Harivansh Rai Bachchan, 1907-2003

January 18, 2006 The funeral procession in Bombay was attended by thousands of people, among which many Bollywood stars, top industrialists and politicians, the BBC reports. The last rites were performed by his eldest son, the film star Amitabh Bachchan.

Harivansh Rai Bachchan was born in 1907 in Allahabad, where he also went to school. He was strongly influenced by Gandhi’s Congress movement, which had its unofficial headquarters in Allahabad. Social unity against the British Raj would become the major theme of his greatest poetry collection, Madhushala, published in 1935. It is considered one of the most enduring works of Hindi literature, and was translated into English and many regional Indian languages.

Bachchan taught English at Allahabad University from 1941 to 1952, then moved to Cambridge where he was the first Indian to become a doctor of philosophy in English. He also translated Shakespeare into Hindi. Returning from Cambridge, Bachchan became involved in Indian politics. He became close friends with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In the 1970s, he published a four volume autobiography, In the Afternoon of Time.

The poet is survived by his wife Teji Bachchan and sons Amitabh and Ajitabh.