Mahendra Bhatnagar (26 June 1926 – 27 April 2020) was an Indian Hindi and English poet. He is seen as one of the significant post-independence voices in his field of poetry, who expressed lyricism and pathos, as well as aspirations and yearnings of the modern Indian intellect.

Early life and education

Mahendra Bhatnagar was born in Jhansi,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

at his maternal grandfather's residence on 26 June 1926. He received 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 ...

, Morar,

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

, and

Sabalgarh Sabalgarh is a municipality in Morena district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The town was founded by a king named Sabala, living near Chambal river beside Karaoli, The town has a strong fort called Sabalgarh Fort is situated on a lar ...

Morena Morena or MORENA may refer to: Places * Morena, Madhya Pradesh, a town in central India * Morena (Lok Sabha constituency), Madhya Pradesh * Morena (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Madhya Pradesh * Morena, San Diego, California, a neighborhood * Mo ...

. He then graduated high school in Gwalior and intermediate at Madhav College in 1941 and 1943 respectively. He finally received his Bachelor of Arts degree at the Victoria College in 1945. After graduating, he pursued his

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at the

Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a public state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as the second-oldest in Maharashtra. It is named ...

in 1948 and 1957 respectively. He also received his teacher's license (L.T.1950) from the Madhya Bharat government.

Career

He was selected to become a professor of Hindi Language at

Tashkent University Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

in 1978 by the University Grants Commission and the

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 April ...

. He was also the principal investigator of the University Grants Commission at the

Jiwaji University Jiwaji University (JU) is a public collegiate university in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. The name comes from Sir Jiwaijirao Scindia of Gwalior. The university was established on 23 May 1964 and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the President of Ind ...

from 1984 to 1987.Sabharwal, Dr R.K.B, Concerns and Creation. In 1992, he taught at the

Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is a National university, public Open university (concept), open & Distance education, distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former Prime Minister of India, prime ...

Teaching Centre. Afterwards, he worked as a chairman and a member of various committees in Indore University,

Vikram University Vikram University is located in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. The university was named after the ruler Vikramaditya. It was established in 1957. It was evaluated by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council and was awarded B++ gra ...

, and

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, formerly Agra University, is an Autonomous University located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The university, formerly named as Agra University, was later named after Bhimrao Ambedkar. Affiliated colleges The Un ...

and others. He also worked in the Light Music of

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 ...

as one of the members in the Audition Committees of Drama, and was contracted as a songwriter. He also conducted and directed many

literary societies A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newslet ...

. Furthermore, he became one of the award-judges at the following places: Bihar Rashtra-Bhasha Parishad, (1981 & 1983),

Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan also known as UP Hindi Sansthan is an autonomous organisation in Uttar Pradesh, working for the promotion of Hindi language. It is run under the Department of Languages, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from organiz ...

(1983), Rajasthan Sahitya Akademi (1991,1993,1994), and Hindi Sahitya Parishad (2001).

Literary

Mahendra Bhatnagar is one of the many Indian poets whose literary careers were shaped by poetry in the post-independence of India in the 20th century. His poetic career over the years demonstrates his humanistic vision from beginning to end. His poems reflect not only the moods of a poet but of a complex age. In his works, the thread of his humanistic vision can be seen vividly and he wrote poems to bring about a change in the world. He analyses, interprets, evaluates and describes his emotions in the light of his humanistic vision. For example, his poem "Helplessness" reveals not only his own ''helplessness'', but also of the common people of India:

"Thrust upon, undesired life, I lived.
Every instant, every step, shame I lived
History, now you ask me what
Folly and dirtiness of the world, I lived."

He also uses irony to expose the fraud of exploiters, particularly exposing the enemies of the labourers and the peasants of India. With his humanistic vision, he constantly compels the readers to distinguish between power and propriety. His poems were translated, published and broadcast in many foreign and Indian languages. However, he also edited Hindi literary magazines such as ''Sandhya'' and ''Pratikalpa'' magazines. He was also the adviser of ''Poetcrit'' magazine, and a member of the advisory board of ''Indian Journal of Postcolonial Literature''.

Bibliography

Eleven volumes of poems in English : *Forty Poems of Mahendra Bhatnagar elected Poems – 1*After The Forty Poems elected Poets – 2*Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar's Poetry. election Poems – 3*"Exuberance" and other poems. *"Death Perception : Life Perception" *"Passion and Compassion" *"Poems : For A Better World" *"Lyric-Lute" *"A Handful of Light" *"New Enlightened World" *"Dawn to Dusk" Distinguished Anthologies : *"Pomes: For Human Dignity" *Poems of social harmony & humanism: realistic & visionary aspects - "Life: As It Is" *Poems of faith & optimism : delight & pain/ Philosophy of life - "O, Moon, My Sweet-Hearet!" *Love poems - "Sparrow" and other poems *Nature poems - "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 poems (comprising sixteen earlier collections), two critical articles, one on Premchand (Research work) and one from miscellaneous writings. *Only poetry works published in three volumes in Hindi — "Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar Ki Kavitaa-Gangaa" (18 Collections) Published research & critical studies : *Living Through Challenges : A Study of Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar's Poetry. y Dr. B.C. Dwivedy*Poet Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar : His Mind And Art. dited*Concerns and Creation. dited*E-Book : Dr. Mahendra Bhatnagar's Poetry in the eyes of critics. edarNath Sharma*The Poetry of Mahendra Bhatnagar : Realistic & Visionary Aspects. dited / forthcomingWork in Hindi *Kaviśrī (Poems) *Jujhate hue (Poems)google Book :Jujhate hue
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Awards

*Four times (1952, 1958, 1960, 1985) from the Madhya Pradesh Government Award

Early life and education

Career

Literary

Bibliography

Awards

References

Further reading