Girija Kumar Mathur (

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

: गिरिजाकुमार माथुर) (22 August 1919 – 10 January 1994) was a notable Indian writer of the

Hindi language Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of the Government of India, alongside English, and is the ''li ...

. He is noted for his translation of the popular English song "

We Shall Overcome "We Shall Overcome" is a gospel song that is associated heavily with the U.S. civil rights movement. The origins of the song are unclear; it was thought to have descended from "I'll Overcome Some Day," a hymn by Charles Albert Tindley, while t ...

" into Hindi (हम होगें कामयाब). His father, Devicharan Mathur, was a teacher in a local school and greatly admired music as well as literature. His mother's name was Laxmidevi. Girijakumar Mathur is considered one of the most important writers in Hindi due to his efforts to modernise

Hindi literature Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...

and promote it through many of his works.

Early life

Girijakumar Mathur was born in Ashoknagar which was tehsil of guna before 2003

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, on 22 August 1919. He was homeschooled by his father in History, Geography and English. After obtaining his primary education in

Jhansi Jhansi ( ) is a historic city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Toshan) Balwant Nagar was the old name of Jhansi. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand, on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme ...

, he was awarded a degree of M.A (English) and L.L.B from Lucknow University. After practicing law for a few years, he started working in

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

and later

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

Professional and musical career

On obtaining his law degree, Mathur initially worked as a lawyer, but subsequently joined the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

office of

. After a few years there, he moved on to join the then only television broadcasting organization of India,

. Mathur published his first collection of poems, ''Manjir'' in 1941. It was during his service in Doordarshan that mathur translated the popular

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and civil rights movement song "

We shall overcome "We Shall Overcome" is a gospel song that is associated heavily with the U.S. civil rights movement. The origins of the song are unclear; it was thought to have descended from "I'll Overcome Some Day," a hymn by Charles Albert Tindley, while t ...

" into

as "Ham Honge Kaamyab" (हम होंगे कामयाब). It was sung by a female singer of the Doordarshan orchestra and the music was arranged by Satish Bhatia using Indian musical instruments. This version of the song was subsequently released by TVS Saregama. This Hindi rendition was released in 1970 as a song of social upliftment and was often broadcast by Doordarshan in the 1970s and 1980s. Doordarshan at that time was the only television station of India, and this song was especially played on days of national significance. Mathur continued to work in Doordarshan, retiring in 1978 as the Deputy Director general.

Works

Girijakumar Mathur started his career in literature in 1934 in the

Braj language Braj is a language within the Indo-Aryan language family spoken in the Braj region in Western Uttar Pradesh centered on Mathura. Along with Awadhi, it was one of the two predominant literary languages of North-Central India before gradually m ...

.Greatly influenced by authors such as Makhanlal Chaturvedi and Balkrishna Sharma 'Navin', he published his first anthology, 'Manjir' in 1941. He was an important contributor to Hindi literature and used his works to spread moral messages through society. His notable works include: *Nash aur Nirman *Dhup ke Dhan *Sheilapankh Chamkile *Bhitri Nadi Ki Yatra (Anthology) *Janm Kaid (Play) *Nayi Kavita:Seemae aur Sambhavnae Girijakumar Mathur was one of the seven eminent Hindi poets included in ''

Tar Saptak ''Tar Saptak'' or ''Taar Saptak'' (; ) is an anthology of Hindi language poems written by seven poets, published in 1943. Compiled by Sachchidananda Vatsyayan (under his penname 'Agyeya'), it contain poems of Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh, Nemi Chandr ...

'', an anthology edited and published by Agyeya in 1943. Apart from poems, he wrote many plays, songs as well as essays. In 1991, he was awarded the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for his anthology, "Main Vakt ke Hun Samne" as well as the

Vyas Samman The Vyas Samman is a literary award in India, first awarded in 1991. It is awarded annually by the K.K. Birla Foundation and includes a cash payout of ₹ 4,00,000 (as of 2019). To be eligible for the award, the literary work must be in the Hi ...

in the same year. He is noted for his translation of the popular English song "

" into Hindi. Mathur described his life's journey in his autobiograph
Mujhe aur abhi kehna hai (मुझे और अभी कहना है)
(''I still have to say something'').

Death

Girijakumar Mathur died on 10 January 1994, aged 75 in New Delhi.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathur, Girija Kumar Indian male poets Hindi-language writers 1919 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi