Kazi Nazrul Islam: Encyclopedia II - Kazi Nazrul Islam - Literary career

Kazi Nazrul Islam - Literary career

Nazrul returned to Kolkata in the 1920s. He made a phenomenal entrance into the Bengali literary scene, standing out for his soldierly attitude and poetry in what was then a more civilian urban crowd, and being set apart by his Muslim background in a then Hindu dominated culture. What was also notable was the speed with which he was able to free himself from the all-encompassing influence of Nobel Laureate and poet Rabindranath Tagore, something which few had been able to do until Nazrul (he was followed shortly by the Kallol group of even younger writers).

Nazrul's place in the Bengali literary canon was secured when he published Vidrohi (Rebel) in 1922. Set in a heroic meter, this long poem invokes images from Hindu, Muslim and Greek mythology. Nazrul's rebel is destructive, unrepentant, hard, but also romantic, soft and gentle ("sleep smothered like the flute of Orpheus"):

I am unstoppable, irresponsible, brutal
I am Nataraja, I destroy the universe
     With my metered dance.
Like a cyclone, I blow fear into the hearts of men
I crush underfoot all rules and traditions
Fully laden boats I sink, a dark menace:
     A torpedo, a floating mine.
My hair dishevelled, I am the untimely storm
Unpredictable. I am the first raindrop
Tenderly I kiss the parched soil.
Rebel Incarnate I have come
     From the womb of Mother Universe.

Vidrohi sent shockwaves across Bengal. It was first published in the magazine Bijli, which sold out completely, forcing publishers to reprint the issue multiple times. Apparently, after writing Vidrohi, Nazrul stormed into the Tagore residence, declaring loudly, "Gurudev, I have come to kill you off" (Gurudev or "Revered Guru", was of course Rabindranth). This poem was followed by other poems in this angry rebellious vein, such as Pralayollas (Destructive Euphoria) and Kamal Pasha, all of which found resonance in a land that was politically ready to erupt against the British rule. His first book, the hugely popular Agniveena (Fiery lyre, 1922), led to the popular moniker "rebel poet" (Vidrohi Kabi). By the end of the year, however, Nazrul was arrested for writing a thinly veiled political allegory, and was imprisoned for a year.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Literary career", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki