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Better known as Pradeep, a Hindi poetry master, Dwivedi patriotic ballad "O my countrymen", written as an emotional response to the 1962 Chinese attack on the country, brought tears to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's eyes. He also wrote more than 1,500 songs, often for films, and was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the country's highest honor, for his lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. He died December 11 of bronchitis at age 83. From This is True for 13 December 1998 Suggestions for further reading:
 List Price: $19.95 Amazon Price: $19.95 Editorial Review: In 1943 a slim volume of poetry, "Tar Saptak", burst onto the Hindi literary scene. It gave voice to seven young poets who were determined to experiment both with the content and form of poetry. "Tar Saptak" heralded the beginning of "Prayogvad" (Experimentalism), which in turn became "Nayi Kavita" (New Poetry). Taken from "Nayi Kavita", this parallel text anthology interprets it not as a narrow literary movement but as a modernist tendency still flourishing in Hindi poetry. The collection includes seven poets who first published in one of the "Saptaks": Agyeya, Muktibodh, Shamsher, Raghuvir Sahay, Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, Kunwar Narain and Kedarnath Singh. This volume also significantly revises the literary map of modern Hindi poetry, demonstrating that, contrary to established opinion, the 1960s and 1970s produced gifted women poets such as Shakunt Mathur, Kanta, Amrita Bharati and Jyotsna Mila, all of whose work is represented here. The anthology will interest the lover of poetry and the student of Hindi alike. Lucy Rosenstein's introductions to each poet, and the English translations, make both the poet and his or her best poems accessible to readers with no knowledge of Hindi; the Hindi originals and accompanying glosses will be of value to those who wish to enjoy and appreciate modern Hindi verse.  By: Linda Hess List Price: $39.95 Amazon Price: $39.95 Editorial Review: Here, two men, five centuries apart, make contact with each other through poetry, music, and performance. Kumar Gandharva, the great twentieth century Hindustani classical vocalist, sings Kabir, the great fifteenth century poet. Kabir composed poetry that evoked a space called nirgun or shunya--something without qualities or boundaries, empty--which challenged listeners to know it and to know themselves. Kumar Gandharva, drawn to Kabir and other poets of the nirgun experience, seeks the voice that can actually sing emptiness. Singing Emptiness includes an explanatory introduction, bilingual texts of 30 songs, and a CD with selected songs by Kumar Gandharva.  List Price: $27.37 Amazon Price: $27.37 Editorial Review: In this collection of critical responses to Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney's poetry, Elmer Andrews presents the debates surrounding the poet's work and popular appeal. The writings gathered in this Columbia Critical Guide clarify and explore issues of cultural identity and nationality, as well as debates on the power of language and the function of verse. Beginning with Heaney's early collection, Death of a Naturalist, the guide reviews and contextualizes material on successive volumes (including 1996's The Spirit Level), so that students of Heaney's verse will find an accessible pathway through the most important critical writings on this major poet. Praises to a Formless God: Nirguni Texts from North India (S U N Y Series in ... By: David N. Lorenzen List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $24.95 Editorial Review: Nirgun bhakti--devotion to a formless God--has been called a logical absurdity, yet the songs, verses, and narratives of the nirgun poets of North India have played a vital role in both Hinduism and Sikhism since the late fifteenth century. The compositions of famous nirgun poets such as Kabir, Raidas, Guru Nanak, and Dadu Dayal also form an essential part of the vernacular literatures of North India. Other nirgun poets have made major religious and literary contributions to Indian culture but have been little studied by modern scholars. This book discusses, translates, and edits various important compositions by these poets. The texts include songs and narratives about the pious demon Prahlad, hagiographic songs about historical saints, the popular bhajans attributed to Kabir, and the songs sung during the rites of the Kabir Panth. Two longer texts presented here are Jan Gopal's narrative poem, the Prahilad charitra, and Sain's religious debate, the Kabir-Raidas ka samvad.  By: John Stratton Hawley List Price: $45.00 Amazon Price: $45.00 Editorial Review: The book is a collection of essays written over two decades but with consistency of style, concern and argument. It's divided into two parts: The first, "The Bhakti Poet Saint: Economies of Word and Life" ranges over the literature of Bhakti as a whole. The second part is organized around individual poets: Mira, Sur, and Kabir. Connections between the three poets is established meticulously and convincingly. |
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