William Wordsworthish

William Wordsworth (1770-1850), British poet, credited with ushering in the English Romantic Movement with the publication of Lyrical Ballads(1798) in collaboration with Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District. His father was John Wordsworth, Sir James Lowther's attorney. The magnificent landscape deeply affected Wordsworth's imagination and gave him a love of nature. He lost his mother when he was eight and five years later his father. The domestic problems separated Wordsworth from his beloved and neurotic sister Dorothy, who was a very important person in his life.

With the help of his two uncles, Wordsworth entered a local school and continued his studies at Cambridge University. Wordsworth made his debut as a writer in 1787, when he published a sonnet in The European Magazine . In that same year he entered St. John's College, Cambridge, from where he took his B.A. in 1791.

During a summer vacation in 1790 Wordsworth went on a walking tour through revolutionary France and also traveled in Switzerland. On his second journey in France, Wordsworth had an affair with a French girl, Annette Vallon, a daughter of a barber-surgeon, by whom he had a illegitimate daughter Anne Caroline. The affair was basis of the poem "Vaudracour and Julia", but otherwise Wordsworth did his best to hide the affair from posterity.

In 1795 he met Coleridge. Wordsworth's financial situation became better in 1795 when he received a legacy and was able to settle at Racedown, Dorset, with his sister Dorothy.
Encouraged by Coleridge and stimulated by the close contact with nature, Wordsworth composed his first masterwork, Lyrical Ballads, which opened with Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner." About 1798 he started to write a large and philosophical autobiographical poem, completed in 1805, and published posthumously in 1850 under the title The Prelude.

Wordsworth spent the winter of 1798-99 with his sister and Coleridge in Germany, where he wrote several poems, including the enigmatic 'Lucy' poems. After return he moved Dove Cottage, Grasmere, and in 1802 married Mary Hutchinson. They cared for Wordsworth's sister Dorothy for the last 20 years of her life.

Wordsworth's second verse collection, Poems, In Two Volumes, appeared in 1807. Wordsworth's central works were produced between 1797 and 1808. His poems written during middle and late years have not gained similar critical approval. Wordsworth's Grasmere period ended in 1813. He was appointed official distributor of stamps for Westmoreland. He moved to Rydal Mount, Ambleside, where he spent the rest of his life. In later life Wordsworth abandoned his radical ideas and became a patriotic, conservative public man.

In 1843 he succeeded Robert Southey (1774-1843) as England's poet laureate. Wordsworth died on April 23, 1850.

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Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh, a pioneer of English literature in India, was born in Calcutta (Now Kolkata) in the year 1956. Amitav Ghosh has been raised and educated at the same time in as different locations as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Iran, Egypt, India and the United Kingdom. He completed his higher studies in England where he went on to receive his Ph.D. in social anthropology from Oxford University. After completing his Ph.D. he decided to pursue his career in writing.

Amitav Ghosh is acclaimed in the literary world for his works on fiction, travel writing and journalism. His long list of accomplishment includes books like The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, In an Antique Land and Dancing in Cambodia. His previous work, The Glass Palace, was an international bestseller that sold more than a half-million copies in Britain. Recently published there, The Hungry Tide has been sold for translation in twelve foreign countries and is also a bestseller abroad. Among awards, Ghosh has won France's Prix Medici Etranger, India's prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Pushcart Prize.

The fictions of Amitav Ghosh are marked by extreme themes that go side by side with post-colonialism. Nevertheless it will be nothing short of insult, for an author of his repute, to say that his works are formulaic. It is practically impossible to label his works. It can be added here that his topics are much more unique and personal. The appeal of Amitav' s work lies in his ability to weave "Indo-nostalgic" elements into more serious, heavier themes. The Government of India conferred Amitav Ghosh with Padma Bhushan. He now divides his time between Harvard University, where he is a visiting professor, and his homes in India and Brooklyn, New York. He is planning to shift back to India.

Saadat Hasan Manto

Saadat Hasan Manto was an acclaimed but a controversial South Asian literary figure. He was born in Sambrala, in the Ludhiana district of the Punjab in the year 1912. As a young man, Manto began his literary career with an Urdu translation of Victor Hugo's "The Last Days of a Condemned Man". Going through his works it is pretty evident that during the starting of his career; Manto was deeply influenced by French and Russian realist writers such as Hugo, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky. During the 1930s, Manto was also peripherally involved with the Indian Progressive Writers Association. IPWA was a left-leaning literary movement that was committed to the ideals of social uplift and justice through literature.

