Watch: Here’s what prompted an Australia-based Hindi professor to recite Dhoomil’s poetry

Name: Watch: Here’s what prompted an Australia-based Hindi professor to recite Dhoomil’s poetry
Uploaded: 2019-10-16T11:39:38.072755+05:30
Channel: Scroll Staff
Description: Dhoomil was often called the ‘angry young man’ of Hindi poetry.

Dhoomil was often called the ‘angry young man’ of Hindi poetry.

Scroll Staff

Oct 16, 2019 · 11:39 am

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कल, @AisiTaisiDemo का प्रोग्राम (आज़ादी टूर) देखते हुए, मुझे धूमिल जी की कछ पंक्तियों की याद आई -

क्या आज़ादी सिर्फ़ तीन थके हुए रंगों का नाम है
जिन्हें एक पहिया ढोता है
या इसका कोई खास मतलब होता है?

और बिना किसी उत्तर के आगे बढ़ जाता हूँ
चुपचाप।pic.twitter.com/frd8qf3CwU
— Ian Woolford (@iawoolford) October 14, 2019

Ian Woolford, a UK-born American citizen who lives in Australia, and is a professor of Hindi at La Trobe University in Melbourne, recently went for a show of the Indian satire collective Aisi Taisi Democracy. The trio, comprising lyricist and writer Varun Grover, singer Rahul Ram, and stand-up artist Sanjay Rajoura, is currently on a tour of Australia with their Aazadi tour.

In a video posted on Twitter, Woolford said that the show reminded him of a couplet of the great Hindi poet Sudama Pandey “Dhoomil”. Dhoomil was well-known for the revolutionary streak in his works, and was often called the “angry young man” of Hindi poetry.

Inspired by the poet, Woolford recited couplets from two of his poems – “Bees Saal Baad” (Twenty Years Later) and “Roti Aur Sansad” (Bread and Parliament).

Here is the translation of one of Dhoomil’s poems that Woolford recited: