Pakistan is a paradigm example of a failed state that has undergone an extremely dangerous form of radical Islamisation.
Mahadevi Verma
Mahadevi's prose works show no signs of this painstricken personality. She
was a social reformer, a women's advocate, a cultural and political leader. Her
prose reflects her strength in all these areas. The original editor of Mahadevi
Sahitya Samagra, Omkar Sharad remarks about her in the introduction: "...being
close to Mahadevi, I have also seen the images of Lakshmibai and Meerabai
together in one form." Lakshmibai was the eighteenth century queen of Jhansi,
who is well known for her fierce fighting spirit, who struggled against British
to save her empire. This dual personality is the key to the meld of mysticism
and optimism in her poetry. This becomes evident as we follow her poetic
journey. Having rebelled against the tradition and having devoted her life to
the quest for learning, eventually this quest became a form of abstract worship
for her.
Feminism
Mahadevi Varma was also a fervent woman activist, but not 'antagonistically
feminist'. In fact, her writings and essays mark the beginning of "feminist"
writing in Hindi. Her classic work Srinkhalaa kee kadiyaan is still rated as one
of the best collections of concise and pointed thoughts about the condition of
Indian women, the cause of their pathetic condition and the possible "Indian"
solution to this problem, not a forced or copied solution.
Going a step beyond that, she herself lived a life that exemplified that
solution. She renounced her child marriage, an act which is difficult for an
Indian woman even today, eight decades after her act of refusal. Refusing the
proposals to remarry etc., she continued to pursue her spiritual quest alone.
She wandered amongst Himalayas long with her servant-maid, Bhaktin. Her poems
convey her deep longing for the supreme soul, God; and her literature is a
treasure house of deepest of truths unfolded by Indian Philosophy
Bibliography
Mahadevi is considered as one of the four major poets of the Chhayavaadi school
of the Hindi literature, others being Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Jaishankar
Prasad and Sumitranandan Pant. She was also a noted painter. She drew a number
of illustrations for her poetic works like Deepshikha and Yama.
Poetry
Neehar (1930)
Rashmi (1932)
Neerajaa (1934)
Saandhyageet (1936)
Deepshikha (1942)
Saptaparna(1960)
Agnirekha (1990, published after her death)
Prose
Ateet Ke chalchitra (1941)
Shrinkhla ki kadiya (1942)
Smriti Ki Rekhayen (1943)
Path ke Saathi (1956)
Kshanda' (1956)
Sahityakaar ki Asatha (1960)
Sankalpita (1969)
Mera Parivaar (1971)
Sambhashan (1974)
Her poems have been published under a number of other titles as well, but they
contain the poems from the above collections only. They include:
Collections
Yama (1936)
Sandhini (1964)
Geetparva (1970)
Parikrama (1974)
Smarika
Smritichitra
Mahadevi sahitya
Meri Priya Kavitaayen
Deepgeet
Aatmika
Neelambaraa
Himalaya is a collection of poems by many poets edited by her
Honours
Mahadevi Varma's creative talents and sharp intellect soon earned her a
prominent place in Hindi Literary world. She is considered among the four
pillars of the Chaayavad movement. Her poetry collection Yama (1940) received
Gyanpeeth, the highest Indian literary award. In 1956, Indian Government
bestowed her with the title of Padma Bhushan. She was the first woman to be made
a Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi, in 1979.In 1988, Indian Government bestowed her
with the title of Padma Vibhushan.