During his career, Manto wrote more than two hundred stories and a number of essays, film scripts, and radio plays. However, his greatest contributions to Indian literature were his mastery of the short story genre and his use of the Urdu language. Some of his well-known Urdu short stories include "Bu", "Khol Do", "Thanda Gosht", and "Toba Tek Singh," that were promptly translated into English after Manto 's death.

After the partition of India, Manto left his home in Mumbai and migrated to Lahore, Pakistan, in January 1948. Although Manto 's last years in Pakistan were filled with financial hardship and failing health, they were also instrumental in the compilation of some of his greatest literary achievements. Manto died of excessive drinking that led to liver cirrhosis, in the year 1955. His death has left a vacuum in the South Asian Literature genre that is still vacant.

Rahi Masoom Raza

Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza was a famous author, play writer and novelist of Independent India. Rahi Masoom Raza was born in Ghazipur district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. He completed his early education in and around Ghazipur from where he went to Aligarh Muslim University to complete his higher studies. Masoom Raza did his doctorate in Hindustani Literature and persuaded his career in literature.

Rahi Masoom Raza is known for his intense storylines that are weaved in easy words. Most of his works are based on the themes related to village and sub-urban life-style. For example, one of his novel named ' Neem ka Ped' is based on the uneasy relationship of lower caste serfs with their landlords. This novel has been adapted in to a television series that became very popular among the masses. Another famous novel 'Katra Bi Arzoo' is based around Hindu-Muslim sibling rivalry in the city of Allahabad. In fact, Hindu-Muslim strife has been a popular theme in the writings of Raza. Another famous novel of his named ' Topi Sukla' also revolves around the same theme.

In his career spanning 35 years, Rahi Masoom Raza has written lyrics, dialogues and stories for various movies and television series. His high came with the telecast of TV series 'Mahabharata' that was based on the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Masoom Raza, a Muslim, wrote the screenplay and dialogue of the TV series that went on to become the most watched TV series in India. At one time, its TRP was staggering 86 %. This was a triumph for Raza as some Hindu zealots had criticized his inclusion in the team.

Premchand

An extremely famous name that comes to mind when we talk of Urdu novel writers is that of Munshi Premchand. The life history is of Prem Chand is like that of any ordinary man. But what makes him stand out are the numerous works he composed in his lifetime. They are still read with much enthusiasm and admiration. Though he had financial crunches all through his life, he had the rich collection of his works and compositions. Read on further about Munshi Premchand biography to know more about the life of this common man who was an extraordinary genius.

Born in a village called Pandepur near Varanasi, he was named Dhanpat Rai by his parents. Tragedy struck early in his life when he lost his mother at the tender age of eight. His father, Munshi Ajayab Lal worked as an ordinary clerk in the postal department. He left Premchand in the guardian of his grandmother and married someone else. He grew up without the love of his parents and was given responsibility at a very young age. His grandmother also died soon and he was left with no one to take care of him.

At the age of 15, he got married and it didn't work out well. Meanwhile, his father died and he had to curtail his studies, as he had to take care of not just himself but also his stepsiblings. He managed to secure a job as a teacher in a primary school and rapidly got promoted to the post of Deputy Inspector of Schools. When Mahatma Gandhi announced the non-cooperation movement, Premchand quit his job and devoted his time to writing fully. His first short story was published in a magazine called Zamana that was circulated in Kanpur.

When it comes to writing Urdu novel and short stories, Premchand definitely has his own special place. His style of writing novels began as fantasy tales of kings and queens. But as he became more and more conscious of what was happening around him, he started to write on social problems and his novels had the element of evoking the feeling of social consciousness and responsibility. He wrote about the realities of life and the various problems faced by the common man in a turbulent society.

His main focus remained rural India and exploitation faced by a common villager at the hands of priests, landlords, loan sharks, etc. He also emphasized on the unity of Hindus and Muslims. Some of his well-known works are Godaan, Gaban, Karmabhoomi, Pratigya, etc. His famous short stories include popular names like Atmaram, Udhar Ki Ghadi, Bade Ghar Ki Beti, etc. Some of his works were also made into films by the noted filmmaker, Satyajit Ray. This great literary personality of India breathed his last on October 8th 1936.

