India has produced a great number of talent in Hindi Literature. However, Bihar and UP remain the centre of the development in Hindi literature. Two of the greatest writers, Premchand and Dinkar are from these two states. Ramdhari Singh Dinkar is regarded as one of the greatest Hindi writers of the modern period. He was prolific essayist, poet, storyteller and a patriot. He is widely known for his nationalist poems that added fervour to many independence movements in India.

Personal Life:

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar was born in 1908 in Bihar. His schooling was done in Bihar as well. He had to face struggles while he was studying due to the dire poverty of the family. He was unable to afford to be in the hostel of school or to buy a pair of shoes. He struggled a lot in his life but never succumbed to the adverse situations. Whatever life threw on him he made it into a block on the cemented staircase and kept climbing high and high, with time.

He attained college and studied Hindi. John Keats, Milton and Rabindranath Tagore made a huge influence on him. He started to live with poems and write as well. Later, he joined the freedom movement of India that was going at that time.

His writings:

He was majorly a poet and all other things after that. He has written most of the poems in Veer Rasa and Shringar Rasa. Veer Ras stands for the poetry of valour and Shringar Rasa stands for the poetry of love, romance and beauty. He was writing romantic poems at early stages but later he realised the need of the nation and started to write nationalist poems as well. The poem ‘Himalaya’ is one of them; this poem ignited the fires in youths’ belly to do something for the motherland.

His poems were relevant and still, it’s very much contemporary that anyone can find these works of Hindi literature fit into the blocks of the modern world. The contemporary authors still feel attached to him as poets of those time felt with Dinkar. His writings were inspirational and motivational. He has touched many genres of poems from romanticism to valour and made an immense contribution in the respective field. His poems have a rhythmic flow that you cannot resist yourself to read it aloud with the flow.

He depicted the condition of poverty through his writings. He never forgot from where he had come that’s why he always reflected those situations in his poems. These lines are enough to understand the depth of his poetry and his command over the original situation of that time.

           “रेशमी कलम से भाग्य लिखने वालो

            तुम भी अभाव से कभी ग्रस्त हो रोये हो ?

            बीमार किसी बच्चे की दवा जुटाने में

           तुम भी क्या घर पर पेट बाँधकर सोये हो ?”

He was a genuine poet who reflected the situation of India from one hand and from another hand, he glorified our strong culture through poems like “Urvashi”, “Kurukshetra” and many others. He hailed his religion and glorified the enriched and strong culture and tradition of a great nation like India on the world stage.

His Major Works:

• Hunkar  (1938)
• Rasavanti (1939)
• Dvandvageet (1940)
• Kurukshetra (1946)
• Saamdheni (1947)
• Itihas ke Aansoo (1951)
• Dhup aur Dhuan (1951)
• Rashmirathi (1952)
• Dilli (1954)
• Urvashi (1961)
• Parashuram ki Pratiksha (1963)
• Koylaa aur Kavitva (1964)
• Mritti Tilak (1964)
• Atmaa ki Ankhe (1964)
• Haare ko Harinaam (1970)

Major Awards:

He has received many awards. However, the major three are the Sahitya Academy Award, Padma Bhusan and Janapith Award. Though his contribution cannot be repaid by any award people from different sectors have recognised his works and given him many posthumous awards as well.

Conclusion:

India is a fortunate country to have a tall and stalwart poet like this. Ramdhari Singh Dinkar was fortunate enough to fight for his nation’s freedom physically as well as with his pen. We got an India that was free; Dinkar was born in an India that was demanding to be free! We all must remember his works, his art, his vision and also his direct role in the ‘making’ and then ‘building’ of our country!

Death: He died on 24 April 1974. He was born a day before his death but in a different year and a different month – 23 September 1908.