Nalin Vilochan Sharma
Encyclopedia
Professor Pandit Nalin Vilochan Sharma पंडित नलिन विलोचन शर्मा (1916–1961) was a professor of Hindi Literature
in University of Patna
. He started the Nakenwad movement in Hindi literature. He was the son of Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Ram Avatar Sharma
and was born in a family of Bhumihar Brahmin
scholars and pursued the same path of scholarship becoming the professor of Hindi Literature
in University of Patna
.
on February 16, 1916. He was the fourth child and eldest son of his father, Ramavtar Sarma. From an early age, Nalin's father taught him such Sanskrit classics as the Amarkosh, Kalidas's Meghdoot and Suryashatakam. Ramavtar Sharma always maintained that filling a child's mind with as much knowledge as possible would sustain him through his adult life and all he would have to do then would be to pick the words out as he wanted and use them when he or she liked. Ramavtar died when his son was just twelve- or thirteen-years-old, leaving his eldest sister, Indumati as his closest guardian and guide.
Nalin had a critical and exlorative mind and he was well versed in European literature. In Europe as well as India, Marxist poetry had swept the stage with an immensity that overwhelmed academia. In India the Chayavaad style of writing verse had dominated the scene between 1918 and 1936 when it started yielding place to Pragativaad, or progressive poetry, between 1936 and 1950. The 1950s brought with it a new trend in thinking — a search for a middle path, an equilibrium, an understanding — and into this stepped Nalin Vilochan Sarma with his Nakenwad.
Sharma was a revolutionary with a strange propensity, deeply influenced by western thought and literature. He believed that the raw material of poetry should be drawn from the immediate past, the surrounding present, not necessarily the classic era. He believed that poetry is an inner force which could be enriched in its expression through symbols around us. In 1943, Agyeya had written his Taar-Saptak in which he had included seven poets including Muktibodh, Bharat Bhushan Agrawal, Prabhakar Machve, Girija Kumar Mathur. Each of these represented some new poetical style, mostly experimental. This style came to be known as Prayogvaad.
Nalin's thinking signifies a positive influence of Agyeya and his Taar-Saptak. He believed that in poetry, words, music, rhythm and play of intonation mattered, and that the technique and diction of poetry mattered more than the content. This went against the established philosophy of poetics which had dominated Indian poetry, a philosophy which emphasised that content was of the greatest significance in poetry.
Through Nakenvaad, (three poets had combined their work, Nalin, Kesari and Naresh, hence Naken) Nalin sought to extend his philosophy that words, if exact, rhythmic and lyrical in quality, could lend to poetry what words propped around subject could not.
He also contended that the language of poetry flowed in close proximity with prose, that poetry and prose supplemented and enriched each other. They were in no way contrary or opposed to each other. Nalin was a leader, a non-conformist. He advocated use of commonplace language like William Wordsworth did and maintained that the choice of words in Hindi literature had taken on nuances of artificiality as if finding the right words had become a labour. Thus, he maintained that the chasm between prose and poetry was likewise artificial.
The trio of Nakenvaad had used syllables in staccatto arrangement—Kul-kat-ta-Pun-jab-Mail—or the Calcutta Punjab Mail. Similar arrangements appear in his book on Nakenvaad appearing in a vertical order using one syllable to a sentence. This he said lent a descriptive rhythm to the train he wrote about and made it xonomatopoetical in nature.
This technique had already been tried out by E E Cummings in 1926-27 and by French poets in the 1930s, evoking great appreciation from some quarters and bitter criticism from others. But Nalin maintained that in order to keep Hindi literature alive and growing it was essential to incorporate the latest trends from English and French poetical experiments.
Simplicity was Nalin's forte and he retained extensively the use of Sanskrit words, traditional concepts and images from daily life.
Nalin Vilochan Sarma also left his mark as a dramatist. His unique contribution was the introduction of the chamber drama. One immortal work of his is entitled Bibbo ka Bibbok. Bibbok is a word derived from Sanskrit dramatology and is a little known form of drama while Bibbo is the heroine's name, derived from that. But it was as a short story writer that Nalin attained his literary peak. He used to say that writing a good short story was a 'krichh sadhana' or walking along the edge of a sword. The time that Nalin made a mark as a short story writer was when post-Freudian psycho-analysis had not made its mark in Hindi writing. And when Nalin introduced the physical reality in its frailest of sumblime aspects it sent shock-waves round the world.
