Sachchidananda Vatsyayan

Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Agyeya' (à¤¸à¤šà¥â€à¤šà¤¿à¤¦à¤¾à¤¨à¤¨à¥â€à¤¦ à¤¹à¥€à¤°à¤¾à¤¨à¤¨à¥â€à¤¦ à¤µà¤¾à¤¤à¥â€à¤¸à¥â€à¤¯à¤¾à¤¯à¤¨ 'à¤…à¤œà¥à¤žà¥‡à¤¯') (7 March 1911 â€" 4 April 1987), popularly known by his pen-name Ajneya ("Beyond comprehension"), was a pioneer of modern trends not only in the realm of Hindi poetry, but also fiction, criticism and journalism. He was one of the most prominent exponents of the Nayi Kavita (New Poetry) and Prayog (Experiments) in Modern Hindi literature, edited the 'Saptaks', a literary series, and started Hindi newsweekly, Dinaman.

Agyeya also translated some of his own works, as well as works of some other Indian authors to English. He also translated some books of world literature into Hindi.

Early life and education

Sachchidananda Vatsyayan was born on 7 March 1911 in a tent at Kushinagar, Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh. His father Hirananda was an archaeologist, who was also a scholar of Sanskrit. His childhood was spent in many different places, including Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Nalanda, Udupi, Madras, Jalandhar, Jammu and Srinagar.

He did Intermediate from Madras Christian College in 1927, thereafter studied at Forman Christian College, Lahore, where he did his BSc in Industrial Science 1929. After graduation he was included in Punjab University's "Cosmic Ray Expedition" to Kashmir under Prof. James Martin Baned. He joined M.A. English, but couldn't complete his studies as soon he joined the Indian independence movement's underground activities with Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sukhdev and Yashpal. In November 1930 he was arrested under the fictitious identity of Mulla Mohammed Bux in Amritsar. He was kept in Lahore for one month, then spent three and a half years (1930â€"33) in jails of Delhi and Punjab in the infamous Delhi Conspiracy Case. Later he remained under house arrest for two months in the Fort and for two years at home. His classic novel-trilogy Shekhar: Ek Jivani was a product of those prison days. The third part of the novel was never published. In the beginning he was associated with the PWA (Progressive Writers Association) and was a member of the Anti-Fascist Front. During World War II in the wake of the fascist Japanese attack's threat he joined Indian ( that time Allied) Force for three years (1943â€"1946) as a Captain by mobilising people's resistance against the enemy. He left the army when the war was over.

Career

Agyeya edited "Sainik" from Agra (1936), "Vishal Bharat" from Calcutta (now Kolkata) (1936) and "Prateek" (1947) and "Naya Prateek" (1973) respectively from Allahabad and New Delhi. In English he edited "Vak" (1951) also.

He travelled extensively, both in India and abroad. Between 1961 and 1964, he held a visiting faculty position at the University of California, Berkeley.

In 1965, he returned to India and became Founder Editor of the newsweekly Dinaman of the Times of India Group. When the members of the Hungry generation or Bhookhi Peerhi movement were arrested and prosecuted for their anti-establishment writings, 'Ajneya' through Dinmaan relentlessly supported the young literary group of Kolkata till they were exonerated. His dispatches on Bihar's famous famine are considered milestones in pro-people reporting.

He remained in India till 1968, before embarking on a trip to Europe. In 1969 he returned to Berkeley as Regents Professor, and continued there till June 1970. In 1976, he had an 8-month stint at Heidelberg University, as a Visiting Professor. Later he joined University of Jodhpur, Rajasthan as Professor and Head of the Deptt. of Comparative Literature.

He served as Editor of Jayprakash Narayan's Everyman's Weekly (1973â€"74) and Editor-in-Chief of Hindi daily Navbharat Times (1977â€"80) of the Times of India Group.

He died on 4 April 1987 in New Delhi.

Literary works

Poetry anthologies:

Bhagndoot (1933)
Chinta (1942)
Ityalam (1946)
Hari ghaas par kshan-bhar (1949)
Baawra aheri (1954)
Indradhanu raunde hue ye (1957)
Ari o karuna prabhamaya (1959)
Aangan ke paar dvaar (1961)
Poorva (1965)
Sunahale Shaivaal (1965)
Kitni naavon mein kitni baar (1967)
Kyonki main usei jaanta hoon (1969)
Saagar-mudra (1970)
Pahle main sannata bunta hoon (1973)
Mahavriksha ke neeche (1977)
Nadi ki baank par chhaya (1982)
Sadanira-1 (1986)
Sadanira-2 (1986)
Aisa koi ghar aapne dekha hai (1986)
Maruthal (1995)
Sarjana ke kshan (Selection)
Thaur thikaane (Handwritten, circulated zeroxed)
Karaawas ke din (Trans. from English by Uday Shankar Shrivastava)
Kavishri ( Ed. Shiyaram Sharan Gupt)
Aaj ke lokpriy kavi (Ed. Vidya Niwas Mishra)
Kaavya-stabak ( Ed by Vidya Niwas Mishra & Ramesh Chandra Shah)
Sannate ka chhand (Ed by Ashok Vajpeyi)
Ajneya: Sanklit kavitayen (Ed by Namvar Singh)

Novels:

Shekhar: Ek Jeevani I (1941)
Shekhar: Ek Jeevani II (1944)
Shekhar: Ek Jeevni III (Unpublished)
Nadi ke dweep (1952)
Apne-apne ajnabi (1961)
Barahkhambha (co-writer, 1987)
Chhaya mekhal (Incomplete, 2000)
Beenu bhagat (Incomplete, 2000)

Stories anthologies:

Vipathga (1937)
Parmpara (1944)
Kothri ki baat (1945)
Sharnaarthi (1948)
Jaydol (1951)
Amarvallari tatha anya kahaniyan(1954)
Kadiayan tatha anya kahaniyan (1957)
Acchute phool tatha anya kahaniyan (1960)
Ye tere pratiroop (1961)
Jigyasa tatha anya kahaniyan (1965)
Meri priy kahaniyan (Selection,2004)
Chhorra hua rasta (Sampoorn kahanitan-1, 1975)
Lautti pagdandiyan (Sampoorn kahaniyan-2, 1975)
Sampoorn Kahaniyan (2005)
Adam Ki diary (Ed by Nand Kishore Acharya, 2002)

Play:

Uttar Priyadarshi

Travelogue:

Arei Yayavar Rahega Yaad (1953)
Kirnon ki khoj mein (Selection,1955)
Ek Boond Sahsa Uchhli (1960)

Criticism:

Trishanku
Hindi sahitya: Ek adhunik paridrishya
Atmanepad
Aatmparak
Aalwaal
Likhi kagad kore
Jog likhi
Adyatan
Samvatsar
Smriti ke paridrishya
Srot aur setu
Vyakti aur vyavastha
Yug-sandhiyon par
Dhaar aur kinaare
Bhartiya kala drishti
Smritichhanda
Kendra aur paridhi
Srijan: kyon air kaise
Kavi-Nikash
Kavi-drishti (Prefaces)
Tadbhav (Selection by Ashok Vajpeyi)
Lekhak ka Dayittva (Ed by Nand Kishore Acharya)
Khule Mein Khada Ped (Ed by Nand Kishore Acharya)

Light Essyas:

Sab rang
Sab rang aur kuchh raag
Kahan hai dwaraka
Chhaya ka jangal

Diary:

Bhavanti
Antara
Shaswati
Shesha
Kaviman (Ed by Ila Dalmia Koirala)

Memoirs:

Smriti-lekha
Smriti ke galiyaron se

Edited:

Taar Saptak
Doosra Saptak
Teesra Saptak
Chautha Saptak
Pushkarini
Naye ekanki
Nehru abhinandan granth (co-editor)
Roopambara (Sumitrnandan Pant abhinandan granth)
Homvati smarak granth
Sarjan aur sampreshan
Sahitya ka parivesh
Sahity aur samaj parivartan
Samajik yatharth aur katha-bhasha
Samkaleen kavita mein chhand
Bhavishya aur sahitya
Indian Poetic Tradition (With Vidya Niwas Mishra and Leonard Nathan)

