a queer man, given to making tall claims, afforded a good target for Uncle Baldev’s jokes….Though claiming proficiency in chess, not once did he defeat our uncle….One day when we went out for a walk, we saw a bull standing in the middle of the road. Someone said it was a rogue and attacked passers-by. When Uncle asked the Maulvi not to go near the bull, he declared his fearlessness and passed too near the bull with a contemptuous tilt of the head. The next moment, the bull lifted him on his horns and tossed him to the ground.

On another occasion Uncle Baldev induced the Maulvi to handle his gun. The Maulvi said he was a fine shot. To test his ability, Uncle called him out and we all followed them.Uncle pointed out a vulture on a tree at some distance and asked the Maulvi to prove his skill. The latter raised the heavy gun, an old-fashioned muzzle-loader, with a little difficulty and fired. He, of course, missed the vulture, butthe recoil of the gun threw him back and he fell flat on the ground with a thud. He had to be carried off the field.

The Maulvi Saheb left only after six months, and the second Maulvi took his place, who was ‘a serious-minded man and a good teacher… [and] taught us for two years’. With him, his pupils ‘completed the Karima, Mamkima, Khushahal Simiya, Dastur-ul-Simiya, Gulistan, Bostan, etc’.
There is an other interesting episode regarding Rajendra Babu’s marriage. Child marriage was quite in the family tradition. So was dowry. Pomp and grandeur, caparisoned elephants and horses, silver-plated palanquins, large number of servants and relatives in the huge marriage parties – these were the hallmarks of marriages in these zamindar families. We get a very entertaining account of Rajendra Prasad’s marriage in the Autobiography. It took place when he was only twelve or thirteen, studying in the Zila School at Chhapra in the seventh standard.

…my father decided to make the marriage a grand affair. He spent generously on ornaments. Other expenditures were equally lavish….The marriage was to be held in Dalan-Chhapra in Ballia district, 40 miles from Zeradei. This meant two day’s journey….The bridegroom’s palki was a funny affair. Made of silver, it was a very heavy burden for the bearers. Open at the top, it had a canopy to protect the rider from the hot June sun. The wind blew up the canopy, turning it into a sort of balloon….What with the sun and the hot winds, riding in a palki was no fun.

By evening, the marriage party reached and ‘encamped in a village on the bank of the Sarju’. The next day, ‘We reached the bride’s place at eleven in the night’.

The bride’s party were getting nervous because of the delay in our arrival….But their spirits revived when they saw the ornaments, dresses, sweets and other presents, which we had brought for the bride. Whether they felt happy to see the bridegroom too, I do not know!

And there is still more of comedy to come. 

As I said, when our party arrived at the journey’s end, it was late in the night and I had fallen asleep in the palki. The pre-nuptial ceremonies had to be gone through and it was quite a job for my people to wake up the boy bridegroom…The wedding took place the same night….Details of the ceremonies I do not recollect. When a child, I used to join my sister in the game of doll’s marriages. To me my own marriage was not much different….All that I knew was that someone would come into my house as my wife just as my brother’s wife had come.

Child marriages, however, seemed to have their own social rationalization. According to the parents, such marriages saved their children, particularly girls, very substantially from promiscuous lapses. And though the marriages were performed rather too early, the brides were not to be sent to the bridegroom’s homes till both partners were supposedly ready for consummation. It was some kind of a rough and ready solution to the problem of pre-marital promiscuity. Gandhi, in his Autobiography, however, strongly disapproves of the woodenheaded practice.“It is my painful duty”, he writes, “ to have to record here my marriage at the age of thirteen….I can see no moral argument in support of such a preposterously early marriage”

With Rajendra Prasad, however, things happened rather differently. After his marriage was performed, the marriage party had returned without the bride. The  bride  was to come only a year later after a ceremony known as Duragaman. And even after her coming, strict codes were observed in determining the time when the ‘first meeting’ could take place. A very strict purdah system was observed customarily in the family. He remembers how his brother’s wife, when she had first come, ‘She had a room to herself and she never came even into the verandah’.

When my sister-in-law wanted to go for her bath, everyone was cleared out of the courtyard….For added protection, two maid-servants would carry bedsheets as curtains on either side when at last she walked to the bath….When my wife came to Zeradei, she had to act likewise,…. Whenever I came to Zeradei during holidays, I used to sleep in a room outside.In the middle of the night, my mother would send a maid-servant to wake me up and she would take me to my wife’s room .Before morning while all others were yet asleep I would have to be back in my own bed outside….

© Dr BSM Murty

 Some more extracts from my biography of  Dr Rajendra Prasad may be read on this blog in earlier postings. The book is shortly to be published.