“Language is the roadmap of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.” Unfortunately, one of the most melodious Indian language, Bhojpuri, is proving this statement in a pessimistic way. This is happening because of the vulgarity introduced in the movies and songs.
In a world with swift flow of resources, this has gone bad to worse. But movies are just a single part of the holistic Bhojpuri culture. On the brighter side there are folk singers and writers with their literature and poetry that is gaining prominence in the world. One such writer that we are remembering today is Bhikhari Thakur. On his birth anniversary, it is necessary to recall the glory he brought to Bhojpuri Culture.
Life
Bhikhari Thakur was an Bhojpuri language poet, playwright, lyricist, actor, folk dancer, folk singer and social activist. He was born in Kutubpur village of Saran. Born in a financially weak family, he could not complete his primary education. and continued his family occupation. Later he left his village and migrated to another village in search of better opportunity. But opportunity was not visible even at the another end of tunnel. Pain and struggle remained his destiny and he lived with it making all compromises.
It was in year 1914 when Famine badly struck major part of Bihar and his village was obvious a part of it. Situation forced him to move to Kharagpur and later to Puri before finally moving to Calcutta. This was the first time that he got to know that his country was Hindustan and that it was ruled by the ‘Angrej’. Unable to fit in other other localities he returned to village and it was the point time started had started to do its carvings. Bhikhari Thakur actively started taking part in Ramlilas and other sanatani activities.
He had already started writing on several social issue and for that he had to fight his own battles to prove his worth and that’s a different story altogether. The central theme of his plays always was the plight of women, village folks and a tussle between old and modern values.
Work
His most famous play is ‘Bidesiya’. The play portrays the condition of women in Bhojpuri Society in the 19th century, the problem of migration and poverty. The play was composed and staged in 1912 and published as a book in 1917 as ‘Bahara Bahar’. It was also turned into films in 1963 and 2007. His song ‘Ae Sajni’ was recreated in 2005 film ‘Hazaron Khwahishen Aesi’.
Apart from that, he also wrote ‘Gabarghichor’, the story of a women whose husband is a migrant. The woman has an illicit relationship with a man from her village. They both had a son named ‘Gabhargichor’. This play has been compared to Bertolt Brecht’s play ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’.
‘Beti Bechwa’ or ‘Beti Biyog’ is yet another masterpiece from him. It hammers the evil practice of selling young girls to just balance the financial inability. The problem discussed is so big that even today the cases of selling girls comes to the light. He also wrote more than a dozen plays, Monologues, Poems and Bhajans that appeared in print as nearly three dozen books.
Legacy
In 1944, the Bihar Government gave him the title of ‘Rai Bahadur’ or ‘Rai Sahab’ and was felicitated with a Copper Shield. Rahul Sankrityayan, a renowned writer and multilinguist gave him the title of “Shakespeare”. Though it is a big remark, but our culture and its diversity are sufficient in itself and don’t need validation from west to be considered best and so is Bhikhari Thakur.
Bhikhari Thakur penned down the actual Indian emotion in Bhojpuri language. If someone wants to explore literature experience, he is inescapable. If you have read about him, go and enjoy the best piece of your choice and if not then why wait, just read and relish the undiscovered glory of Bhojpuri by ‘The Linguistic Bard of Bihar’.
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