However, it will be as a pioneering critic that Nalin Vilochan Sarma will always be remembered. In his immortal Maapdand he brought into use the newest modes of critical appreciation from the west—France and England—and juxtaposed them in the most natural manner with ancient traditional style and in doing so enriched Hindi literature immensely. He dedicated his Maapdand to his eldest sister's husband, K D Tewari, of whom he was an ardent admirer.
The confidence that Nalin had in his erudition was mammoth. Once, when a colleague suggested he should take the examinations for the title of Mahamahopadhyaya, he casually replied, 'But who will check my paper?' And he died soon after, on September 12, 1961, still with ages of creativity in him, leaving a void no one could fill. (An article entitled Legend in his Lifetime by Shruti Shukla was published in The Hindustan Times, Patna Edition on October 19, 1991)
all poets of note in their own right. Apart from being a poet, Nalin Vilochan was also a brilliant critic, with a wide perspective on literary history. His critical attitude is marked by a synthesis or coordination of various disciplines of human knowledge - philosophy
, history
, art
and culture
, all pressed into the service of literary appraisal and analysis.
Hindi literature
Hindi literature , is broadly divided into four prominent forms or styles, being Bhakti ; Shringar ; Veer-Gatha ; and Adhunik...
in University of Patna
University of Patna
The Patna University, Hindi: पटना विश्वविद्यालय, the first university in Bihar, was established in 1917 during the British Raj, and is the seventh oldest university of the Indian subcontinent. At that time, the jurisdiction of the university extended to Bihar, Orissa, and the Kingdom of Nepal...
. He started the Nakenwad movement in Hindi literature. He was the son of Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Ram Avatar Sharma
Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Ram Avatar Sharma
Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Ram Avatar Sharma was an Indian Sanskrit scholar and academic, apart from being an indologist and historian. Pandit Ramavtara Sarma was born in a Bhumihar Brahmin family of scholars and pursued the same path of scholarship, becoming the professor of Sanskrit in University...
and was born in a family of Bhumihar Brahmin
Bhumihar
Bhumihar or Babhan or Bhuin-har is a Brahmin Hindu community mainly found in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh.- Varna status :...
scholars and pursued the same path of scholarship becoming the professor of Hindi Literature
Hindi literature
Hindi literature , is broadly divided into four prominent forms or styles, being Bhakti ; Shringar ; Veer-Gatha ; and Adhunik...
in University of Patna
University of Patna
The Patna University, Hindi: पटना विश्वविद्यालय, the first university in Bihar, was established in 1917 during the British Raj, and is the seventh oldest university of the Indian subcontinent. At that time, the jurisdiction of the university extended to Bihar, Orissa, and the Kingdom of Nepal...
.
Early life
Nalin Vilochan Sharma, or Nalin Vilochan Sharma, was born in PatnaPatna
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...
on February 16, 1916. He was the fourth child and eldest son of his father, Ramavtar Sarma. From an early age, Nalin's father taught him such Sanskrit classics as the Amarkosh, Kalidas's Meghdoot and Suryashatakam. Ramavtar Sharma always maintained that filling a child's mind with as much knowledge as possible would sustain him through his adult life and all he would have to do then would be to pick the words out as he wanted and use them when he or she liked. Ramavtar died when his son was just twelve- or thirteen-years-old, leaving his eldest sister, Indumati as his closest guardian and guide.
Career
Sharma joined Patna University as a lecturer in the Hindi department — same department his father had helped build.Nalin had a critical and exlorative mind and he was well versed in European literature. In Europe as well as India, Marxist poetry had swept the stage with an immensity that overwhelmed academia. In India the Chayavaad style of writing verse had dominated the scene between 1918 and 1936 when it started yielding place to Pragativaad, or progressive poetry, between 1936 and 1950. The 1950s brought with it a new trend in thinking — a search for a middle path, an equilibrium, an understanding — and into this stepped Nalin Vilochan Sarma with his Nakenwad.
Sharma was a revolutionary with a strange propensity, deeply influenced by western thought and literature. He believed that the raw material of poetry should be drawn from the immediate past, the surrounding present, not necessarily the classic era. He believed that poetry is an inner force which could be enriched in its expression through symbols around us. In 1943, Agyeya had written his Taar-Saptak in which he had included seven poets including Muktibodh, Bharat Bhushan Agrawal, Prabhakar Machve, Girija Kumar Mathur. Each of these represented some new poetical style, mostly experimental. This style came to be known as Prayogvaad.
