Bhikhari Thakur
Encyclopedia
Bhikari Thakur was an Indian author popularly known as the "Shakespeare
of Bhojpuri". Thakur was born in a barber-family on 18 December 1887 at Kutubpur ( Diyara) Village in Saran District
. Name of his father and mother was Dal Singar Thakur and Shivkali Devi respectively. He had a younger brother named Bahor Thakur.
He went Kharagpur
to earn livelihood. He had earned much and but not satisfied with the job. Ramlila had impressed him. He went Jagannath Puri. till the time, he has been converted to another person.
He established Dance Party in the native village and began to play Ram Lila, sing songs and took interest in Social-works. Now he writes dramas, songs and books etc. Language of the books was simple and attracted many. Books were published from Varanasi
, Chhapra
and Howrah.
His literary creations including Dramas ( Bidesiya
, Beti-Bechawa, Bidhawa Bilaap etc.) and songs are praised and used to sing even today. He died in the age of 84 years on 10 July 1971.
(a backward Caste) who abandoned home and hearth to form a group of actors who dealt with issues of confrontation: between the traditional and the modern, between urban and rural, between the haves and the have-nots. Appreciative native Bhojpuri audiences consider Bhikari Thakur as the incomparable founder father, propagator and exponent par excellence of this form. He was a folk poet, a folk singer
, a folk dance
r and actor
.
The narrative of Bidesia has been made so effective through the medium of vibrant dances and pleasing music and based on such life-like stories that it presents a realistic picture of the poor joint families of the region.
The Bhojpuri taste is so theatrically inclined that it will not hesitate even to undertake long journeys to witness a performance. Like in many other folk forms, the female roles in Bidesia are played by the male actor-dancers. Normally they wear dhoti
or shirt trousers but they sport long hair and make it and ornament it like women's hair. Dance forms an integral part of this form, in fact it’s the essence of the performance, which starts with dance in order to attract a large audience. Once this is done the Bidesia starts. The actors, besides dancing take on female roles in different dramatic contexts. In spite of the advent of various other modes of entertainment, Bidesia remains the most popular and refreshing relaxation for the Bhojpuris. Through his plays, he gave voice to the cause of poor laborers and tried to create awareness about the poor situation of women in bhojpuri society. He always stood and spoke against casteism and communalism
in the same cultural tunes. People from this region are very fond of and feel proud of his contribution to the local cultural traditions. His plays and his style of theatre
are very popular for their rhythmic language, sweet songs and appealing music. His plays are a true reflection of bhojpuri culture. Almost all of his works focused on the day-to-day problems of lower castes/classes. He used satire and light-hearted comments to maximum effect to put forward his views on social ills and other problems plaguing Bhojpuri society.
He was born on December 18, 1887 at the village of Kutubpur in the district of Saran, Bihar. His mother’s name was Shivakali Devi and father was Dalsingar Thakur. He belonged to a naai (barber) caste, one of the most backward castes in Indian society. The traditional work of his caste was cutting hairs and assisting brahmin
s in marriage as well as in death ceremonies. They were also used by dikus to send and distribute ceremonial (in cases of marriages and deaths) and other messages in the village and nearby areas. They acted like postal workers in the traditional-feudal village setup.
In one of his works he says: “Jati Hazzam more Kutubpur mokam… Jati-pesha bate, bidya naheen bate babujee”. In this he speaks about his own caste and regrets that his caste
people are distributing letters to all without knowing the importance of the letter, or the alphabets. He clearly understood the power of education and continuously chided his people for being illiterate and bounded by jajmani (patron-client) relations with the dikus.
He is greatest flag bearer of Bhojpuri language
and culture. Bhojpuri is widely spoken in major parts of Bihar including Jharkhand
, some parts of eastern UP and Bengal
. He is not only popular in this linguistic belt but also in the cities where Bihari workers migrated for their livelihood. Many criticized him for upholding feudal and Brahminical values, which to some extent may be true. Despite the support and legitimation of few brahminical and feudal values in his works, he always pioneered the vision of a just and egalitarian society and this is the difference we have to understand. No vision of egalitarian and subaltern society can be even imagined under these idiotic and nonsensical shadows of Brahminical values.
