Mahadevi

I realized that I haven't posted anything about Mahadevi Varma on this blog so far. This seems like a good time to rectify this. Mahadevi was a great poetess...one of the four so-called pillars of chhayavaad. She is also often referred to as the modern Meerabai since much of her poetry addresses the soul's search for communion with the almighty. Apart from poetry she also wrote prose. I really enjoyed reading the various anthologies of vignettes regarding people she had encountered at various stages of life (Ateet ke Chalchitra, Smriti ki Rekhaen) as well as those describing her various pets (Mera Parivaar). Amongst those that stand out in my mind are the touching story of the little girl Binda, and the tale of Gillu the squirrel.

Mahadevi's use of language has a great lyrical quality, and is also able to convey great depth of emotion. Here I quote a few lines from one of her poems which illustrates why she was the आधुनिक मीराबाई:

तुम दुःख बन इस पथ से आना
शूलों में नित् मृदु पाटल सा
खिलने देना मेरा जीवन
वह हार बनेगा क्या जिसने सीखा न हृदय को बिधवाना
नित् जलता रहने दो तिल-तिल
अपनी ज्वाला में उर मेरा
उसकी विभूति में फिर आकर
अपने पद-चिह्न बना जाना।

वर देते हो तो कर दो ना
चिर आँख-मिचौनी यह अपनी
जीवन में खोज तुम्हारी है
मिटना ही तुम को छू पाना।