Introducing:

Naye Sahitya Srishta-1 Raghuveer Sahay: Seedihiyon par dhoop mein
Naye Sahitya Srishta-2 Sarveshawar Dayal Saxena: Kaath ki ghantiyan
Naye Sahitya Srishta-3 Ajit Kumar: Ankit hone do
Naye Sahitya Srishta-4 Shanti Mehrotra

Conversations:

Aparoksh, Ramesh Chandra Shah & others
Rachna: Kyon aur kinke beech, Sharad Kumar, Geeti Sen & Others
Agyeya Apne bare mein (AIR Archives), Raghuveer Sahay & Gopal Das
Kavi Nayak Ajneya, Ila Dalmia & Neelima Mathur

In English:

Prison days and other poems (Poetry)
A sense of time (Essays)

Selection (general): Sanchayita (Ed Nand Kishore Acharya)

Translations:

Shrikant (Sharat Chandra, from Bengali, 1944)
Gora (Rabindranath Thakur, from Bengali)
Raja (Rabindranath Thakur, from Bengali)
Vivekanand (With Raghuvir Sahay, from Bengali)
The resignation (Jainendra Kumar, into English)
The seventh horse of the sun (Dharmveer Bharti, into English)
The Silent waters (Poems of Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, in 'Thought'0
Vazir ka Feela (Ivo Andric, from English)
Mahayatra (Par Lagerkvist's trilogy, from English)

Self-translated works:

Islands in the stream (Nadi ke dweep, into English)
To each his stranger (Apne apne ajnabi, into English)
The unmastered lute and other poems (Asadhya Veena and other poems into English, Ed by Pritish Nandy)
The revolving rock and other poems (Chakrant Shila and other poems into English, Ed Pritish Nandy)
First Person, Second Person (Poems, into English with Leonard Nathan)
Signs and silences (Poems, into English with Leonard Nathan)
Nilambari (Poems, into English)
Truculent clay (Bhavanti, into English with Manas Mukul Das)
Preparing the ground (Antara, into English with Manas Mukul Das)

Translations in other languages: (Indian languages list too long)

German: Sekh Ktoratien (By Lothar Lutze)
Â : Stand-orte (By Lothar Lutze)
Swedish Â : Den arket (By orten Al Bud)
Servo-Croatian: Catoetien
Â : prvo liche drugo liche
Â :Vsak ima svoyega tuicha (By Tregoslav Andrich)

Films on Ajneya:

Sarswat Van Ka Bavra Aheri, Producer Durgavati Singh, Doordarshan, New Delhi
Sannate ka Chhand, Dir. Pramod & Neelima Mathur, Vatsal Nidhi, New Delhi
Deep Akela, Dir. Pramod Mathur, MGAHVV, Wardha
Kavi Bharti, Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal

Awards and honours

Sahitya Akademi Award 1964 for Aangan Ke Par Dvar (Poetry).
Jnanpith Award in 1978, for 'Kitni Naavon mein kitni baar', and the anthology of poems.
Bharatbharati Award
Golden Wreath Award for poetry in 1983.

Dramatic productions

His verse play Uttar Priyadarshi, about the redemption of King Ashoka was first staged in 1966 at Triveni open-air theatre in Delhi in presence of the writer. Later it was adapted to Manipuri, by theatre director, Ratan Thiyam in 1996, and since been performed by his group, in various parts of the world.

References

Amaresh Datta (2006). The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Volume One (A To Devo), Volume 1. Sahitya Akademi. p.Â 103. ISBNÂ 81-260-1803-8.Â

External links

Agyeya at Gadya Kosh (Online Encyclopedia of Hindi Literature)
Poems of Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan at Kavita Kosh

Sachchidananda Vatsyayan

Saturday, June 13, 2015