'The whole world is but one family' - Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia

of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth,
started to impart education to
girls through Hindi medium. Later
she became the Chancellor of the
institute. She believed that, only by
educating women, society becomes
enlightened. She wanted women to
be empowered and become selfdependent.
The Literary Figure
Mahadevi Verma was one of the
top ranking figures in the world of
Hindi literature. She was always
remembered with reverence
along with the pioneers of the
“Chhayavad” movement, such as Jai
Shankar Prasad, Surya Kant Tripathi
‘Nirala’ and Sumitra Nandan Pant.
Her style was such that she could
easily integrate mysticism of nature
with the highest imagination of
a human being where sorrow and happiness are
interwoven. She not only enriched Hindi literature
but also gave it a new direction, directing it towards
newer objectives leading to a more enjoyable and
rejoicing path. Her readers were not only impressed
by her flowery language and beautiful expression
but also in the deep aesthetic stream of philosophical
realization of eternal truth emerging from a sense of
union with the Supreme Reality, which enabled her
readers to have a taste of eternal happiness or bliss.
In most of her works the essence of spirituality can be
seen. She was a lover of nature like Wordsworth. For
her the beauty of nature was not only a thing of joy,
but also an object of worship and adoration. Nature,
for her was an eternal source of inspiration leading
to self-realization. To her, prose was a subject of the
intellect and poetry dealt with emotions. In prose, one
needs subjects to ponder over and discuss, but poetry
flows by itself. It does not need any sort of external
support. She enriched Hindi literature by expressing
herself beautifully both in prose and poetry. She was
also deeply involved in fine arts, culture and selfexpression
through her poems, articles and other
writings.
Disciple of Mahatma Gandhi
She had no interest in politics but she was very
much aware of the contemporary scenario. She was
against the evils existing in the society in the form
of corruption, bribe, treachery, untruth, falsehood and
hypocrisy. She was a profounder of truth and was a
faithful admirer and disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. She
said, “At the time of Mahabharata only one untruth
brought a lot of misfortune for both Pandavas and
Kauravas, but now everyone is taking shelter under
untruth, falsehood and hypocrisy. Hence, we find
everywhere in society deep distress, unhappiness
and misery. Only God knows what will happen to
the country.” In her Presidential Address at Hindi
Sansthan, Lucknow, she expressed her anguish over
the ways the politicians who were selfish and selfcentered.
They always gave importance for their
well-being and ignored the common well-being of
the people. According to her, politicians had become
mere puppets in the hands of the dishonest tyrants and
their only objective was to achieve the highest seat
in the corridors of power. She said, “I can understand
if someone dreams to serve the country and devote
himself for the important task of nation building or
to serve mankind at large, but I cannot understand
how a person can dream to be at the helm of affairs
by snatching the highest chair in the power-achieving
game and still think that he is a great person.”
Mahadevi closely followed Mahatma Gandhi’s
philosophy of life. She worked with towering
personalities like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr
Rajendra Prasad. She realized that truth and happiness
flows naturally from sacrifice, from reunion with the
Supreme Reality. She practiced what she preached in
her life so much so that each and every word in her
poems became more or less a sermon, or a piece of
scripture. This famous personality died on September
11, 1987.
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