किसान-कवि, लेखक और निर्भीक पत्रकार पंडित माखनलाल चतुर्वेदी राजद्रोह में जेल गए, CM पद ठुकराया और सम्मान लौटाया शायद ही कोई ऐसा व्यक्ति हो, जिसने स्कूली शिक्षा के दौरान या फिर साहित्य-अध्ययन के दौरान ‘पुष्प की अभिलाषा’ कविता न पढ़ी हो. चाह नहीं मैं सुरबाला के, गहनों में गूंथा जाऊं, चाह नहीं प्रेमी-माला में बिंध, प्यारी को ललचाऊं चाह नहीं सम्राटों के शव पर, हे हरि डाला जाऊं चाह नहीं देवों के सिर पर, चढूं भाग्य पर इठलाऊं मुझे तोड़…
Raghupati Sahay – better known under his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri – was born on 28 August 1896 and he died on 3 March 1982. He is known to have fought to save the idea of secular India, most of his life. He is counted amongst the most influential poets who laid the foundation for the modern Urdu ghazal. He established himself among peers including famous Urdu poets like Allama Iqbal, Yagana Changezi, Jigar Moradabadi, Josh Malihabadi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz,…
Amrita Pritam is one of the best known Punjabi authors and poets was a writer, a mystic, a poet, a rebel and a human being par excellence. She wrote about love, hope, separation, feminism, partition and struggles of women . She could be a synonym for ‘Freedom’. She lived life on her own terms but without being a confrontationist. She was honoured with some of the highest awards in the country including the Sahitya Akademi, Bharatiya Jnanpith, and Padma Vibhushan.…
Army Day, in India, is celebrated on 15 January every year, in recognition of Field Marshal Kodandera M. Cariappa’s (then a Lieutenant General) taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India, on 15 January 1949. Celebrations are in the form of parades and other military shows in the national capital New Delhi as well as in all headquarters On 16 January 2021, India celebrated its 73rd Indian…
Colonel Narendra Kumar, PVSM, KC, AVSM, FRGS (8 December 1933 – 31 December 2020) Indian soldier & mountaineer. Ace mountaineer Colonel (Rt.) Narendra ‘Bull’ Kumar led the first Indian team to climb Nanda Devi and helped India secure the Siachen Glacier. This was one among the many exploits in an illustrious and impactful career in adventure spanning more than six decades. Lt. Col Narendra Kumar was the fourth principal of the prestigious Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) in Darjeeling, later Principal of the…
Bharatendu Harishchandra (9 September 1850 – 6 January 1885) Regarded as the father of Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre. He is considered as one of the greatest Hindi writers of modern India. . He authored several dramas, life sketches and travel accounts; a recognized poet, he was a trendsetter in Hindi prose-writing using new media like reports, publications, letters to the editor, translations and literary works to shape public opinion. Writing under the pen name “Rasa”, Harishchandra represented…
Mirza Asadullah Khan better known as Mirza Ghalib Ghalib (Urdu: غاؔلِب, Hindi: ग़ालिब), born Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan (Urdu: مِرزااسَدُاللہ بیگ خان, Hindi: मिर्ज़ा असदुल्लाह् बेग ख़ान), 27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869), was a prominent Urdu and Persian-language poet during the last years of the Mughal Empire. He used his pen-names of Ghalib (Urdu: غالِب, ġhālib means “dominant”) and Asad (Urdu: اسَد, Asad means “lion”). His honorific was Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula. He witnessed the Mughal empires were eclipse, displacement and finally…
Munshi Nawal Kishore (3 January 1836 – 19 February 1895) book publisher. On 23 November 1858, at the age of 22, he founded the Nawal Kishore Press at Lucknow. This institution today is the oldest printing and publishing concern in Asia. Mirza Ghalib was one of his admirers. Munshi Nawal Kishore published more than 5000 books in Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, English, Marathi, Punjabi, Pashto, Persian, Sanskrit and Urdu during 1858–1885. He was a member of the Indian National Congress. The Government of…
A scholar’s Article “Dar-e-Hussain pe milte hain har khayaal ke log” – authored by Farhat Rizvi Muharram is a month of remembrance that is often considered synonymous with Ashura. Ashura, which literally means the “Tenth” in Arabic, refers to the tenth day of Muharram. It is well-known because of historical significance and mourning for the murder of Ḥusayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad. Mourning begins from the first night of Muharram and continue for ten nights, climaxing on the…
A celebratory tribute to Hazrat Amir Khusrow RANG-E-KHUSROW 22nd December, 2017, At 7pm , at Amaltas Hall, India Habitat Centre Poetic reflections – Laxmi Shankar Bajpai, Sitar- Maestro Dr Sudeep Rai Kalaam-e-Khusrow – – Shakeel Ahmed Rang-e-Khusrow,- remembering Hazrat Amir Khusro whose tremendous body of work is beyond comparison – he left us a heart warming, soul enriching legacy in many spheres of science, literature and the world of music and dance. Using Persian and Khadi boli within the same…