For the first time, I'm deviating from my usual method of reviewing. First of all, I believe poetry is not something which can be reviewed. Secondly, when it is an epic work like this, one can only express their views.
Views:
I had the pleasure of reading this book recently; written in 1933-34, sometime around when my grandparents were born. It makes me wonder; books, literature, written material is so wonderful. To have survived through generations.
In In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, he states that "imitations or parodies of Madhushala had begun to appear immediately after its first public reading: the day after my recitation at Benares Hindu University in December 1933, Professor Manoranjan Prasad dashed off imitations of several verses and recited them during the course of my own readings the day following". In this book, from the fifteenth edition, the same professor has shared his experiences of the seminar along with a few quatrains of the parody he had created based on Bachchan's poem. Prof. Prasad writes that, and I translate, "My Madhushala concerns the materialistic, unlike Bachchan's mystic Madhushala".
Hindi is not my first language, and hence I had difficulty in understanding many of the verses. I had to consult a dictionary most of the times but, as they say, a literal translation is never impressive as far as poetry is concerned. I have also come across some translations by fellow readers/bloggers but, there also, the essence of the poem gets lost in translation. Now, the perfect and most poetic translation of this piece in English is the one done by Marjorie Boulton & Ram Swaroop Vyas, first published by Fortune Press in 1950, and the revised edition published by Penguin Books in 1989. In 2009, in India, from what I gathered from press reports; Madhushala – The House of Wine was reproduced again, this time with illustrations, and launched with much fanfare with the entire Bachchan clan in attendance. It's been nine years since, but I just could not find a single edition of that book anywhere. Why is it so? I couldn't find it in any of the publisher's websites either. And the few sites, including Amazon, where it is available, it costs a bomb! I would have loved to read it, in its entirety. It would have given me a better understanding of the text. As of now, only Columbia University's website has a PDF version of the book but, only the first twenty-five of the one-hundred-and-thirty-five quatrains are available in scanned format; while select American Universities have an edition of the same book in their library. I have added the link below to the same.
I don’t know why, studying both English and Hindi from the first standard itself, I haven’t been able to embrace the latter as well as I have done the former. Maybe, that is the reason that it took me from August to October to finish a book of 77 pages!
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Top reviews from India
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Reviewed in India on 12 August 2019
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Must read
By Sameer Singh Chauhan on 12 August 2019
What a wonderful words writing by Bachchan Sahab. What we can say about him, just superb.
By Sameer Singh Chauhan on 12 August 2019
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Reviewed in India on 25 November 2019
खींच कल्पना की हाला
कवि साकी बनकर आया है
भरकर कविता का प्याला;
कभी न कण भर खाली होगा,
लाख पिऍं, दो लाख पिऍं!
पाठक गण हैं पीनेवाले,
पुस्तक मेरी मधुशाला!
.
If you haven't read Madhushala yet and this lines doesn't inspire you to do so, then neither my reverence is going to do!!
.
Get your copy and dwell into this magical place. Each stanza of this poem beholds something rare, inspiring and beautiful. It's a Profound and true to life treasure that you can always keep close to your heart, in a good time and in a bad time!
.
Genre - Poetry
Pages - 77
No ratings needed for this book!!! Thousands of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ from me!!
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One of the best book in Hindi literature and poetry
By Komal_reads on 25 November 2019
भावुकता अंगूर लता सेBy Komal_reads on 25 November 2019
खींच कल्पना की हाला
कवि साकी बनकर आया है
भरकर कविता का प्याला;
कभी न कण भर खाली होगा,
लाख पिऍं, दो लाख पिऍं!
पाठक गण हैं पीनेवाले,
पुस्तक मेरी मधुशाला!
.
If you haven't read Madhushala yet and this lines doesn't inspire you to do so, then neither my reverence is going to do!!
.
Get your copy and dwell into this magical place. Each stanza of this poem beholds something rare, inspiring and beautiful. It's a Profound and true to life treasure that you can always keep close to your heart, in a good time and in a bad time!
.
Genre - Poetry
Pages - 77
No ratings needed for this book!!! Thousands of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ from me!!
Images in this review
Reviewed in India on 28 September 2014
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Reviewed in India on 30 December 2019
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Reviewed in India on 3 November 2016
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Top reviews from other countries
NC
Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 June 2017Verified Purchase
Rani
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 December 2014Verified Purchase
Prashant
Nice read but needs some understanding
Reviewed in the United States on 4 December 2019Verified Purchase
Shailendra S.
Masterpiece by Bachhan
Reviewed in the United States on 7 September 2019Verified Purchase
Dee
This is only the Hindi Edition, there is no ...
Reviewed in the United States on 26 October 2015Verified Purchase