Sumitranandan Pant’s poem and the colors of the rainbow

Mrityunjay Dixit

Sumitranandan Pant, a nature lover poet of Hindi literature, was born on 20 May 1900 in Kausani village of Bageshwar, situated in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand. His father’s name was Pandit Gangadat and mother’s name was Saraswati Devi. His mother passed away within a few hours of his birth. He was brought up by his grandmother. Pant was the youngest of his siblings and was named Gosai Dutt as a child.

Education: Pant’s early education took place in Almora district. Passed the high school examination at the age of 18 with the name Gosaidutt. He didn’t like his name. So he changed his name to Sumitranandan Pant. After high school, he reached Allahabad University for graduation. Leaving his graduation in the middle, he jumped into the Satyagraha movement of Mahatma Gandhi. He could not graduate but kept studying Hindi, English, Sanskrit and Bengali literature. Interest in poetry developed by reading newspapers like Almora Akhbar, Saraswati, Venkatesh Samachar.

Creative Life: Pant ji started writing from class four. His literary journey started with short poems. In the year 1922, the first book was published under the name ‘Uchchav’ and the second ‘Pallav’. Then ‘Jyotsna’ and ‘Gunjan’ were published. The first compilation of his compositions was published in 1927 under the name ‘Veena’. These creations are considered to be masterpieces of art and beauty. In Hindi literature, it is also called the golden age of Pant. In the year 1930, he joined Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt Movement and became serious about the country. He also lived in Kalakankar for some time. Here he was introduced to rural life. Here he wrote poems on the miseries of village life. Pant ji not only gave place to the beauty of nature in his poems but also wished for a better future of human life through nature. Three phases of his literary journey have been considered. The first is shadowist, the second is progressive and the third is spiritualist. The three phases are also symbolic of the changes to come in their lives. Pant ji went to Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. It is considered the departure point of his spiritual journey.

In 1938, Pant ji started a progressive magazine named ‘Rupabh’ to give a comprehensive form to Hindi literature. Also worked in All India Radio from 1955 to 1962. His major and popular poetry collections are Veena, Gandhi, Pallava, Gunjan, Yungal, Yugvani, Gramya, Swarna Kiran, Swarnadhuli, Yugantar, Uttara, Yugpath, Chidambara, Kaal, Buddhadev and Lokayatan. His one story collection is ‘Paanch Kahaniyan’. Also worth mentioning is the stand-alone novel ‘Har Or’ in 1960 and an autobiographical memoir ‘Sixty Years – Ek Rekha’ in 1963. This novel gives information about his ideology and public life. Pant is a nature lover poet. In sixth grade, he wrote his first poem after seeing the rain. Pant ji has written poetry on the beauty of village girl from ant.

In the creation world of Sumitranandan Pant, there is a sense of nature, support, inspiration, sensitivity, mystery, humanity. He also calls for rain from the clouds in his poems. Spring, rain, autumn are all seasons in his poetry. Pant ji’s language style is very simple and sweet.

Honors: In the year 1960, Pant was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his poetry collection ‘Kala and Buddha Chand’. Received Padma Bhushan in the year 1961 and Jnanpith Award in 1968. Awarded the Soviet Land Nehru Award for poetry collections, ‘Chidambara’ and ‘Lokayatan’. His entire literature is influenced by the ideal of ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’.

Death: The physical end of this important pillar of Chhayavadi era, who remained celibate for life, came to an end on December 28, 1977 due to a fatal heart attack. Then all the big English-Hindi newspapers wrote editorials on his death. Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan had said – An era of shadowism came to an end with the death of Sumitranandan Pant.

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