Nalin's thinking signifies a positive influence of Agyeya and his Taar-Saptak. He believed that in poetry, words, music, rhythm and play of intonation mattered, and that the technique and diction of poetry mattered more than the content. This went against the established philosophy of poetics which had dominated Indian poetry, a philosophy which emphasised that content was of the greatest significance in poetry.
Through Nakenvaad, (three poets had combined their work, Nalin, Kesari and Naresh, hence Naken) Nalin sought to extend his philosophy that words, if exact, rhythmic and lyrical in quality, could lend to poetry what words propped around subject could not.
He also contended that the language of poetry flowed in close proximity with prose, that poetry and prose supplemented and enriched each other. They were in no way contrary or opposed to each other. Nalin was a leader, a non-conformist. He advocated use of commonplace language like William Wordsworth did and maintained that the choice of words in Hindi literature had taken on nuances of artificiality as if finding the right words had become a labour. Thus, he maintained that the chasm between prose and poetry was likewise artificial.
The trio of Nakenvaad had used syllables in staccatto arrangement—Kul-kat-ta-Pun-jab-Mail—or the Calcutta Punjab Mail. Similar arrangements appear in his book on Nakenvaad appearing in a vertical order using one syllable to a sentence. This he said lent a descriptive rhythm to the train he wrote about and made it xonomatopoetical in nature.
This technique had already been tried out by E E Cummings in 1926-27 and by French poets in the 1930s, evoking great appreciation from some quarters and bitter criticism from others. But Nalin maintained that in order to keep Hindi literature alive and growing it was essential to incorporate the latest trends from English and French poetical experiments.
Simplicity was Nalin's forte and he retained extensively the use of Sanskrit words, traditional concepts and images from daily life.
Nalin Vilochan Sarma also left his mark as a dramatist. His unique contribution was the introduction of the chamber drama. One immortal work of his is entitled Bibbo ka Bibbok. Bibbok is a word derived from Sanskrit dramatology and is a little known form of drama while Bibbo is the heroine's name, derived from that. But it was as a short story writer that Nalin attained his literary peak. He used to say that writing a good short story was a 'krichh sadhana' or walking along the edge of a sword. The time that Nalin made a mark as a short story writer was when post-Freudian psycho-analysis had not made its mark in Hindi writing. And when Nalin introduced the physical reality in its frailest of sumblime aspects it sent shock-waves round the world.
However, it will be as a pioneering critic that Nalin Vilochan Sarma will always be remembered. In his immortal Maapdand he brought into use the newest modes of critical appreciation from the west—France and England—and juxtaposed them in the most natural manner with ancient traditional style and in doing so enriched Hindi literature immensely. He dedicated his Maapdand to his eldest sister's husband, K D Tewari, of whom he was an ardent admirer.
The confidence that Nalin had in his erudition was mammoth. Once, when a colleague suggested he should take the examinations for the title of Mahamahopadhyaya, he casually replied, 'But who will check my paper?' And he died soon after, on September 12, 1961, still with ages of creativity in him, leaving a void no one could fill. (An article entitled Legend in his Lifetime by Shruti Shukla was published in The Hindustan Times, Patna Edition on October 19, 1991)
Nakenwad
Among the numerous schools of poetry which sprang up in the 1950s was Nakenwad, a school deriving its nomenclature from the first letters of the names of its three pioneers - Nalin Vilochan Sharma, Kesari Kumar, and Naresh MehtaNaresh Mehta
Naresh Mehta is a Hindi writer. There are over 50 published works in his name, ranging from poetry to plays. He received several literary awards, most notably the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi in 1988 for his poetry collection Aranya and the Jnanpith Award in 1992.Among the numerous schools of...
all poets of note in their own right. Apart from being a poet, Nalin Vilochan was also a brilliant critic, with a wide perspective on literary history. His critical attitude is marked by a synthesis or coordination of various disciplines of human knowledge - philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, all pressed into the service of literary appraisal and analysis.
Works
- Drishtikon - (Sahitya kala manovigyan sambandhi aalochna), Pustak Bhandar, Patna, 1947.