Deputy Nazir Ahmad

Known as the pioneer of Urdu novels, Deputy Nazir Ahmad was born in 1836. This great man was an advocate of education for women. At a time when the Muslim society was going through a turbulent period, he stood up for the cause of justice for women. He strongly wanted that women should be educated and must be given due respect in the society. It was at this time that the Muslim establishment considered that women should not be educated at all. The life history of Deputy Nazir Ahmad is given below as a short biography.

Through his novels he wanted to make people aware of the various social problems that the society was going through. He was determined to eradicate these social evils like illiteracy, poverty and frustration of common man that had risen to alarming proportions. The corrupt society with all its problems was coming to a stage where a burn out was just around the corner. The instability was just adding to the problems. His novels aimed at making people aware of this dangerous situation. He wanted to infuse an innate sense amongst people to eradicate these problems from the root.

His novels are considered to be the primary novels in Urdu. Among his famous works are, Mirat-al-Urus and Taubat-un-Nasuh that laid the foundation for future works and novel compositions in Urdu language. This great personality breathed his last in 1912.

Hasrat Jaipuri

Born On: April 15, 1922
Born In: Jaipur, Rajasthan
Died On: September 17, 1999
Occupation: Poet and Bollywood lyricist
Nationality: Indian

Hasrat Jaipuri is one of those celebrated poets who have gone down as immortal in the history of Hindi film songs. A poet who composed lines in Urdu, Persian and Hindi, he went on to become one of the most popular lyricists that the Hindi film industry in India has ever seen. His poetry and film compositions reflected an amalgamation of both Hindi and Urdu. Born in a Muslim family of Rajasthan in India, poetry was a part of Hasrat Jaipuri's life from the early years of his childhood. Once a bus conductor by profession, little did the world know then that there was so much talent hidden within Hasrat Jaipuri, who may be referred to as a 'shayar' in Indian society.

Life
Hasrat Jaipuri was born as Iqbal Husain in a Muslim family of Rajasthan on April 15, 1922. Iqbal spent his entire childhood in the city of his birth, Jaipur, before shifting to Bombay where he received the best rewards for his talent of poem and song writing. Iqbal Husain was educated in only English language during the initial years of his schooling. It was later that Iqbal Husain received the title of Hasrat Jaipuri and also started his education in Urdu and Persian languages. Hasrat Jaipuri's grandfather Fida Husain was his chief tutor for both the languages. By this time, Hasrat Jaipuri was already a young man of 20. He not only learnt the two languages of Urdu and Persian, he also composed several verses in both languages. Many of his verses were composed for the love of his life Radha, a Hindu girl residing in Jaipur. The two fell in love when Hasrat Jaipuri had started writing his own poems in Urdu, Persian and also Hindi. "Yeh Mera Prem Patra Padh Kar, Ke Tum Naaraaz Na Hona" was one of the most famous lines found in his love letter to Radha. The line was immortalized almost twenty years later in a Hindi song filmed on the Bollywood heartthrob, Raj Kapoor in his film 'Sangam'. Hasrat Jaipuri was a die hard romantic who was of the opinion that love should not be categorized by religion and castes. Hasrat Jaipuri had famously said in an interview that he never expected his love to be reciprocated by Radha, and yet he loved her dearly.

Career As A Poet
Hasrat Jaipuri was equally popular as a poet and a lyricist. He wrote several poems, which were later published in his books of poetry in Hindi and Urdu. It was these two languages that found predominant use in his writings. Hasrat Jaipuri felt that both the Hindi and Urdu languages complement each other and one is incomplete without the other. Hasrat Jaipuri thought of himself as a messenger whose main motive was to spread love through his work. All his writings reflected this sentiment of Hasrat Jaipuri. According to him, he was a 'shayar' who existed in the world to fill each empty space with love. He was deeply aware of the fact that he would die soon, therefore as long as he is in this world, he believed it was his duty to spread love and cheer all over.

