Literature Desk :
Kazi Nazrul Islam was a Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression. His poetry and nationalist activism earned him the popular title of Bidrohi Kobi (Rebel Poet). Accomplishing a large body of acclaimed works through his life, Nazrul is officially recognised as the National Poet of Bangladesh and commemorated in India.
Born into a Muslim Quazi (justice) family in India, Nazrul received religious education and worked as a muazzin at a local mosque. He learned of poetry, drama, and literature while working with theatrical groups. After serving in the British Indian Army, Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He assailed the British Raj in India and preached revolution through his poetic works, such as Bidrohi (‘The Rebel’) and Bhangar Gaan (‘The Song of Destruction’), as well as his publication Dhumketu (‘The Comet’). His impassioned activism in the Indian independence movement often led to his imprisonment by British authorities. While in prison, Nazrul wrote the Rajbandir Jabanbandi (‘Deposition of a Political Prisoner’). Exploring the life and conditions of the downtrodden masses Nazrul worked for their emancipation.
Nazrul’s writings explore themes such as love, freedom, and revolution; he opposed all bigotry, including religious and gender. Throughout his career, Nazrul wrote short stories, novels, and essays but is best-known for his poems, in which he pioneered new forms such as Bengali ghazals. Nazrul wrote and composed music for his nearly 4,000 songs (including gramophone records), collectively known as Nazrul Sangeet (Nazrul songs), which are widely popular today. At the age of 43 (in 1942) he began suffering from an unknown disease, losing his voice and memory. It is often said; the reason was slow poisoning by British Government. It caused Nazrul’s health to decline steadily and forced him to live in isolation for many years. Invited by the Government of Bangladesh, Nazrul and his family moved to Dhaka in 1972, where he died four years later (29 August, 1976).
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born in the village of Churulia near Asansol in the Burdwan District of Bengal located in the Indian state of Paschimbanga). He was born in a powerful Muslim Taluqdar family and was the second of three sons and a daughter, Nazrul’s father Kazi Faqeer Ahmad was the Imam and caretaker of the local mosque and mausoleum. Nazrul’s mother was Zahida Khatun. Nazrul had two brothers, Kazi Sahebjan and Kazi Ali Hussain, and a sister, Umme Kulsum. Nicknamed Dukhu Mian (Sad Man), Nazrul began attending the maktab and madarsa ; the local religious school run by the mosque and dargah where he studied the Qur’an and other scriptures, Islamic philosophy and theology. His family was devastated with the death of his father in 1908. At the young age of ten, Nazrul began working in his father’s place as a caretaker to support his family, as well as assisting teachers in school. He later became the muazzin at the mosque, delivering the Azan and calling the people for prayer.
Attracted to folk theatre, Nazrul joined a leto (travelling theatrical group) run by his uncle Fazle Karim. Working and travelling with them, learning acting, as well as writing songs and poems for the plays and musicals. Through his work and experiences, Nazrul began learning Bengali and Sanskrit literature, as well as Hindu scriptures such as the Puranas. The young poet composed a number of folk plays for his group, which included Chashaar Shong (‘The drama of a peasant’), Shakunibadh (‘The Killing of Shakuni a character from the epic ‘Mahabharata’), Raja Yudhisthirer Shong (‘The drama of King Yudhisthira again from the Mahabharata’), Daata Karna (‘Philanthropic Karna from the Mahabharata’), Akbar Badshah (‘Emperor Akbar’), Kavi Kalidas (‘Poet Kalidas’), Vidyan hutum (‘The Learned Owl’), and Rajputrer Shong (‘The drama of a Prince’).
In 1910, Nazrul left the troupe and enrolled at the Searsole Raj High School in Raniganj (where he came under influence of teacher, revolutionary and Jugantar activist Nibaran Chandra Ghatak, and initiated life-long friendship with fellow author Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay, who was his classmate), and later transferred to the Mathrun High English School, studying under the headmaster and poet Kumudranjan Mallik. Unable to continue paying his school fees, Nazrul left the school and joined a group of kaviyals. Later he took jobs as a cook at the house of a Christian railway guard and at the most famous bakery of the region Wahid’s/Abdul Wahid and tea stall in the town of Asansol. In 1914, Nazrul studied in the Darirampur School (now Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University) in Trishal, Mymensingh district. Amongst other subjects, Nazrul studied Bengali, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian literature and classical music under teachers who were impressed by his dedication and skill.
Studying up to Class X, Nazrul did not appear for the Matriculation pre-test examination, enlisting instead in the Indian Army in 1917 at the age of eighteen. He joined the British army mainly for two reasons: first, his youthful romantic inclination to respond to the unknown and, secondly, the call of politics. Attached to the 49th Bengal Regiment, he was posted to the cantonment in Karachi, where he wrote his first prose and poetry. Although he never saw active fighting, he rose in rank from corporal to havildar, and served as quartermaster for his battalion. During this period, Nazrul read extensively, and was deeply influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, as well as the Persian poets Hafiz, Rumi and Omar Khayyam. He learnt Persian poetry from the regiment’s Punjabi moulvi, practiced music and pursued his literary interests. His first prose work, Baunduler Atmakahini (‘Life of a Vagabond’) was published in May, 1919. His poem Mukti (‘Freedom’) was published by the Bangla Mussalman Sahitya Patrika (Bengali Muslim Literary Journal) in July 1919.
Nazrul started a bi-weekly magazine, publishing the first Dhumketu (Comet) on August 12, 1922. Earning the moniker of the ‘rebel poet’, Nazrul also aroused the suspicion of British authorities. A political poem published in Dhumketu in September 1922 led to a police raid on the magazine’s office. Arrested, Nazrul entered a lengthy plea before the judge in the court.
“I have been accused of sedition. That is why I am now confined in the prison. On the one side is the crown, on the other the flames of the comet. One is the king, sceptre in hand; the other Truth worth the mace of justice. To plead for me, the king of all kings, the judge of all judges, the eternal truth the living God… His laws emerged out of the realisation of a universal truth about mankind. They are for and by a sovereign God. The king is supported by an infinitesimal creature; I by its eternal and indivisible Creator. I am a poet; I have been sent by God to express the unexpressed, to portray the unportrayed. It is God who is heard through the voice of the poet… My voice is but a medium for Truth, the message of God… I am the instrument of that eternal self-evident truth, an instrument that voices forth the message of the ever-true. I am an instrument of God. The instrument is not unbreakable, but who is there to break God?”
On April 14, 1923 he was transferred from the jail in Alipore to Hooghly in Kolkata, he began a 40-day fast to protest mistreatment by the British jail superintendent. Nazrul broke his fast more than a month later and was eventually released from prison in December 1923. Nazrul composed a large number of poems and songs during the period of imprisonment and many his works were banned in the 1920s by the British authorities.
Kazi Nazrul Islam became a critic of the Khilafat struggle, condemning it as hollow, religious fundamentalism. Nazrul’s rebellious expression extended to rigid orthodoxy in the name of religion and politics. Nazrul also criticised the Indian National Congress for not embracing outright political independence from the British Empire. He became active in encouraging people to agitate against British rule, and joined the Bengal state unit of the Congress party. Nazrul also helped organise the Sramik Praja Swaraj Dal, a political party committed to national independence and the service of the peasant masses. On December 16, 1925 Nazrul started publishing the weekly ‘Langal’, with himself as chief editor. The ‘Langal’ was the mouthpiece of the Sramik Praja Swaraj Dal.
Nazrul married Nargis of Comilla. But the conjugal life could not continue.
During his visit to Comilla in 1921, Nazrul met a young Hindu woman, Pramila Devi, with whom he fell in love and they married on April 25, 1924. Pramila belonged to the Brahmo Samaj, which criticised her marriage to a Muslim. Nazrul in turn was condemned by Muslim religious leaders and continued to face criticism for his personal life and professional works, which attacked social and religious dogma and intolerance. Despite controversy, Nazrul’s popularity and reputation as the ‘Rebel Poet’ rose significantly.
“Weary of struggles, I, the great rebel,
Shall rest in quiet only when I find
The sky and the air free of the piteous groans of the oppressed.
Only when the battlefields are cleared of jingling bloody sabres
Shall I, weary of struggles, rest in quiet,
I the great rebel.’
With his wife and young son Bulbul, Nazrul settled in Krishnanagar in 1926. His work began to transform as he wrote poetry and songs that articulated the aspirations of the downtrodden classes, a sphere of his work known as ‘mass music.’ Nazrul assailed the socio-economic norms and political system that had brought upon misery. From his poem Daridryo (poverty):
“O poverty, thou hast made me great.
Thou hast made me honoured like Christ
With his crown of thorns. Thou hast given me
Courage to reveal all. To thee I owe
My insolent, naked eyes and sharp tongue.
Thy curse has turned my violin to a sword
Kazi Nazrul Islam was a Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression. His poetry and nationalist activism earned him the popular title of Bidrohi Kobi (Rebel Poet). Accomplishing a large body of acclaimed works through his life, Nazrul is officially recognised as the National Poet of Bangladesh and commemorated in India.
Born into a Muslim Quazi (justice) family in India, Nazrul received religious education and worked as a muazzin at a local mosque. He learned of poetry, drama, and literature while working with theatrical groups. After serving in the British Indian Army, Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He assailed the British Raj in India and preached revolution through his poetic works, such as Bidrohi (‘The Rebel’) and Bhangar Gaan (‘The Song of Destruction’), as well as his publication Dhumketu (‘The Comet’). His impassioned activism in the Indian independence movement often led to his imprisonment by British authorities. While in prison, Nazrul wrote the Rajbandir Jabanbandi (‘Deposition of a Political Prisoner’). Exploring the life and conditions of the downtrodden masses Nazrul worked for their emancipation.
Nazrul’s writings explore themes such as love, freedom, and revolution; he opposed all bigotry, including religious and gender. Throughout his career, Nazrul wrote short stories, novels, and essays but is best-known for his poems, in which he pioneered new forms such as Bengali ghazals. Nazrul wrote and composed music for his nearly 4,000 songs (including gramophone records), collectively known as Nazrul Sangeet (Nazrul songs), which are widely popular today. At the age of 43 (in 1942) he began suffering from an unknown disease, losing his voice and memory. It is often said; the reason was slow poisoning by British Government. It caused Nazrul’s health to decline steadily and forced him to live in isolation for many years. Invited by the Government of Bangladesh, Nazrul and his family moved to Dhaka in 1972, where he died four years later (29 August, 1976).
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born in the village of Churulia near Asansol in the Burdwan District of Bengal located in the Indian state of Paschimbanga). He was born in a powerful Muslim Taluqdar family and was the second of three sons and a daughter, Nazrul’s father Kazi Faqeer Ahmad was the Imam and caretaker of the local mosque and mausoleum. Nazrul’s mother was Zahida Khatun. Nazrul had two brothers, Kazi Sahebjan and Kazi Ali Hussain, and a sister, Umme Kulsum. Nicknamed Dukhu Mian (Sad Man), Nazrul began attending the maktab and madarsa ; the local religious school run by the mosque and dargah where he studied the Qur’an and other scriptures, Islamic philosophy and theology. His family was devastated with the death of his father in 1908. At the young age of ten, Nazrul began working in his father’s place as a caretaker to support his family, as well as assisting teachers in school. He later became the muazzin at the mosque, delivering the Azan and calling the people for prayer.
Attracted to folk theatre, Nazrul joined a leto (travelling theatrical group) run by his uncle Fazle Karim. Working and travelling with them, learning acting, as well as writing songs and poems for the plays and musicals. Through his work and experiences, Nazrul began learning Bengali and Sanskrit literature, as well as Hindu scriptures such as the Puranas. The young poet composed a number of folk plays for his group, which included Chashaar Shong (‘The drama of a peasant’), Shakunibadh (‘The Killing of Shakuni a character from the epic ‘Mahabharata’), Raja Yudhisthirer Shong (‘The drama of King Yudhisthira again from the Mahabharata’), Daata Karna (‘Philanthropic Karna from the Mahabharata’), Akbar Badshah (‘Emperor Akbar’), Kavi Kalidas (‘Poet Kalidas’), Vidyan hutum (‘The Learned Owl’), and Rajputrer Shong (‘The drama of a Prince’).
In 1910, Nazrul left the troupe and enrolled at the Searsole Raj High School in Raniganj (where he came under influence of teacher, revolutionary and Jugantar activist Nibaran Chandra Ghatak, and initiated life-long friendship with fellow author Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay, who was his classmate), and later transferred to the Mathrun High English School, studying under the headmaster and poet Kumudranjan Mallik. Unable to continue paying his school fees, Nazrul left the school and joined a group of kaviyals. Later he took jobs as a cook at the house of a Christian railway guard and at the most famous bakery of the region Wahid’s/Abdul Wahid and tea stall in the town of Asansol. In 1914, Nazrul studied in the Darirampur School (now Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University) in Trishal, Mymensingh district. Amongst other subjects, Nazrul studied Bengali, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian literature and classical music under teachers who were impressed by his dedication and skill.
Studying up to Class X, Nazrul did not appear for the Matriculation pre-test examination, enlisting instead in the Indian Army in 1917 at the age of eighteen. He joined the British army mainly for two reasons: first, his youthful romantic inclination to respond to the unknown and, secondly, the call of politics. Attached to the 49th Bengal Regiment, he was posted to the cantonment in Karachi, where he wrote his first prose and poetry. Although he never saw active fighting, he rose in rank from corporal to havildar, and served as quartermaster for his battalion. During this period, Nazrul read extensively, and was deeply influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, as well as the Persian poets Hafiz, Rumi and Omar Khayyam. He learnt Persian poetry from the regiment’s Punjabi moulvi, practiced music and pursued his literary interests. His first prose work, Baunduler Atmakahini (‘Life of a Vagabond’) was published in May, 1919. His poem Mukti (‘Freedom’) was published by the Bangla Mussalman Sahitya Patrika (Bengali Muslim Literary Journal) in July 1919.
