THE CREATIVITY OF REVOLUTIONARY POET NIRALA IS UNMATCHED—PROF. BALIRAJ THAKUR DEATH OF A POET PAWAN SRIVASTAVA CONDOLED

THE CREATIVITY OF REVOLUTIONARY POET NIRALA IS UNMATCHED—PROF. BALIRAJ THAKUR

DEATH OF A POET PAWAN SRIVASTAVA CONDOLED

5-FEB-ENG 5

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA--------------------------Under the auspices of Bhojpur District Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, the birth anniversary of Hindi Poet Pandit Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’ was celebrated today. Senior Congress leader Prof. Baliraj Thakur presided over the meeting. Dr. Nand Jee Dubey, secretary of the Sammelan welcomed the distinguished guests while Prof. Mahesh Singh was the chief guest. The programme started with garlanding the portrait of Maa Saraswati and Nirala Jee.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Baliraj Thakur said that Nirala’s personality has been the most revolutionary among modern Hindi poets. His creativity is unmatched. Nirala Ji, a symbol of invincible courage and unmatched talent, is the founder of new humanism in Hindi literature.

Prof. Diwakar Pandey, Head of the Department of Bhojpuri, Veer Kuer Singh University, said that Nirala Ji has a special place among modern poets. There is no one equal to him. Dr. Ayodhya Prasad Upadhayaya said that Nirala Ji is past, present and future. A critic Jitendra Kumar threw light on Nirala’s personality in detail. Shiv Das Singh, Dr. Nathuni Pandey, Alakh Anari, Arvind Kumar Sing, Janardan Mishra, Jagatnandan Sahay, Rakesh Tiwari, Sharad Kavi, Dr. Mamta Mishra Dr. Kamal Kumari, Satya Narayan Upadhayaya, Dr. Renu Mishra, Madhu Mishra, Shashikant Tiwari and others also spoke on the occasion.

The laureates observed condolence the sudden demise of progressive litterateur and social worker Pawan Srivastava and also observed two minutes silence for the peace of the departed soul.

A condolence meeting was also observed on the campus of local Sambhawana Public School. The principal, director, teachers and students paid floral tributes to the departed soul.

Speaking on the occasion, director of the school, Sambhawana Public School, Dr. Kumar Dwijendra called Pawan Srivastava a national poet and said that he had given name of the school ‘Sambhawana.’ The school family suffered an irreparable loss due to the demise of the poet and the school has lost its guardian and guide. A prayer meeting was organized in all the branches of the school to observe the sudden demise of poet and writer Pawan Srivastava. A two minute silence was also observed.

Dr. Archana Singh, Principal of the school, said that the poet Pawan Srivastava had named the school ‘Sambhavana’. He remained associated with the school since its inception and continued guiding everyone with his valuable thoughts. His sudden demise has caused an irreparable loss to the school family which cannot be compensated in the near future.

Dr. Kumar Dwijendra, director of the school, said that the school has lost its guardian and guide. Pawan Srivastava was one of the founding members of the school. He was a vigilant soldier of the JP movement. He was an active member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad since his student days. He was a social worker, a skilled speaker and a kind of hearted person. Due to his demise the school family is feeling alone. Due to his demise, not only the school family but also the entire Bhojpur district has suffered an irreparable loss.

Pawan Srivastava breathed his last at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Puni in Maharashtra on February 1, 2025 at the age of 72. He was ailing for the last several days. He was borne in a Kayastha family of Kalyanpur Pakadi village under Bihia police station in Bhojpur district and had three brothers and one sister. He survived by his two sons Anand Deep, an engineer and Akash Deep, NET qualifier and a daughter Aasthadeep, a lawyer in the apex court. His wife had already died. He did his schooling in Mission School and had completed in intermediate studies when the JP movement started and his joined this movement in such a way that he became one of those who played a leading role. He was arrested along with Nitish Kumar in Dubauli village near Kasap in Bhojpur and landed in jail in 1974 under the section of MISA and remained in jail for about one and half a years.

He was also a theatre artist and during 1970-1971, he had staged the play “Nirmala” and had taken keen interest in dramas. He did many plays with theatre artist and director Jitendra Suman and played a role in the play Mahabhoj in 1987. He remained associated with ‘Bhumika’ drama institute.

He got the RSS second year training and stayed connected with Swadeshi Jagran Manch. He was a member of the National Committee of Vidyarthi Parishad and was appointed the President of Bhojpur Student Union in the first elections in 1998.  But his personality was such that no idea ever came in his way. People of ideology, left or right, used to meet him affectionately. He played a role in the Dusadhi Badhar drama written on Babu Kuer Singh at Jagdishpur on his 160^th birth anniversary.

After the turmoil of the political era, he went to the ashram of the famous Acharya Mahesh Yogi and remained one of his close disciples. In those dasys Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was his junior. He almost gave up his home but after the death of his father, when Guru Acharya Mahesh Yogi sent him to open a yoga centre in Bhojpur, he returned in 1983-1984 and joined the job clerk.

In 1992-1993, he was the head of cultural charge of Bhor. He used to tour the Bhojpur district, ignite the spirit of education and create an environment for it. After retirement, he was the national coordinator of the National Self-Respect Movement. He did research from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar in which Govindacharya and many colleagues were involved. After his research the book was also published.

Political and administrative people who were very close to him were Shivanand Tiwari, Ashvini Choubey, Saraju Rai, Amrendra Pratap Singh, Sushil Modi, Vijay Prakash, Manoj Srivastava, Aamir Subhani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitely and others.

Not only the entire Bhojpur district but also Shahabad is saddened by the news of his demise. Artists from many theatre institutions of Ara like Abhivan and Act, Kamayani, Bhumika, Bhaskar Dance Academy, Dance is Life, AMBA, Art in Motion have expressed their condolences.