Career As A Lyricist
Hasrat Jaipuri began his career by selling tickets in local buses of Bombay. After traveling from Jaipur and settling in Bombay in the year 1940 with his wife Radha, Hasrat Jaipuri took up occupation as a bus conductor, earning a paltry sum of Rs. 11 at the end of each month. However, he also made sure that enough time was given towards the practice of poetry. Hasrat Jaipuri was a regular face in some of the most famous mushairas (a place where Urdu poets used to gather to share with each other their individual compositions) of Bombay during the 1940s. Therefore, Hasrat Jaipuri was in regular touch with the first love of his life, poetry.

Word has it that it was in a mushaira that legendary Bollywood actor Prithviraj Kapoor took note of the poetry composed by Hasrat Jaipuri and took the first step towards introducing him to the world of Hindi films. When his son Raj Kapoor heard about Hasrat Jaipuri, he decided to give the poet a break in his forthcoming Bollywood production 'Barsaat'. The 1949 film had music by Shankar - Jaikishan and lyrics by Hasrat Jaipuri. He debuted by penning the lyrics of the song 'Jiya Beqaraar Hai' for 'Barsaat'. This was followed by the equally popular composition 'Chhod Gaye Baalam'. 'Barsaat' was only the beginning of the success story of Hasrat Jaipuri in Bollywood and the start of his blossoming association with actor Raj Kapoor.

From 1949 through 1971, almost every single Bollywood film starring Raj Kapoor in the lead credited either had Hasrat Jaipuri or Shailendra as the lyricist. The music in these films was also composed by Shankar - Jaikishen only. With the death of Jaikishen in 1971 also ended a glorious era of Bollywood songs. Hasrat Jaipuri did not find favor from Raj Kapoor anymore largely because of the fact that songs from films 'Mera Naam Joker' and 'Kal Aaj Aur Kal' failed to draw the attention of the audience. As a result of this, Raj Kapoor was inspired to sign new lyricists and music composers for his upcoming movies.

Subsequently 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili' and 'Sangam' happened, enabling to a great extent to bring back the real flavor of a Hasrat Jaipuri writing. 'Sun Sahiba Sun' and 'I Love You' were indeed chartbuster numbers of their generation. After Raj Kapoor died in the year 1988, Bollywood was not the same place for Hasrat Jaipuri. New music composer Ravindra Jain had no respect for the genius and deliberately barred the famous lyricist from writing for further films. Help came in the form of Shailendra when he invited Hasrat Jaipuri to write the lyrics of his Bollywood production 'Teesri Kasam'. The last Hindi film song he penned was used in the 2004 release 'Hatya: The Murder'.

Career As Screenplay Writer
Bollywood lyrics and poems were not the only fields in which Hasrat Jaipuri flourished. The first part of his career with Bollywood saw the maestro in the role of screenplay writer for the movie 'Hulchul' in 1951.

Awards and Recognition
Needless to say, as a lyricist of Raj Kapoor films, Hasrat Jaipuri was successful in winning the attention and love of the Bollywood audience. Hasrat Jaipuri also received widespread critical acclamation for his contribution to Bollywood cinema. He won his first Filmfare award in the year 1966 for the wonderful poetry in the song 'Phool Barsao' from 'Suraj'. The Filmfare success was repeated with 'Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana' from 'Andaz' in 1972. Hasrat Jaipuri was also the recipient of the Josh Malihabadi Award from an Urdu conference and the Dr Ambedkar Award for his lyrics in the Brajbhasha song 'Jhanak Jhanak Tori Baaje Payalia'.

Personal Life and Death
In spite of his phenomenal rise in Bollywood, Hasrat Jaipuri never forgot his roots and remained the simple man that he was from the very first day in Bombay. Several credit his lifestyle to his very supportive wife Radha, who helped him to remain grounded in spite of fame and money coming his way. Even during times when Hasrat Jaipuri did not have work in his hands and therefore no money on him, he had enough savings in property, thanks to his wife, which could help him survive lavishly. According to reports, Hasrat Jaipuri considered himself a very ordinary man and therefore always traveled by train even if he could afford the airfare. Hasrat Jaipuri died on September 17, 1999.

Timeline
1922: Hasrat Jaipuri was born as Iqbal Husain on April 15.
1940: Migrated to Bombay.
1949: Composed his first lyrics for 'Barsaat'.
1951: Wrote screenplay for 'Hulchul'.
1966: Received his first Filmfare Award for lyrics in 'Suraj'.
1972: Received second Filmfare Award.
1999: Hasrat Jaipuri died.