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Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' (1896-October 15, 1961) was one of the most famous figures of the modern Hindi literature. He was a poet, novelist, essayist and story-writer. He also drew many sketches. Nirala's Parimal and Anaamika are considered as the original Chhayavaadi Hindi literature. He was unrecognized during his life. His style of poetry, revolutionary for his time, often was unpublished due to its unconventional nature.
Nirala's life, barring short periods, was one long sequence of misfortunes and tragedies. He was born at Mahishadal, Midnapore in the undivided Bengal. His father, Pandit Ramsahaya Tripathi was a government servant, who was a tyrannical person. His mother died when he was very young. Nirala was educated in the Bengali medium. However, after passing matriculation exam, he continued his education at home by reading Sanskrit and English literature. After his marriage at a young age, Nirala learnt Hindi at the insistence of his wife, anohar Devi. Soon, he started writing poems in Hindi, instead of Bengali. After a bad childhood, Nirala had few good years with his wife. But this phase was short-lived as his wife died when he was 20, and later his daughter (who was a widow) also expired. He also went through a financial crunch. During this phase, he worked for many publishers, worked as proof-reader and also edited Samanvaya. Most of his life was somewhat in the Bohemian tradition. Since he was more or less a rebel, both in form and content, acceptance didn't come easily. What he got in plenty was ridicule and derision. All this must have played a role in making him a victim of Schizophrenia in his later life.
Nirala died in Allahabad on 15 October 1961. The world of Hindi literature is remarkable for ideological and aesthetic divisions. But today, the same reviled Nirala is one of the very few people in Hindi literature who are admired and respected by almost all, across all divisions.
Major works
- Poetry: Parimal, Anaamika, Geetika, Kukurmutta Anima, Bela, Naye Patte, Archana, Aradhana, Tulsidas.
- Novels: Apsara, Alka, Prabhavati, Nirupama, Chameli, Uchchhrankhalta, Kale Karname
- Story-collections: Chhaturi Chamar, Sukul ki Biwi, Sakhi, Lily
- Essay-collections: Prabandha Padam, Prabandha-Parichaya, Prabandha-Pratibha
- Criticism: Ravindra Kavita-Kaanan
- Prose: Kullibhat, Billesur Bakriha.
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