Though his plays revolved and evolved around villages and rural society, they still became very famous in the big cities like Kolkata
, Patna
, Benares and other small cities, where migrant labourers and poor workers went in search for their livelihood. Breaking all boundaries of nation he, along with his mandali
, also visited Mauritius
, Kenya
, Singapore
, Nepal
, British Guyana, Suriname
, Uganda
, Myanmar
, Madagascar
, South Africa
, Fiji
, Trinidad
and other places where bhojpuri culture is more or less flourishing.
Bidesia, as a vibrant mode of a regional cultural expression, rugged and unsophisticated in form and rich in variety, is a powerful expression of cultural heritage
of weaker section of society. Bhikari Thakur, through his artistic talents and bitter experiences, developed it by picking up elements from Ramlila
, raslila, birha yatra and other performative elements and molded it into a totally new and wonderful style known now as bidesia. Bidesia means migrated people, who left their home in search of livelihood, but in the larger context Bhikari’s bidesia not only migrated from the lands but also from their culture also. Many people get confused between the bidesia style and his play Bidesia. Actually, he did all his plays in bidesia style which is very similar to nautanki, but later his theatrical style was known from his famous production Bidesia.
He has written as well as directed and performed ten major works; beginning with a non-serious vasant-bahar based on the dhobi-dhobin dance he saw somewhere.
is a young girl whose father sells her to an older person.
. The lone wage earner of the family is a drunkard and often visits prostitutes. This extravagance soon leads to the pauperization of his family. His whole family including his wife and son suffers tremendously because of the bad habits of the head of the family. Later in the play the wife and son decide to confront him but to no avail. Later being fed up with his father’s immoral ways, the son runs away from the family and goes to Calcutta to earn money to eventually return and rescue his mother.
with the promise of giving her a son. Malechu finds her in the nick of time and epiphany dawns on the both of them who then find the mother and beg her forgiveness. The story is a critique both of the distance between parents and their children in a situation where old parents are completely dependent on their children and also of the tantric culture of sadhus who most often are conmen.
s are treated within their homes. It is seen as an extension of Beti-bechwa for more often than not young girls married to old men; spend most of their lives as widows. The story reflects the hatred and seclusion a widow has to suffer in brahminical society for no fault of her own.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
of Bhojpuri". Thakur was born in a barber-family on 18 December 1887 at Kutubpur ( Diyara) Village in Saran District
Saran district
Saran District is one of the thirty-seven districts of Bihar state, India. The district, part of Saran Division, is also known as Chapra district after the headquarters of the district - Chapra...
. Name of his father and mother was Dal Singar Thakur and Shivkali Devi respectively. He had a younger brother named Bahor Thakur.
He went Kharagpur
Kharagpur
Kharagpur is an industrial city in India. It is located in the Midnapore West district of the state of West Bengal.Kharagpur was chosen as the location of the first campus of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology . The IITs are the premier technical education institutes in India and...
to earn livelihood. He had earned much and but not satisfied with the job. Ramlila had impressed him. He went Jagannath Puri. till the time, he has been converted to another person.
He established Dance Party in the native village and began to play Ram Lila, sing songs and took interest in Social-works. Now he writes dramas, songs and books etc. Language of the books was simple and attracted many. Books were published from Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
, Chhapra
Chhapra
Chhapra is a city and headquarters of Saran district in the state of Bihar, India. Chhapra is also written as Chapra. It is situated near the junction of the Ghaghara River and The Ganges River....
and Howrah.
His literary creations including Dramas ( Bidesiya
Bidesiya
Bidesiya is Bhojpuri film released in 1963 directed by S.N. Tripathi produced by Bachubhai Shah.- Cast :* Kumari Naaz..as.. Parvati* Sujit Kumar..as.. Bidesi Thakur* Jeevan..as.. Chhote Thakur* Sheelkumar* Padma Khanna..as.. Chhoti Malkin...
, Beti-Bechawa, Bidhawa Bilaap etc.) and songs are praised and used to sing even today. He died in the age of 84 years on 10 July 1971.
Career
Bhikari Thakur is best known for the creation of the twentieth century theatre form Bidesia. Bhikari Thakur was a barberBarber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
(a backward Caste) who abandoned home and hearth to form a group of actors who dealt with issues of confrontation: between the traditional and the modern, between urban and rural, between the haves and the have-nots. Appreciative native Bhojpuri audiences consider Bhikari Thakur as the incomparable founder father, propagator and exponent par excellence of this form. He was a folk poet, a folk singer
Folk Singer
Folk Singer is a 1964 album by Muddy Waters. Waters plays acoustic guitar, backed by Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar...
