A child nurtured in poems, celebrated in life’s songs

Chandrakant Naidu in Bhopal

For nearly half a century now, the popular slogan Hum do hamare do is spreading the message of population control. For those who care, the creator’s name was Balkavi Bairagi, who passed away last week. And, to those keen to know how many children Bairagi has, the answer is two sons.

Nandramdas Bairagi was born at Manasa, a small town in the Holkar state of Indore, in a family whose traditional avocation was to sing bhajans for a living. Poverty often prompted his mother to send Nandram to borrow food from neighbours for sustenance. The struggle lent a touch of humility to his persona and kept him tied to the moorings. He remained rooted to Manasa till end but, was never short on confidence. He named his biographical account “Mangta se minister” to boldly announce his childhood date with a begging bowl.

Nandram discovered his poetic talent at the age of nine when a teacher nominated him to represent his class (fourth standard) in a debate competition. The subject was Vyayam (exercise). Nandram rhymed vyayam with his own name and created a few couplets to earn the teacher’s praise. His recital won him a loud applause, but he and his class lost the contest that was meant for prose and not poetry. His teacher created a scene forcing the authorities to give him a consolation prize. Nandramdas had arrived.

Later he rendered poems at a programme in front of the then Union home minister, Kailashnath Katju to earn the title of Balkavi.

Balkavi Bairagi, retained child-like simplicity of thought. This drove him to write plentifully for children: Vishwas, Chand mein dhabba, Akaash, Khud sagar ban jaao and Chai banao are some popular verses he wrote for children. Bijooka Babu was another anthology with rich content. He was known for engaging recitation at Hindi poetry gatherings with his dramatic style. Jhar gaye paat, bisar gayi tehni (the leaves have fallen, the branch has forgotten) was another acclaimed poem.

He also wrote regular columns in newspapers on parliament proceedings. He was fiercely candid. His writings had a bearing on the conduct of fellow members of the parliament. 

His versatility as lyricist was displayed in more than 25 songs for movies. Amol Palekar’s Ankahee and Sunil Dutt’s Reshma aur Shera which had Lata Mangeshkar’s romantic track, Tu chanda main Chandni immortalised by Jaidev’s composition. He remained sensitive to regional concerns and authored flowing prose both in Hindi and Malvi dialect. 

Such body of work could make anyone proud. But, Balkavi Bairagi’s strength and stature should be measured not by the height he scaled, but by the firmness with which he kept his feet planted on earth. He also chaired sessions at five World Hindi Conventions.

He joined politics in 1945 through Praja Mandal and remained a steadfast member of Congress for rest of his life. Against his economic background the grit to complete a master’s degree in Hindi in 1964 was another achievement. He taught literature for some time. 

Bairagi was perhaps the closest approximation of people’s politician who drew full acceptance across the political spectrum without having to compromise on values. The immense respect he commanded would cast a spell among young and old alike. His wit remained intact through the last speech he made at Manasa. “Except me everyone here seems to be a prospective candidate for elections,” he said causing chuckles. Just a few hours later he departed in sleep — as gracefully as he lived his life.