Trilochan Shastri (English: Trilochan Shastri; born- 20 August, 1917, Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh; died- 9 December, 2007, Ghaziabad) is considered to be the main signature of the progressive poetic stream of Hindi literature. He was one of the three pillars of the progressive ‘triad’ of modern Hindi poetry. The other two pillars of this ‘trilogy’ were Nagarjuna and Shamsher Bahadur Singh. Trilochan Shastri was a poet who was a follower of the literary tradition of Kashi (modern Varanasi).
Shastri was born on August 20, 1917 at a place called Katghara Chirani Patti in Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. His original name was Vasudev Singh. Trilochan Shastri did M.A. from ‘Kashi Hindu University’. He obtained the degree of English and ‘Shastri’ degree in Sanskrit from Lahore. In his journey from a small village in Uttar Pradesh to ‘Banaras University’, Trilochan Shastri wrote dozens of books and enriched Hindi literature. Shastri ji was a strong opponent of marketism. Although he supported experimentation in Hindi. He believed that – “The more experiments there are in a language, the richer it will be.” Trilochan Shastri always promoted innovation. He was a catalyst for new writers.
Apart from Hindi, Trilochan Shastri was considered an expert in Arabic and Persian languages. He was also very active in the field of journalism. He edited newspapers and magazines like ‘Prabhakar’, ‘Vanar’, ‘Hans’, ‘Aaj’ and ‘Samaj’. Trilochan Shastri was also the National President of Jan Sanskriti Manch from 1995 to 2001. Apart from this, he also worked in ‘Gyanmandal Prakashan Sanstha’ of Varanasi and was also associated with the planning of many dictionaries of Hindi and Urdu.
Shastri ji is considered to be a seeker of ‘Hindi Sonnet’. He adapted this verse to the Indian environment and composed about 550 sonnets. Apart from this, he also enriched Hindi literature with stories, songs, ghazals and criticism. His first poetry collection ‘Dharti’ was published in 1945. ‘Gulab aur Bulbul’, ‘Us Janapada Ka Kavi Hoon’ and ‘Taap Ke Taye Hue Din’ were his famous poetry collections. 17 poetry collections of Trilochan Shastri, who penned works like ‘Digant’ and ‘Dharti’, were published.
He spent the last years of his life with the family of his son Amit Prakash Singh in Jwalapur near Haridwar. He remained quite lively even in his last years. Although old age had taken its toll on his body, his memory or creativity had not dimmed. Trilochan Shastri died on 9 December 2007 in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.