There is no surprise here. India has a unique diversity and Indians are rather wise enough to assess the tempo of age and enjoy the literature that best fits it. Hindi literature, since its dawn in India (and Urdu literature as well), has seen many specified periods, impressed by literary figures and trends. Right now, it’s in a phase that no one can assess – authors do what they like to do and readers filter what’s the best for them and read the same. However, to speak of a trend, yes, there is one. This is either romantic, patriotism or a very chaotic mixture of everything together.
This coming together of ideas, themes and issues have given many young Hindi poets, Urdu poets and shayars an open field, space where everybody is equally allowed to showcase his or her talent. Truly, the dawn of new up-surge in Hindi literature has only been possible, largely, after the digital dawn in India. With the rise of poets like Kumar Vishwas and stability in the foundation in the form of Gulzar, Jawed Akhtar and shayars like Indori and Rana, the mixture of traditional and the revolutionary has given a much-needed push to the rolling wheels of Hindi poetry and Shayari in Hindi as well as Urdu.
जिनकी जिद के आगे सूरज, मोरपंख से छाया मांगे,
उन के भी दुर्दम्य इरादे, वीणा के स्वर पर ठहरेंगे
निकल पडे हैं पांव अभागे,जाने कौन डगर ठहरेंगे (Kumar Vishwas)
सिमटा था जब तलक वो हथेली में…ठीक था
आकर लबों पे लम्स रगों में बिखर गया
यूँ तो दहक रहा था वो सूरज-सा दूर से
जो पास जा के छू लिया…कैसा सिहर गया (Gautam Rajrishi)
It is also to be noted that emerging poets, the younger generation of shayars and poets who are among their readers more than the bygone generation tend to produce more experimental and exciting poetry. The lines above quoted are from Kumar Vishwas and Gautam Rajrishi, one is popular for modern Hindi poetry and another is popular for Hindi-Urdu Shayari and Ghazals. In both the extracts, you can see how these contemporary writers use their imagery in a clever manner.
We also have to admit that increasing numbers of publications, digital mediums like Facebook and Instagram, regular kavya sammelans and mushayaras… many things have contributed to the rise of popularity of Hindi-Urdu literature once again. Poets like Alok Mishra, Anamika Jain Ambar, Piyush Mishra, Arun Kamal… all these are perfect examples of modern and traditional coming together. However, a few have become quickly famous because of their unique style and talent.
Anamika Ambar has become famous because of her unique style of recitation and patriotic verse. Kumar Vishwas can easily be deemed as the leading runner in Hindi literature of the day. Gautam Rajrishi has become famous because of his unique style in which he composes his verse and produces animated imagery that can easily relate to the readers. After the publication of Neela-Neela, Gautam has established himself among the fore-runners of Hindi-Urdu shayari. And this rise will continue because digital content is being produced in Hindi as well. Hindi-Urdu or Hindustani has a vast readership in India and it’s about time that content producers realise this potential…
And then, we have to wait and watch how long this rise continues and how high it can scale. There is a war of narratives between the left and the right and poets cannot be aloof from this battle of ideas… this can also bring new turns and twists in the journey of Hindi literature and we have seen many in the past… With all the cautions and precautions, it will be interesting to see what new dawn is awaiting our literary interest revival!
By Amit for Indian Book Critics