Harivansh Rai Bachchan

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Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Harivansh Rai Bachchan, born Harivansh Rai Bachchan Shrivastav, was a noted Hindi poet of Chhayavaad literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a famous poet of Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is best known for his early work Madhushala. He is also the father of Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan.

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Personal Life

Born in a Srivastava Kayastha family, in the village of Babupatti (Raniganj) in the district of Pratapgarh, U.P. near Allahabad in the United Provinces (modern Uttar Pradesh) he was the eldest son of Pratap Narayan Shrivastav and Saraswati Devi. He was called bachchan (meaning promise at home. He received his formal schooling in a municipal school and followed the family tradition of attending Kayastha Paathshaalas to learn Urdu as the first step to a career in law. He later studied at the Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University. In this period, he came under the influence of the independence movement, then under the leadership o fMahatma Gandhi.