Poetry
Fiery Path
Fiery-path! Fiery-path! Fiery-path!
The tree may be fine or erect,
It may be dense or big,
But not even the shade of a leaf
Don't seek! Don't seek! Don't seek!
Fiery-path! Fiery-path! Fiery-path! You shall never tire!
You shall never halt!
You shall never stray!
Take oath! Take oath! Take oath!
Fiery-path! Fiery-path! Fiery-path! This sight is really great,
The people always trek,
Tears get mixed with blood
And flow along, flow along, flow along!
Fiery-path! Fiery-path! Fiery-path! Translation: Helal Uddin Ahmed [Harivansh Rai Bachchan (1907 - 2003) was a distinguished Hindi poet of the twentieth century. He earned prominence during the 'Chhayavaad' (romantic upsurge) literary movement of Hindi literature and was a famous exponent of Hindi 'Kavi Sammelan'. The second Indian to obtain a PhD degree in English Literature from Cambridge University, he is best known for his early work of poetry 'Madhushala' (1935), which depicts a bar selling alcoholic drinks. Apart from Omar Khayyam's Rubayat, he is also remembered for his Hindi translations of Shakespeare's Macbeth and Othello, as well as the Bhagvad Gita. His career spanned teaching jobs in universities, a producer of All India Radio as well as a stint with the Ministry of External Affairs. It was during his days at Cambridge in the 1950s that he replaced his family name 'Srivastava' with 'Bachchan' as a protest against caste-based Hinduism. He was nominated a member of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Indian Parliament) in 1966, received the 'Sahitya Academy Award' in 1969 and was honoured with the title 'Padma Bhushan' in 1976 for his contributions to Hindi literature. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan is the older among his two sons. 'Agneepath' was one of his inspirational poems, which was used as the theme and title of a 1991 blockbuster movie in Mumbai, featuring Amitabh Bachchan as a ruthless mafia don. The movie was a huge success and brought Amitabh a national award for outstanding performance.]
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