Rambriksh Benipuri

Ramavriksha Benipuri रामवृक्ष बेनीपुरी
Ramavriksha Benipuri
Born	1899 Benipur Village, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, British India
Died	1968 (aged-68/69)
Occupation	Writer, dramatist, essayist, novelist
Nationality	Indian
Education	9 standard
Notable works	Ambpali, Patiton Ke Desh Mein, Shakuntala etc.

Ramavriksha Benipuri (रामवृक्ष बेनीपुरी), (1899–1968) was a Hindi writer. He was born in a small village named Benipur in the Indian state of Bihar. He had spent nine years in prison for fighting for India's independence.

Rambriksh Benipuri hailed from Muzaffarpur in Bihar and took active part in the Indian freedom movement. He was also a journalist of Hindi Literature and started several newspapers like Yuvak in 1929 and regularly contributed in various others to spread the idea of nationalism and freedom from British rule.

Writing career

Benipuriji's first writing was published in Pratapa of Kanpur in 1916. Since then, till the attainment of Independence of India, his was a life of political activities and struggle. In 1928-29, Benipuri established Yuvaka-Ashram in front of Patna College in Patna with his friends and lifelong colleagues Ganga Sharan Singh and Pandit Ramnandan Mishra. In 1929, Benipuri started the publication of Yuvaka, a Hindi monthly from this organization, under his editorship.

Style and influence

Benipuri wrote mostly big stories and essays. His dramas covered mostly ancient events. For example, Amipure depicts the life of the famous courtesan Ambipure who adopted and converted to Buddhism after meeting Buddha. Likewise Netradaan (that is, Gift of Eyes), another drama, is based on a historical legend involving Ashoka and his son Kunal.

He was also a distinguished playwright.

A stanza from one of his famous poems, "Shahido – tumhari yaad me" goes like this:

Hey, the Martyrs of August Revolution,

We shall forever keep the flag high

For which thy hath given thy lives;

We shall always esteem the path of martyrdom

Sanctified by the blood of thy supreme sacrifice.

The eminent Hindi writer, poet, play-wright, journalist and nationalist Rambriksh Benipuri, who spent more than eight years in prison fighting for India's independence writes of Non-co-operation movement as:

"

When I recall Non-Cooperation era of 1921, the image of a storm confronts my eyes. From the time I became aware, I have witnessed numerous movements, however, I can assert that no other movement upturned the foundations of Indian society to the extent that the Non-Cooperation movement did. from the most humble huts to the high places, from villages to cities, everywhere there was a ferment, a loud echo.

Homage

In 1999, Benipuri was one of the Hindi writers depicted in a set of commemorative postal stamps released to celebrate the "Linguistic Harmony of India," marking the 50th anniversary since the Indian Union adopted Hindi as its official language.

Centenary celebrations

The chief guest on the occasion of the birth centenary of Benipuri held in zonal railway training centre at Muzaffarpur, held under the auspices of railway ministry, was the former Prime Minister of India Chandra Shekhar. The main speakers included litterateur Namwar Singh and journalist Prabhash Joshi. Namwar Singh described Benipuri as only the second litterateur who preferred to associate his name with that of his village.

Prabhash Joshi ranked Benipuri with Makhanlal Chaturvedi and Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, who were both contemporary writers and journalists as well. He said '"Benipuri was not like today's journalists who work only to earn. Benipuri had a desire to create a "samtawadi samaj" and fight against imperialism."

Major literary works

Memoirs and essays

• Patiton Ke Desh Mein-1930-33
• Chita Ke Phool-1930-32
• Lal Taaraa-1937-39

Lal Tara is the symbol of a new light of the morning. The light is very near and therefore the darkness has increased. The writer wants to say that the darkness would disappear within a short time and a new rising light would come out. There are 16 such sketches in the collection. Benipuri tries to search out a new society, a new way of living and a new culture.

• Kaidee Ki Patni-1940
• Maate

-1941-45

• Gehun Aur Gulaab- 1948–50

It was published in 1950. This composition also brought much laurels and fame to Benipuri and was welcomed in the Hindi world like the former two titles, "Lal Tara" and "Mati ki Murten".

• Zanjeeren Aur Deewaren
• Udate Chalo, Udate Chalo

Dramas

• Ambpali-1941-46
• Sita Ki maan-1948-50
• Sanghamitra-1948-50
• Amar Jyoti-1951
• Tathaagat
• Singhal Vijay
• Shakuntala
• Ramrajya
• Netradaan-1948-50
• Gaao Ke Devata
• Nayaa samaaj
• Vijeta-1953.
• Baiju Mama, National Book Trust, 1994

Editing and critical

• Vidyapati Ki Padaavali
• Bihari (poet) satsai Ki Subodh Teekaa

Biography

• Jayaprakash Narayan only with the initials Jayaprakash

Lalit Gadya

• Vande Vaani Vinayaka −1953-54.

Collected works

• Collected Works of Rambriksh Benipuri, 8 volumes, Radhakrishna Prakashan

Selected works/anthology

• Rambriksh Benipuri Rachna Sanchayan, Sahitya Akademi

Works on Rambriksha Benipuri

• Gajanan Pandurang Chavan, Ramvriksha Benipuri aur unka sahitya, 1984.
• Ram Bachan Rai, Ramvriksh Benipuri, Sahitya Akademi, 1995, ISBN 81-7201-974-2.
• Raśmi Caturvedī, Rāmavr̥ksha Benīpurī ke rekhācitra, eka adhyayana, Sāhitya Nilaya, 2005.
• Indu Prakash Pandey, Hindi Literature: Trends & Traits, Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1975.