Mahadevi Varma was a famous Hindi poet, freedom fighter, educationist and known as “Meera” of the modern era.
She was born on 26 March 1907 in Farrukhabad Uttar Pradesh, India.
Do you know that she was one of the four founders of Chhayavad with Jaishankar Prasad, Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' and Sumitranandan Pant.
That is why, in Hindi literature, she is considered as one of the foundational poets of the Chhayavad and a prominent poet in Hindi Kavi Sammelans.
Chhayavad is a literary movement of romanticism in modern Hindi poetry from 1914-1938.
10 Amazing facts about Mahadevi Varma
1. The education of Mahadevi Varma was started from the Mission School in Indore and she had completed the education of Sanskrit, English, Music and Painting at her house only. Strange that she was married in somewhat 1919 at the age of 9, took admission in Crosthwaite College, Allahabad and started living in the college hostel but his husband stayed in Lucknow.
2. She was very fond of studies and got first rank in Eight Class in the whole Province. At the age of 7 only she started writing poems and secretly her roommate outed her poems. In 1925, she passed the matriculation and also become famous as a very successful poet.
3. In her childhood she had written “Mere Bachpan Ke Din” Biography in which she writes when daughters were considered as burden, she had a good fortune that she was born in a different thinking family. Her grandfather wanted to make her savvy. Her mother was a religious person but had a deep knowledge of Sanskrit and Hindi. Mahadevi mother only encouraged her to write poems and to take interest in literature.
4. Mahadevi Varma completed an M.A in Sanskrit from Prayag University in 1932 and by then her two poems namely Neehar and Rashmi had been published. In 1933 she was appointed as first headmistress of the Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth and also served as the chancellor of the institute.
5. After marriage also she stayed in the Crosthwaite College, Allahabad. Her life was the life of a Sanyasini. She wore white clothes throughout her life, slept on the wooden bed and never saw a mirror. Strange isn’t it?
7 Interesting facts about Ustad Bismillah Khan
6. Mahadevi Varma writings and essays mark the beginning of "feminist" writing in Hindi but she was not 'antagonistically feminist. ‘Srinkhalaa kee kadiyaan’ is considered her one of the best collection in which she pointed the condition of Indian women, the cause of their pathetic condition and solution to this problem. She also lived her life that exemplified that solution. Do you know that she renounced her child marriage which is still difficult nowadays for women to do? Even she refuses the proposals to remarry.
7. Do you know that her story Neelkanth in which she shared her experience with a peacock was a chapter of Class 7 CBSE textbook? In a Class 9 textbook her work Gillu is described. Even in Class 10 CBSE course her poem Madhur Madhur Mere Deepak Jal is there.
8. She was the first woman to be made a Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi. She also laid the foundation of women's poet conferences in India and on 15th April,1933, the first All India Poetry Conference was concluded at Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth under the chairmanship of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan.
9. Mahadevi Varma was greatly influenced by Buddhism and she was deeply aesthetic. Her poetry is marked by a constant pain, the pain of separation from her beloved. With the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, she also participated in Indian freedom struggle.
10. On April 27, 1982, her collection of poetry "Yama", received Jnanpith, one of the highest literary awards of India, she was the first woman to be made a Fellow of Sahitya Akademi in 1979, she was honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 1988 and Padma Bhushan in 1956.
Mahadevi Varma was a social reformer. She strongly advocated the cause of women in India. She also built her own Bungalow in Umagarh village, 25 kilometres far from Ramgarh which is now known as the Mahadevi Sahitya Museum. She died on 11 September,1987 in Allahabad.
Mahadevi Varma famous Poetry
- Neehar (1930)
- Rashmi (1932)
- Neerajaa (1934)
- Deepshikha (1942)
- Saptaparna (1960)
- Agnirekha (1990) published after her death.
Mahadevi Varma famous Prose
- Shrinkhla ki kariyan (1942)
- Smriti Ki Rekhayen (1943)
- Path ke Saathi (1956)
- Sahityakaar ki Asatha (1960)
- Sankalpita (1969)
- Mera Parivaar (1971)
- Sansmaran (1983) etc.
Mahadevi Varma famous collections
- Yama (1936)
- Sandhini (1964)
- Geetparva (1970)
- Parikrama (1974)
- Mahadevi sahitya
- Meri Priya Kavitaayen
- Deepgeet
- Himalaya etc.