Sahitya News Desk!! Gopaldas Saxena ‘Neeraj’ (English: Gopaldas Saxena ‘Neeraj’, born – January 4, 1925, Etawah; death – July 19, 2018, Delhi) was a Hindi litterateur, teacher, poetry reciter on the stages of poetry conferences and song writer for films. . He was the first person to be honored twice by the Government of India in the fields of education and literature. He was the most popular and famous poet, who gave a new turn to Hindi poetry through his touching poetic feeling and simple language and influenced the new generation the most after Bachchan ji. The Hindi world is well aware of Neeraj ji. In the eyes of the public, he was the greatest singer of human love. ‘In the words of Bhadant Anand Kausalyanan, “He has the potential to become the epitome of Hindi.” According to Dinkar, “She is the veena of Hindi.” In the opinion of other language speakers “he was a saint-poet” and some critics consider him a ‘despair-deathist’. Today many lyricists have his echoes in their hearts.
life introduction
‘Neeraj’ was born on January 4, 1925 in an ordinary Kayastha family in a village called ‘Puravali’ in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. When he was an innocent child of 6 years, suddenly his father ‘Babu Brajkishore’ passed away and he was deprived of his father’s love. Before his death, Babu Brajkishore had sold his landholdings etc. and got a job in ‘Khanpur State’. There was nothing left in the name of ancestral property for the maintenance of his family. As a result, he went to his uncle ‘Babu Hardayal Prasad’ lawyer in Etah and there he struggled for life tirelessly for almost 11 years, staying away from his mother’s affection. Due to his concern about finding the means of livelihood, his studies were also halted in the beginning, but still he did not lose courage and after hard work and strenuous efforts, under extremely difficult circumstances, he graduated from Etah in 1942. Passed the school examination with honors in first division.
Delhi and job
In November 1942, he came to Delhi and worked as a ‘typist’ in the supply department of the government. He worked at this place for about two years at Rs 67 per month. In those days he had to face extreme difficulties. Out of 67 rupees, he used to send 35-40 rupees home. And in the remaining portion one had to survive with difficulty. In order to save money, he used to eat ‘puris’ from the market only once in the afternoon so that they get digested late and do not feel hungry quickly. He has to suffer its ill effects till today and is suffering from ‘colitis’ and ‘liver’ disease since 1944. It is noteworthy here that in those days, despite having fever for 9 months continuously, he could not take leave from office to get himself treated nor could he get proper treatment due to lack of money. During his stay in Delhi, ‘Neeraj’ stayed at Panchkuian Place in New Delhi for a few days and later came to Mohalla Maharam of ‘Shahdara’. When he was in Shahdara in 1945, the pioneer Hindi poet Shri Suryakant Tripathi Nirala and renowned critic Shri ‘Santipriya Dwivedi’ also stayed at his house.
Kanpur stay
‘Neeraj’ also worked as a ‘Literary Assistant’ in the ‘Songs Publicity Office’ in Delhi for some days and from there he had to resign due to promoting Congress and nationalism instead of promoting the government. After losing his job in Delhi, he went to Kanpur in 1946 and worked as D.A.V. Worked as a clerk in the college. He also got married in those days. After marriage, he got the job of ‘Steno Typist’ in a foreign company named ‘Walkert Brothers’ and he worked hard in this company for 5 years.
Education
Neeraj passed the ‘Intermediate’ examination in 1949. Subsequently, while working part time in another local firm apart from ‘Walkert Brothers’, in 1951 he completed B. A. Did. Meanwhile, on June 1, 1951, they were blessed with a son; Whose name is ‘Milan Prabhat Gunjan’. He was also the District Information Officer in Kanpur for some days. Due to hindrance in his studies, he left that job after a year. As a result, M.A. in 1953. He also passed the examination in first division.
Kavi Sammelan and fame
MA. After doing this, he remained completely unemployed for two years but this unemployment proved to be a blessing for him in a way; Because in these two years he toured the whole country and gained a lot of popularity through ‘Kavi Sammelans’. While ‘Neeraj’ gained all-India fame in these two years, he completely ruined his health due to his constant travelling.
Professor in Meerut College
In 1955, he remained a professor in ‘Meerut College’ for one year. He could not stay in Meerut College for long. The college authorities made some allegations against him, which were later proved to be false.
poet life
The poetic life of ‘Neeraj’ formally begins in May, 1942. When he was studying in high school, he had a love affair with a girl there. Unfortunately they got separated suddenly. He could not bear the separation from his beloved and these lines suddenly came out of his poetic mind: And thus the young man in love ‘Gopaldas Saxena’ became a poet and became ‘Gopaldas Saxena ‘Neeraj’. First of all, ‘Neeraj’ got to read ‘Nisha Control’ from somewhere by the famous popular Hindi poet Shri Harivansh Rai Bachchan. He was very impressed by that. ‘Neeraj’ himself has written in this regard –
‘I don’t remember from whom I learned to write poetry. Perhaps I don’t even know when I started writing. Yes that’s for sure, I remember it was summer, school holidays were over, maybe it was the month of May or June. A friend of mine came to my house. He had a copy of the book ‘Nisha Invitation’ in his hand. I took it and opened it. His very first song impressed me and I asked him to read it. I enjoyed reading it very much and read it two-three times that day itself. After reading it, I too became obsessed with writing something…’
Influence of Harivansh Rai Bachchan
‘I am very impressed by Bachchan ji. There are many reasons for this, the first is that like Bachchan ji, I too have had to fight a lot with life, I am fighting even now and perhaps I will continue to fight in the future also. These lines have been quoted from ‘Neeraj’s first poetic work ‘Sangharsh’, published in 1944. In ‘Sangharsh’, ‘Neeraj’ not only accepted the influence of Bachchan ji, but also dedicated this book to him.
Gulabrai’s prediction
In the role of ‘Sangharsh’ the famous critic ‘Dr. The prediction that Gulabrai had made in those days regarding the emotional content of poet Neeraj’s poetry, seems to be true even today after reading his works. she wrote –
The undercurrent of despair is clearly visible in the tearful songs of ‘Neeraj’ ji and it seems to have emerged from the bitter experiences of life. Where nectar itself turns into poison, it is natural to be disappointed. What are the events that turn nectar into poison, and to what extent are they true, is a question of one’s personal life. But these poems suggest a hurt.
His second work ‘Antardhwani’ was published in 1946. An attempt has been made to have the influence of ‘Bachchan’ in it and ‘Vibhavari’ [1] By the time he came to India, he adopted his own independent philosophy of life.
poetic feature
The poetic approach of ‘Neeraj’ holds a completely different and special place among the poets of this generation in terms of language, use of words, rhyme, rhythm, context, atmosphere and apparent plan etc. ‘Neeraj’ has used all types of language in his works. He uses words, phrases and actions based on his feelings. This is the reason why in his poetry where we see Sanskrit style, we see only simple and plain vocabulary like Urdu. From the point of view of style, we can divide his works into various forms like philosophical, folk-lyrical, pictorial, masculine and Sanskrit based etc.
Style
In a philosophical style, he continues to express his views in a simple manner through symbol based euphemisms. His compositions are simple, without music, ornaments and adjectives etc. There is often vulgarity in the folk-lyrical style, and in such compositions he often uses only harsh-sounding words. An abundance of melodious feeling can be seen in his compositions written in folk song-oriented style. Among the works written in pictorial style, they are works of creating pictures through words, which have been written to give the message of vigor, youth and sacrifice. To bring vigor, use of harsh words is highly desirable. In such works, ‘Neeraj’ has extensively used the symbols closest to life. The ancient Indian tradition has been the basis of the feeling of ‘Neeraj’ in the works of Sanskrit style.
popularity
The biggest proof of the popularity of ‘Neeraj’ is that where he has penetrated deep into the minds of ordinary readers through the medium of Hindi, he has also tickled the minds of even the most serious scholars. That is why many of his poems have been translated into languages like Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Russian etc. This is the reason why if ‘Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan’ declares him as ‘Ashwaghosh’ of Hindi, then ‘Dinkar’ ji considers him as ‘Veena’ of Hindi. If other language-speakers call him a ‘saint poet’, some critics consider him a disappointed mortalist.
