कुल्ली भाट

by सूर्यकांत त्रिपाठी 'निराला'

Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', the first modern Hindi poet of India, is all of sixteen and not conversant with the Khari Boli Hindi of the litterateurs yet, when his father gets him married and sends him off to his in-laws' in Dalmau, UP to fetch his bride. There he meets a strange man called Kulli Bhaat who claims descent from a family of bards and, despite his mother-in-laws' reservations about Kulli being not quite straight, Nirala finds himself spending most of his time with Kulli. Then an influenza epidemic breaks out, claiming numerous lives, and Nirala's bereavement leaves him without mooring. Adrift on the boat of time, he seeks employment in various places but finds himself unable to stay away from Dalmau for long. Kulli, in the meanwhile, has taken a Muslim wife and become a champion of the untouchables. Set in pre-Independence India, A Life Misspent is as much the account of an unlikely friendship as it is a coming-of-age story. A memoir on the making of one of the greatest poets of all time.

Genres: Nonfiction, India, Biography, Queer, Biography Memoir, Memoir, Indian Literature

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

निराला का जन्म बंगाल में मेदिनीपुर ज़िले के महिषादल गाँव में हुआ था। उनका पितृग्राम उत्तर प्रदेश का गढ़कोला (उन्नाव) है। उनके बचपन का नाम सूर्य कुमार था। बहुत छोटी आयु में ही उनकी माँ का निधन हो गया। निराला की विधिवत स्कूली शिक्षा नवीं कक्षा तक ही हुई। पत्नी की प्रेरणा से निराला की साहित्य और संगीत में रुचि पैदा हुई। सन्‌ १९१८ में उनकी पत्नी का देहांत हो गया और उसके बाद पिता, चाचा, चचेरे भाई एक-एक कर सब चल बसे। अंत में पुत्री सरोज की मृत्यु ने निराला को भीतर तक झकझोर दिया। अपने जीवन में निराला ने मृत्यु का जैसा साक्षात्कार किया था उसकी अभिव्यक्ति उनकी कई कविताओं में दिखाई देती है।

सन्‌ १९१६ में उन्होंने प्रसिद्ध कविता जूही की कली लिखी जिससे बाद में उनको बहुत प्रसिद्धि मिली और वे मुक्त छंद के प्रवर्तक भी माने गए। निराला सन्‌ १९२२ में रामकृष्ण मिशन द्वारा प्रकाशित पत्रिका समन्वय के संपादन से जुड़े। सन १९२३-२४ में वे मतवाला के संपादक मंडल में शामिल हुए। वे जीवनभर पारिवारिक और आर्थिक कष्टों से जूझते रहे। अपने स्वाभिमानी स्वभाव के कारण निराला कहीं टिककर काम नहीं कर पाए। अंत में इलाहाबाद आकर रहे और वहीँ उनका देहांत हुआ।

छायावाद और हिंदी की स्वच्छंदतावादी कविता के प्रमुख आधार स्तंभ निराला का काव्य-संसार बहुत व्यापक है। उनमें भारतीय इतिहास, दर्शन और परंपरा का व्यापक बोध है और समकालीन जीवन के यथार्थ के विभिन्‍न पक्षों का चित्रण भी ।भावों और विचारों की जैसी विविधता, व्यापकता और गहराई निराला की कविताओं में मिलती है वैसी बहुत कम कवियों में है। उन्होंने भारतीय प्रकृति और संस्कृति के विभिन्‍न रूपों का गंभीर चित्रण अपने काव्य में किया है। भारतीय किसान जीवन से उनका लगाव उनकी अनेक कविताओं में व्यक्त हुआ है।

यद्यपि निराला मुक्त छंद के प्रवर्तक माने जाते हैं तथापि उन्होंने विभिन्‍न छंदों में भी कविताएँ लिखी हैं। उनके काव्य-संसार में काव्य-रूपों की भी विविधता है। एक ओर उन्होंने राम की शक्ति पूजा और तुलसीदास जैसी प्रबंधात्मक कविताएँ लिखीं तो दूसरी ओर प्रगीतों की भी रचना की। उन्होंने हिंदी भाषा में गज़लों की भी रचना की है। उनकी सामाजिक आलोचना व्यंग्य के रूप में उनकी कविताओं में जगह-जगह प्रकट हुई है।

निराला की काव्यभाषा के अनेक रूप और स्तर हैं! राम की शक्ति पूजा और तुलसीदास में तत्समप्रधान पदावली है तो शिक्षुक जैसी कविता में बोलचाल की भाषा का सुजनात्मक प्रयोग। भाषा का कसाव, शब्दों की सितव्ययिता और अर्थ की प्रधानता उनकी काव्य-धाषा की जानी-पहचानी विशेषताएँ हैं।

निराला की प्रमुख काव्य कृतियाँ हैं-परिमल, गीतिका, अनामिका, तुलसीदास, कुकुरमुत्ता, अणिमा, नए पत्ते, बेला, अर्चना, आराधना, गीतगुंज आदि। निराला ने कविता के अतिरिक्त कहानियाँ और उपन्यास भी लिखे। उनके उपन्यासों में बिल्लेसुर बकारिहा विशेष चर्चित हुआ।उनका संपूर्ण साहित्य निराला रचनावली के आठ खंडों में प्रकाशित हो चुका है।

Reviews

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Supporting this book for pointing out Gandhi's hypocrisy, the rest was uninteresting.

[Resh (The Book Satchel) · Rating 3 out of 5]

- short read
- talks about caste based discrimination, sexuality, family, politics etc
- autobiographical but an engaging read.

Disclaimer : Much thanks to Harper Collins for a copy of the novel. All opinions are my own.


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[Khyati Gautam · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my years at school, one thing I've loved the most used to be the classes of Hindi subject. I was always drawn toward Premchand, Mahadevi Verma, Agyeya, Amrita Pritam, Manto, Bhagwaticharan Verma, Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, etc. One of those has been 'Nirala' who is famous for being the modern poet of 20th century India and for being one of the four pillars of the Chhayavaad Movement.

This book, A Life Misspent, set in the 20th century India explores Nirala's life and his struggles as he narrates the life of his friend and confidant, Kulli Bhaat. This man who fought for the acceptance of untouchables, who was afraid of his sexuality, later went on to bring a Muslim woman home. He is courageous, rebellious, and shows a clear discontent with ideas of Gandhi and Nehru. The book also delves into the structure of society, religious polarities, and sexuality. 

Though the narration fell flat on me (reason being the ineffective translation), I liked it for its length and the truths it spoke bravely. A recommended read because we have really forgotten our indigenous classic writers! 

[Smriti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not know what to expect when I started reading this book. What I do know is that back in the 1930s, Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' was WOKE AF.

More coming up soon.

[Chandana Kuruganty · Rating 4 out of 5]

" He ( Kulli Bhat) turned his face to God only because he lacked human help, human support and human encouragement."

This memoir is actually way ahead of its time for writing about sexuality and caste practices of the pre-independence era. Short read, engaging and light hearted even if there is a lot of tragedy written make it a recommendation. However, there was some element missing in the narration- I think it is how loosely each chapter is linked, or it can also be a problem in translation.

This book has got me interested in Hindi Literature and specifically, Hindi Poetry and I will remain thankful to this translated book of Nirala.

[Saurabh Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published on The Chakkar

A Life Misspent: Kulli Bhaat’s Life, as seen through Nirala’s Heteronormative Gaze

In the English-medium school where I studied, both English and Hindi poetry were taught in a straightforward, or matter-of-fact manner. The poise and melancholia in the English verse, I thought, were at odds with the poverty-centric and romantic-and-nation-obsessed poems by the Hindi poets.