Nazrul started a bi-weekly magazine, publishing the first Dhumketu (Comet) on August 12, 1922. Earning the moniker of the ‘rebel poet’, Nazrul also aroused the suspicion of British authorities. A political poem published in Dhumketu in September 1922 led to a police raid on the magazine’s office. Arrested, Nazrul entered a lengthy plea before the judge in the court.
“I have been accused of sedition. That is why I am now confined in the prison. On the one side is the crown, on the other the flames of the comet. One is the king, sceptre in hand; the other Truth worth the mace of justice. To plead for me, the king of all kings, the judge of all judges, the eternal truth the living God… His laws emerged out of the realisation of a universal truth about mankind. They are for and by a sovereign God. The king is supported by an infinitesimal creature; I by its eternal and indivisible Creator. I am a poet; I have been sent by God to express the unexpressed, to portray the unportrayed. It is God who is heard through the voice of the poet… My voice is but a medium for Truth, the message of God… I am the instrument of that eternal self-evident truth, an instrument that voices forth the message of the ever-true. I am an instrument of God. The instrument is not unbreakable, but who is there to break God?”
On April 14, 1923 he was transferred from the jail in Alipore to Hooghly in Kolkata, he began a 40-day fast to protest mistreatment by the British jail superintendent. Nazrul broke his fast more than a month later and was eventually released from prison in December 1923. Nazrul composed a large number of poems and songs during the period of imprisonment and many his works were banned in the 1920s by the British authorities.
Kazi Nazrul Islam became a critic of the Khilafat struggle, condemning it as hollow, religious fundamentalism. Nazrul’s rebellious expression extended to rigid orthodoxy in the name of religion and politics. Nazrul also criticised the Indian National Congress for not embracing outright political independence from the British Empire. He became active in encouraging people to agitate against British rule, and joined the Bengal state unit of the Congress party. Nazrul also helped organise the Sramik Praja Swaraj Dal, a political party committed to national independence and the service of the peasant masses. On December 16, 1925 Nazrul started publishing the weekly ‘Langal’, with himself as chief editor. The ‘Langal’ was the mouthpiece of the Sramik Praja Swaraj Dal.
Nazrul married Nargis of Comilla. But the conjugal life could not continue.
During his visit to Comilla in 1921, Nazrul met a young Hindu woman, Pramila Devi, with whom he fell in love and they married on April 25, 1924. Pramila belonged to the Brahmo Samaj, which criticised her marriage to a Muslim. Nazrul in turn was condemned by Muslim religious leaders and continued to face criticism for his personal life and professional works, which attacked social and religious dogma and intolerance. Despite controversy, Nazrul’s popularity and reputation as the ‘Rebel Poet’ rose significantly.
“Weary of struggles, I, the great rebel,
Shall rest in quiet only when I find
The sky and the air free of the piteous groans of the oppressed.
Only when the battlefields are cleared of jingling bloody sabres
Shall I, weary of struggles, rest in quiet,
I the great rebel.’
With his wife and young son Bulbul, Nazrul settled in Krishnanagar in 1926. His work began to transform as he wrote poetry and songs that articulated the aspirations of the downtrodden classes, a sphere of his work known as ‘mass music.’ Nazrul assailed the socio-economic norms and political system that had brought upon misery. From his poem Daridryo (poverty):
“O poverty, thou hast made me great.
Thou hast made me honoured like Christ
With his crown of thorns. Thou hast given me
Courage to reveal all. To thee I owe
My insolent, naked eyes and sharp tongue.
Thy curse has turned my violin to a sword
…
O proud saint, thy terrible fire
Has rendered my heaven barren.
O my child, my darling one
I could not give thee even a drop of milk
No right have I to rejoice.
Poverty weeps within my doors forever
As my spouse and my child.”
In what his contemporaries regarded as one of his greatest flairs of creativity, Nazrul began composing the very first ghazals in Bengali, transforming a form of poetry written mainly in Persian and Urdu. Nazrul became the first person to introduce Islam into the larger mainstream tradition of Bengali music. The first record of Islamic songs by Nazrul Islam was a commercial success and many gramophone companies showed interest in producing these. A significant impact of Nazrul was that it made Muslims more comfortable in the Bengali Arts, which used to be dominated by Hindus. Nazrul also composed a number of notable Shymasangeet, Bhojon and Kirton, combining Hindu devotional music. Arousing controversy and passions in his readers, Nazrul’s ideas attained great popularity across India. In 1928, Nazrul began working as a lyricist, composer and music director for His Master’s Voice Gramophone Company. Contd on Page 7
