Poetry Series Mahendra Bhatnagar - poems - Publication Date: 2009 Publisher: Poemhunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive Mahendra Bhatnagar(26th June 1926) DR. MAHENDRA BHATNAGAR Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar's is one of the significant post-independence voices in Hindi and Indian English Poetry, expressing the lyricism and pathos, aspirations and yearnings of the modern Indian intellect. Rooted deep into the Indian soil, his poems reflect not only the moods of a poet but of a complex age. Born in Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh) at maternal grandfather's residence on 26 June 1926; 6 a.m. Primary education in Jhansi, Morar (Gwalior) and Sabalgarh (Morena) : Matric (1941) from High School, Morar (Gwalior) : Inter (1943) from Madhav College, Ujjain; B.A. (1945) from Victoria College, - at present, Maharani Laxmi Bai College - Gwalior; M. A. (1948) and Ph.D. (1957) in Hindi from Nagpur University; L.T. (1950; Madhya Bharat Govt.) Places of work — Bundelkhand, Chambal region and Malwa. High School Teacher from July 1945. Retired as Professor on 1 July 1984 (M.P. Govt. Educational service) . Selected once for the post of Professor of Hindi Language & Literature, in Tashkent University, U.S.S.R. (1978) by UGC & ICCR (NEW DELHI) Principal Investigator (U.G.C. / Jiwaji University, Gwalior) from 1984 to 1987. Professor in the IGNOU Teaching Centre of Jiwaji University, Gwalior in 1992. Worked as Chairman \ Member of various committees in Indore University, Vikram University, Ujjain & Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra. Worked as a member in the managing committees of 'Gwalior Shodh Sansthan', 'Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Academy' & 'Rashtra-Bhasha Prachar Samiti, Bhopal'. From time to time, poems included in various Text-Books of curricula of Educational Boards & Universities of India. Worked as one of the members in the Audition Committees of Drama / Light Music of All India Radio (Akashvani) - Stations Indore and Gwalior. Contracted Song-Writer of All India Radio \ For all Radio Stations (Light Music Section) . Broadcast many poems, talks and other programmes from Indore, Bhopal, www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 1 Gwalior and New Delhi (National Channels) Radio Stations. Conducted and directed many literary societies in Ujjain, Dewas, Dhar, Mandsaur and Gwalior. Appointed as one of the Award-Judges by 'Bihar Rashtra-Bhasha Parishad, Patna' (1981 & 1983) , 'Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Lucknow' (1983) , 'Rajasthan Sahitya Akademi, Udaipur' (1991,1993,1994) & 'Hindi Sahitya Parishad, Ahmedabad, Gujrat (2001) . Poems translated, published and broadcast in many foreign and Indian languages. Eleven volumes of poems in English: [1] ‘Forty Poems of Mahendra Bhatnagar’ [Selected Poems — 1] [2] 'After The Forty Poems' [Selected Poems — 2] [3] ‘Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar’s Poetry.’ [Selected Poems — 3] [4] 'Exuberance and other poems. [5] ‘Death Perception: Life Perception’ [6] 'Passion and Compassion' [7] 'Poems: For A Better World' [8] 'Lyric-Lute' [9] 'A Handful Of Light' [10] New Enlightened World [11] Dawn to Dusk Distinguished Anthologies: [1] ENGRAVED ON THE CANVAS OF TIME [Poems of social harmony & humanism: realistic & visionary aspects.] [2] LIFE : AS IT IS [Poems of faith & optimism: delight & pain. Philosophy of life.] [3] O, MOON, MY SWEET-HEARET! [Love poems] [4] RAINBOW [Nature poems] [5] DEATH AND LIFE [Poems on Death-perception: Life-perception & Critical Study] One volume of translated poems in French ('A Modern Indian Poet: Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar: Un Poèt Indien Et Moderne'.) Works published in seven volumes in Hindi - three of Poems (comprising sixteen earlier collections) , two of Critical articles, one on Premchand (Research work) and one of Miscellaneous writings. www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 2 Published research & critical studies: (1) Living Through Challenges: A Study of Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar's Poetry (2) Poet Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar: His Mind And Art. (3) The Poetry of Mahendra Bhatnagar: Realistic & Visionary Aspects [forthcoming] Received awards, four times (1952, 1958, 1960,1985.) from Madhya Bharat & Madhya Pradesh Govts. Edited literary magazines 'Sandhya' (Monthly) and Pratikalpa' (Quarterly) from Ujjain. Member Advisory Board: Indian Journal of POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURES [Half- yearly / Thodupuzha-Kerala] Adviser: 'POETCRIT' (Half-Yearly / Maranda, H.P.) , Adviser: ‘Lokmangal’ (Quarterly / Gwalior, M.P.) Adviser: ‘Vangmaya’ (Quarterly / Aligarh, U.P.) Patron: www. Contact: 110 BalwantNagar, Gandhi Road, Gwalior — 474 002 (M.P.) INDIA Phone: 0751-4092908 / M-96 85 98 62 46 E-Mail: drmahendra02@ www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 3 [1] Death And Life DEATH AND LIFE . DEATH-PERCEPTION: LIFE-PERCEPTION Poet: Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar 50 Poems & Criticism 1 Gratitude 2 Gratitude; Again 3 The Wheel of Death 4 Free from worry 5 Contemplation 6 A puzzle 7 The Truth 8 Forms of Death 9 Conclusion 10 Life-Death 11 A Pair 12 The Opposite 13 Equal 14 Sakhi 15 A desire 16 Reality 17 The Philosophy of Life 18 Excelsior! 