- Jagjivan Ram: A Biography, 1954.
- Naken ke Prapadya (Kesari kumar aur Naresh ke sath Prapadyavadi kavitaon ka sankalan), Motilal BanarsidassMotilal BanarsidassMotilal Banarsidass is a leading Indian publishing house on Sanskrit and Indology since 1903, located in Delhi, India. It publishes and distributes serials, monographs, and scholarly publications on Asian religion, philosophy, history, culture, arts, architecture, archaeology, language,...
, Patna, 1956. - Sahitya ka Itihaas Darshan, Bihar Hindi Rashtrabhasha Parishad, 1960.
- Satrah asangrahit purv choti kahaniya (Kahani sankalan), Abhigyan Prakashan, Ranchi, 1960.
- Swarna Manjusha, Motilal BanarsidassMotilal BanarsidassMotilal Banarsidass is a leading Indian publishing house on Sanskrit and Indology since 1903, located in Delhi, India. It publishes and distributes serials, monographs, and scholarly publications on Asian religion, philosophy, history, culture, arts, architecture, archaeology, language,...
, ISBN-978-8120826410
Books published after death
- Mandand (Alochna aur anusandhan), Motilal BanarsidassMotilal BanarsidassMotilal Banarsidass is a leading Indian publishing house on Sanskrit and Indology since 1903, located in Delhi, India. It publishes and distributes serials, monographs, and scholarly publications on Asian religion, philosophy, history, culture, arts, architecture, archaeology, language,...
, 1963. - Hindi Upanyas: visheshtah Premchand (Itihas aur alochna), Gyanpith private limited, Patna, 1968.
- Naken -2 (Kavita sangraha), Parijat Prakashan, 1981.
- Sahitya: Tatva aur alochna (Itihas, alochna aur shodh), Anupam Prakashan, Patna, 1995.
Edited works
- Lokkatha kosh, Bihar Hindi Rashtrabhasha Parishad, 1959.
- Lok Sahitya: Aakar Sahitya Suchi, Bihar Hindi Rashtrabhasha Parishad, 1959.
- Lokgatha Parichay, Bihar Hindi Rashtrabhasha Parishad, 1959.
- Prachin hastlikhit pothion ka vivran, Bihar Hindi Rashtrabhasha Parishad, 1959.
- Sadal Mishra granthavali, Bihar Hindi Rashtrabhasha Parishad, 1960.
- Lalachdas krit Haricharit (incomplete), Sahitya(Varsh 9 Ank 3; Varsh 10 Ank 3; Varsh 11, Ank 1) aur Parishad Patrika (Varsh 1 ank 1) main prakashit.
- Goswami Tulsidas, Bihar Hindi Rashtrabhasha Parishad, 1961.
Co-edited works
- Sant Parampara aur Sahitya (Along with Ram Khelavan Rai), Patna, 1960.
- Ayodhya Prasad Khatri Smarak Granth (Along with Shivpujan SahayAcharya Shivpujan SahayAcharya Shivpujan Sahay was a noted Hindi Novelist, editor and a Prose Writer.- Personal life :Shivpujan Sahay was born Bholanath in a Middle Class Kayastha land-owning family in the Unwans village of Bhojpur District on August 9, 1893.-Education & Career:...
)Bihar Hindi Rashtrabhasha Parishad, 1960.
Edited Journals
- Sahitya (traimasik), Shivpujan SahayAcharya Shivpujan SahayAcharya Shivpujan Sahay was a noted Hindi Novelist, editor and a Prose Writer.- Personal life :Shivpujan Sahay was born Bholanath in a Middle Class Kayastha land-owning family in the Unwans village of Bhojpur District on August 9, 1893.-Education & Career:...
aur Nalin Vilochan Sharma (1950 ke prathamank se 1962 ke dwitiyank tak), Bihar Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Patna. - Drishtikon (masik), Nalin Vilochan Sharma aur Shivchandra Sharma (February, 1948 prathamank se August 1961 ke ank tak), Sharda Prakashan, Patna aur Akhil Bharatiya Hindi Shodh Mandal, Patna.
- Kavita, (dvaimasik), Nalin Vilochan Sharma dwara July, 1954 se August, 1957 ke ank 3 tak sampadit, Bharatiya Kavya Sansad, Patna.