Harivansh Rai Bachchan Biography and latest books by Harivansh Rai Bachchan

If ever asked to introduce himself, Harivansh Rai Bachchan said: Mitti ka tan, masti ka man, kshan-bhar jivan — mera parichay. (A body of clay, a mind full of play, a moment’s life - that is me.)

Harivansh Rai Shrivastav alias Bachchan, was a noted Indian poet of Chhayavaad literary movement of the early 20th century. He was also a famous poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is best known for his early work Madhushala. He is also the father of Bollywood superstar, Amitabh Bachchan.

Born in a Srivastava Kayastha family, in the village of Babupatti near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh he was the eldest son of Pratap Narayan Shrivastav and Saraswati Devi. He was called bachchan (meaning child at home).

He received his schooling in a municipal school and followed the family tradition going to Kayastha Paathshaalas to learn Urdu. He later studied at the Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University. In this period, he came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi.

Realizing that this was not what he wanted to follow, he went back to the university. He spent two years at St Catharine\'s College, Cambridge University doing his doctoral thesis on W.B. Yeats. It was then, that he started using Bachchan as his last name instead of Srivastava.

Harivanshrai’s thesis got him his PhD at Cambridge. He is the second Indian to get his doctorate in English literature from Cambridge. After returning to India he again took to teaching and also served at All India Radio, Allahabad.

In 1926, at the age of 19, Bachchan married his first wife, Shyama, who was 14 at the time of marriage. However she died ten years later in 1936 due to TB. Bachchan again married, Teji Bachchan, in 1941. They had two sons, Amitabh and Ajitabh.

As a poet he is famous for his poem Madhushala. He is also remembered for his Hindi translations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Othello and Bhagvad Gita. In November 1984 he wrote his last poem ‘Ek November1984’ on Indira Gandhi’s assassination. Bachchan has also written four volumes of autobiography: Kya Bhooloon Kya Yaad Karoon, Need Ka Nirmaan Fir, Basere Se Door and Dashdwaar Se Sopaan Tak.

His best known work Madhushala (The House of Wine), which has been translated into English and many regional Indian languages including Bengali, Marathi and Malayalam, is a part of a trilogy, along with Madhubala and Madhukalash. Bachchan published about 30 volumes of poetry in all.

In 1976 he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his immense contribution to Hindi literature.

Bachchan died on January 18, 2003, at the age of 95.