, a folk dance
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
r and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
The narrative of Bidesia has been made so effective through the medium of vibrant dances and pleasing music and based on such life-like stories that it presents a realistic picture of the poor joint families of the region.
The Bhojpuri taste is so theatrically inclined that it will not hesitate even to undertake long journeys to witness a performance. Like in many other folk forms, the female roles in Bidesia are played by the male actor-dancers. Normally they wear dhoti
Dhoti
The dhoti or pancha is the traditional men's garment in the in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. A similar garment is worn in some rural areas of Punjab province in Pakistan, but the use is fast declining...
or shirt trousers but they sport long hair and make it and ornament it like women's hair. Dance forms an integral part of this form, in fact it’s the essence of the performance, which starts with dance in order to attract a large audience. Once this is done the Bidesia starts. The actors, besides dancing take on female roles in different dramatic contexts. In spite of the advent of various other modes of entertainment, Bidesia remains the most popular and refreshing relaxation for the Bhojpuris. Through his plays, he gave voice to the cause of poor laborers and tried to create awareness about the poor situation of women in bhojpuri society. He always stood and spoke against casteism and communalism
Communalism
Communalism is a term with three distinct meanings according to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary'.'These include "a theory of government or a system of government in which independent communes participate in a federation". "the principles and practice of communal ownership"...
in the same cultural tunes. People from this region are very fond of and feel proud of his contribution to the local cultural traditions. His plays and his style of theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
are very popular for their rhythmic language, sweet songs and appealing music. His plays are a true reflection of bhojpuri culture. Almost all of his works focused on the day-to-day problems of lower castes/classes. He used satire and light-hearted comments to maximum effect to put forward his views on social ills and other problems plaguing Bhojpuri society.
He was born on December 18, 1887 at the village of Kutubpur in the district of Saran, Bihar. His mother’s name was Shivakali Devi and father was Dalsingar Thakur. He belonged to a naai (barber) caste, one of the most backward castes in Indian society. The traditional work of his caste was cutting hairs and assisting brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s in marriage as well as in death ceremonies. They were also used by dikus to send and distribute ceremonial (in cases of marriages and deaths) and other messages in the village and nearby areas. They acted like postal workers in the traditional-feudal village setup.
In one of his works he says: “Jati Hazzam more Kutubpur mokam… Jati-pesha bate, bidya naheen bate babujee”. In this he speaks about his own caste and regrets that his caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
people are distributing letters to all without knowing the importance of the letter, or the alphabets. He clearly understood the power of education and continuously chided his people for being illiterate and bounded by jajmani (patron-client) relations with the dikus.
He is greatest flag bearer of Bhojpuri language
Bhojpuri language
Bhojpuri is a language spoken in parts of north-central and eastern India. It is spoken in the western part of state of Bihar, the northwestern part of Jharkhand, and the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh , as well as adjoining parts of the Nepal Terai. Bhojpuri is also spoken in Guyana,...
and culture. Bhojpuri is widely spoken in major parts of Bihar including Jharkhand
Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
, some parts of eastern UP and Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
. He is not only popular in this linguistic belt but also in the cities where Bihari workers migrated for their livelihood. Many criticized him for upholding feudal and Brahminical values, which to some extent may be true. Despite the support and legitimation of few brahminical and feudal values in his works, he always pioneered the vision of a just and egalitarian society and this is the difference we have to understand. No vision of egalitarian and subaltern society can be even imagined under these idiotic and nonsensical shadows of Brahminical values.
Though his plays revolved and evolved around villages and rural society, they still became very famous in the big cities like Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, Patna
Patna
Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...
, Benares and other small cities, where migrant labourers and poor workers went in search for their livelihood. Breaking all boundaries of nation he, along with his mandali
Mandali
Mandali from the Sanskrit mandala meaning circle, connection, community, is a term that Meher Baba used for his closest disciples.-Inner circle:...
, also visited Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, British Guyana, Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
and other places where bhojpuri culture is more or less flourishing.
