Nazrul's indomitable spirit
Nazrul's incomparable writings, in a very short spell, established him as a genius in the arena of Bengali literature.
The 109th birth anniversary of our National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam was celebrated in the capital and elsewhere in the country.
Nazrul ran off from home at a young age but trouble never ceased to follow him. He worked for a while at a bakery in Asansol, where his literary talent first came to light. At the age of 18, whilst still a secondary school student at Raniganj (in West Bengal), Nazrul thought of joining the World War I. He joined the Bengal Regiment as a habildar (corporal) and was posted in Karachi. Although the regiment was never in the thick of battle and was disbanded in 1920, the lilt of the soldier's parades and marches permeated much of his writing.
Nazrul emerged at a time when the presence of Tagore loomed large on the Bengali literary scene. He was a great admirer of the latter. Tagore reciprocated by admiring the young talent.
In addition to his poetic corpus, Nazrul, who was a gifted musician, composed over 3,000 songs, which constitute a complete genre in Bengali music today, under the name of Nazrul Sangeet, and remains immensely popular, with a large number of artistes and an active recording industry, both in West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Nazrul lived in conflict-ridden times. Communalism was on the rise, possibly fuelled by elements in the British administration. Muslims felt disenfranchised and alienated. There were a number of Hindu-Muslim riots, culminating in a reckless carnage when the British India was divided into two parts on religious lines. Through all this, Nazrul remained secular. He married Pramila Devi, and chose Sanskrit names for his sons. In later years, his liberal views on religion came under attack from the Muslim Right.
Nazrul was a true patriot, humanist and rebel. It is worth mentioning that Nazrul was a fearless voice for the oppressed. It was he who bravely rendered the songs of freedom. He heroically rebelled against the colonial exploitation by the British Raj. People under the grip of colonial rule were deeply stirred by the poet's inspiring works, igniting flames of rebellion.
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