19 Experimenting 20 Meaningfulness 21 A Prayer 22 A Mirage 23 A Vow 24 The Call of Conquest 25 A Call 26 One Day 27 Purpose 28 A Wish 29 As Desired www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 4 30 Proved 31 Healthy Vision 32 Compatibility 33 Dreadful 34 The Philosophy of Death 35 An Invitation 36 To The Fairy of Death 37 A Request 38 The Mode of Death 39 A Comparison 40 The Difference 41 The End 42 A Blow 43 Truth 44 A Proclamation 45 I Bow Thee 46 Good Bye 47 Preordained 48 An Ascetic 49 The Last Will 50 Kritkarma ARTICLES 1 The Motif of Death in the Poetry of Mahendra Bhatnagar — An Assessment / Dr. D. C. Chambial, Maranda (H.P.) . 2 'Death-Perception: Life-Perception': A Dialectical Study Mrs. Purnima Ray, Burdwan (W.B.) . 3 Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar's 'Death-Perception: Life- Perception': An analysis Dr. (mrs.) Jaya Lakshmi Rao V., (Visakhapatnam) (A.P.) . 4 'Death' in the Poetry of Mahendra Bhatnagar Dr. D. Murali Manohar, Hyderabad (A.P.) . 5 Revealing Reflections On Death And Life Dr. Atma Ram . www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 5 6 Reflecions on Mahendra Bhatnagar's Philosophy of Death Dr. A.K. Chaturvedi [1] Gratitude Death is; Death is imminent, Unavoidable - That's why Life is so desired! That's why There's such a semblance Between life and death! Death's given Beauty to life Such Endless — vast! Death's given Man Life - art - efficiency Such Embellishment - adornment! Indubiously Transience, Death element / feeling Minute by minute death - tension Are acceptable, Gratitude To death Life's gratitude! [2] Gratitude; Again Death's made life very beautiful, Transformed this world, in fact, www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 6 into a pleasant heaven, We learnt the meaning of love, only then true's true, Transformed man into higher beings than immortal god! [3] The Wheel of Death Cruel is The wheel of death Very cruel! Under which Lifeless - living Gradually grinding and changing Every moment, every minute! This earth rocks horribly! Invisibly Silently Continuously moves This wheel of death Uninterrupted... unchanged! Before it Stability has No existence Its motion Always controls Life and death, Earth and sky! [4] Free from Worry Fearing death will make living www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 7 futile! weight heavy dry onerous pleasureless heart. So Life only meaningful, when every moment is free from the dread of death. It is ill-ominous to talk about the fear of death, or cataclysm for this reason. [5] Contemplation Death? A question-mark! To know the mystery not only difficult but also all unknown for man. Body merges into five-elements everything scatters and ends. Life's not to return; impossible to revive again, and know the mystery. When there's no self death — a puzzle queer puzzle! Uninterpreted to-date, A wonderful puzzle! www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 8 All efforts futile — to explicate the meaning of death; it's very intricate difficult to contemplate. [6] A Puzzle What? Body Not worth living; Therefore... Soul! You left. In quest of new On an unknown path; Where? But where? ? Unknown, Everything unknown! A pitch dark night, Everything Mysterious! Who questions? Who answers? [7] The Truth If there were no death, God wouldn't have any existence, man would have never reconciled with his fate! God - a symbol, God - a proof www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 9 of man's helplessness of readiness after death. The whole philosophy of hell and heaven is an imagination. Man at each moment is afraid of death, and horripilant again and again! He knows — 'death is imminent'! So, his each step is frought with suspicion. Not only this he is also absolutely ignorant of the so called Yam's1 world. That's why he takes refuge in God for eternal peace in death! That's why he sings the long song - 'Ram nam satya hai! ' (God's name is the only TRUTH) O, birth and death is nothing save for his cruel-amusing act! [1 God, dispensing death in Indian mythology.] [8] Forms of Death Be death natural or accidental conclusion is the same - end of a conscious life, www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 10 to change into a senselessness active life to sleep for good palpitation of heart! Both are the so called writs of Providence, the script of fate: invisible, indelible. But an act of terminating life by suicide or by murder, or destruction of the ferocious in self or social defense, isn't death, but, a murder. Though the end, the same death! True death or untimely death. [9] Conclusion Death? A question-mark? Stable Unanswered, adamant, stands as an adversary. But, man accept not defeat, not a bit think of God in defense, in an answer to the question, no, not! The mystery of death to be unmasked..