Mahendra Bhatnagar

Early life and education

Mahendra Bhatnagar was born in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh at his maternal grandfather's residence on 26 June 1926.

He received primary education in Jhansi, Morar, Gwalior, and Sabalgarh, Morena. He then graduated high school in Gwalior and intermediate at Madhav College in 1941 and 1943 respectively. He finally received his Bachelor of Arts degree at the Victoria College in 1945. After graduating, he pursued his Master's Degree and Doctorate at the Nagpur University in 1948 and 1957 respectively. He also received his teacher's license (L.T.1950) from the Madhya Bharat government.

Career

Bhatnagar began teaching high school in July 1945 under the Madhya Pradesh Government Educational Service, and retired as a professor on 1 July 1984.

He was once selected to become a professor of Hindi Language & Literature at the Tashkent University in 1978 by the University Grants Commission and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. He was also the principal investigator of the University Grants Commission at the Jiwaji University from 1984 to 1987. In 1992, he taught at the Indira Gandhi National Open University Teaching Centre. From time to time, some of his poems were included in various textbooks of the curricula of the Educational Boards & Universities of India. Afterwards, he worked as a chairman and a member of various committees in Indore University, Vikram University, and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University among other institutions.

He also worked in the Light Music of All India Radio as one of the members in the Audition Committees of Drama, and was contracted as a songwriter. During his talks in the programs, many of his poems were broadcast as well. He also conducted and directed many literary societies.

Furthermore, he became one of the award-judges at the following places: Bihar Rashtra-Bhasha Parishad, (1981 & 1983), Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan (1983), Rajasthan Sahitya Akademi (1991,1993,1994), and Hindi Sahitya Parishad (2001).

Literary

Mahendra Bhatnagar is one of the many Indian poets whose literary careers were shaped by poetry in the post-independence of India in the 20th century. His poetic career over the years demonstrates his humanistic vision from beginning to end. Rooted deep into the Indian soil, his poems reflect not only the moods of a poet but of a complex age. In his works, the thread of his humanistic vision can be seen vividly and he wrote poems to bring about a change in the world. He analyses, interprets, evaluates and describes his emotions in the light of his humanistic vision. For example, his poem "Helplessness" reveals not only his own helplessness, but also of the common people of India:

"Thrust upon, undesired life, I lived.
Every instant, every step, shame I lived
History, now you ask me what
Folly and dirtiness of the world, I lived."

He also uses irony to expose the fraud of exploiters, particularly exposing the enemies of the labourers and the peasants of India. With his humanistic vision, he constantly compels the readers to distinguish between power and propriety.

His poems were translated, published and broadcast in many foreign and Indian languages. However, he also edited Hindi literary magazines such as Sandhya and Pratikalpa magazines. He is also the adviser of Poetcrit magazine, and a member of the Advisory Board of Indian Journal of Postcolonial Literature magazine.

Awards