Bidesia, as a vibrant mode of a regional cultural expression, rugged and unsophisticated in form and rich in variety, is a powerful expression of cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
of weaker section of society. Bhikari Thakur, through his artistic talents and bitter experiences, developed it by picking up elements from Ramlila
Ramlila
Ramlila is a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Lord Ram, ending up in ten day battle between Lord Ram and Ravan, as described in the Hindu religious epic, the Ramayana...
, raslila, birha yatra and other performative elements and molded it into a totally new and wonderful style known now as bidesia. Bidesia means migrated people, who left their home in search of livelihood, but in the larger context Bhikari’s bidesia not only migrated from the lands but also from their culture also. Many people get confused between the bidesia style and his play Bidesia. Actually, he did all his plays in bidesia style which is very similar to nautanki, but later his theatrical style was known from his famous production Bidesia.
He has written as well as directed and performed ten major works; beginning with a non-serious vasant-bahar based on the dhobi-dhobin dance he saw somewhere.
Later use of works
After Thakur’s death in 1971, his theatre style and use of bhojpuri language are continually being abused by the music industry in producing bhojpuri songs and plays replete with sexual innuendo. This is like a counter-revolution of the brahmin-bania combine against all the ideals that Bhikari Thakur propagated through his art. The dikus have no relations based on social reality and always aim to get maximum monetary profits on the basis of cultural vulgarity. This market forced a shift from Bhikari Thakur’s socio-economic oriented plays to mere sexual fantasy and cheap entertainment. This reflects the creative bankruptcy of dikus against which we dalit-bahujans should come forward and play a vital role to safe guard our anti-diku legacy in which Bhikari Thakur is one of the big stars in the galaxy of Dalit-bahujan revolutionary artistes.Works
His major productions include: - Bidesia, Bhai- Birodh, Beti-Viyog or Beti Bechba (seller of daughter), Kalyuga Prema (Love in Kalyuga), Radheshyam Behar (based on krisna- radha love), Ganga-asnan (ceremonial bath in ganga), Bidhwa- vilap, Putrabadh (killing of son), Gabar- Bichar (based on an illegitimate child), and Nanad Bhojai.Bhai-Virodh (opposition from brother)
This play deals with the theme of joint family, which is a very prominent feature of Bihar’s rural society. Three brothers are separated due to lack of confidence and respect for each other on the instigation of a person outside their family. However, at the end they realize the importance of living together but not before a lot of harm had actually taken place.Beti-Viyog or Beti- Bechwa (seller of daughter)
This play is considered a very progressive play. Bhikari Thakur through this play criticizes the widespread custom of selling young girls in marriage to much older men. This custom prevailed in Bhojpuri-speaking areas until recently. The protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
is a young girl whose father sells her to an older person.
Kalyuga- Prem
Through this play Bhikari Thakur talks about the bad effects of drinkingAlcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...
. The lone wage earner of the family is a drunkard and often visits prostitutes. This extravagance soon leads to the pauperization of his family. His whole family including his wife and son suffers tremendously because of the bad habits of the head of the family. Later in the play the wife and son decide to confront him but to no avail. Later being fed up with his father’s immoral ways, the son runs away from the family and goes to Calcutta to earn money to eventually return and rescue his mother.
Ganga-Asnan
Malechu is from a village. His wife wants to go to bathe in the Ganga but his mother is too old to do so. The wife finally prevails and they set out but not after loading much luggage for his old mother to carry on the way. Before they reach the Ganga a quarrel ensues and Malechu beats up his mother. At the banks of the Ganga, his mother gets lost in a fair. In the same fair, his wife is seduced by a sadhuSadhu
In Hinduism, sādhu denotes an ascetic, wandering monk. Although the vast majority of sādhus are yogīs, not all yogīs are sādhus. The sādhu is solely dedicated to achieving mokṣa , the fourth and final aśrama , through meditation and contemplation of brahman...
with the promise of giving her a son. Malechu finds her in the nick of time and epiphany dawns on the both of them who then find the mother and beg her forgiveness. The story is a critique both of the distance between parents and their children in a situation where old parents are completely dependent on their children and also of the tantric culture of sadhus who most often are conmen.
Vidhwa-Vilap (The Mournful Widow)
The story is about how widowWidow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
s are treated within their homes. It is seen as an extension of Beti-bechwa for more often than not young girls married to old men; spend most of their lives as widows. The story reflects the hatred and seclusion a widow has to suffer in brahminical society for no fault of her own.