However, there was one unifying bond bridging the Hindi-English divide: none of the poetry I was being made to sample broke from the celebration of heterosexual romance. Back then, I didn’t quite realise that I was looking for validation for my romantic feelings in the literature I was being taught. But with the benefit of hindsight and reading texts like Same-Sex Love in India: A Literary History (edited by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai), I saw how conveniently my teachers ignored the rich heritage of same-sex poetry, passing everything as if it were written for a female lover, preyasi, by a vagabond and mad-in-love male lover.

I am not claiming that I felt rage rising within me, learning that I, along with so many young readers in the class, had been wronged; instead, I wonder, whether any of my teachers knew that they were heterosexualising the work of gay poets. Were my teachers learned enough to teach us anything about love—leave alone poetry? Growing up I realised that insensitivity and gaslighting are part of a greater inheritance of an Indian upbringing, and literature has had its fair share of influence. Though reading Vanita and Kidwai consoled me, learning that we had visionary writers earlier, too, was comforting, despite the fact they were hardly taken seriously or read by the general populace.

One among that cadre was the great Hindi poet Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’—who used to edit Matvala, a Hindi weekly that first published what is touted as India’s first major same-sex short story “Chocolate” by Pandey Bechan Sharma (“Ugra”) in 1924. A leading poet from the neo-romanticism movement in Hindi writing, Nirala is often considered among the most progressive writers of his time. He addressed homoeroticism in the stories that he edited, and dealt with its complexities in a text that he wrote himself: Kulli Bhaat (1938), a biography/memoir of his friend, Pandit Patvaridin Bhaat.

Recently, I got my hands on A Life Misspent (2016), the English translation of Nirala’s Kulli Bhaat by Satti Khanna. Signs of queerness were peppered throughout the discovery of this text. Dedicated to no one, the writer had deferred the ‘ceremony of citation’, saying that he “could not find a worthy person among the eminences of Hindi letters to whom this book could be dedicated.” Kulli’s character, he said, paled their eminences to insignificance.

It is interesting how Nirala made up his mind to write about his friend: Unlike many of his contemporaries, who were writing biographies of whom he called the ‘leader of men’, the poet was unable to find a suitable person to write about. It’s when he was searching for a “worthy subject, Kulli Bhaat died.”

Nirala writes,

Kulli Bhaat was not a public figure whose image could be managed. Only one person would have understood Kulli Bhaat’s true significance and that person is no longer alive. I am speaking of Gorky. But Gorky too paid more attention to the figure a person cut than the substance of a person’s life. He was an ideologue, a debater.

If at all one is wondering why would Nirala mention Gorky, then may I first clear that Nirala’s writing was satirical. Second: Gorky had shown immense hostility towards homosexuality. But these two facts don’t sit well together, and it’s controversial to mention a homophobe who would “understand” Bhaat. Nirala had also warned readers criticising this work as he mentions it as a ‘satire’, and said that by doing this, his criticisers will exhibit their naivety. I see the irony here, a literary device too close to the great poet. But for a giant literary figure to appear intolerant was somewhat indigestible.

Nirala was a teenager when he was married to Manohara. Kulli was from his wife’s village. He meets him on his way to his sasural. But he was baffled by his in-laws’ apprehension about being seen with Kulli. He writes: “Who is this Kulli? What is the trap? I tried to solve the mystery while my bride stood before me, smiling at my bafflement.” Ignoring the idiosyncratic behaviour of his in-laws’, Nirala went to meet Kulli the next day, but soon before his departure, his mother-in-law thought it fit to inquire about his motives, clearly thinking the ‘impossible’. To which he counterargues nonchalantly: “If you are so confident of your judgement why didn’t you tell him to stay away?” She explained to her son-in-law that as he was now the guest of this whole village, she didn’t want to be discourteous to prevent anyone from seeing him.

Kulli, Nirala, and his servant thus go on an expedition. Kulli entertains the poet reciting the tale of the strong tradition of poetry in their region: Dalmau, a town situated at the banks of the Ganges, in the district of Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

But the excitement in their relationship was short-lived. Kulli was beating about the bush when he signaled the poet by saying “let’s do it.” It was a clear case of wooing a straight man, every gay man’s desire, and in some cases, a badge of accomplishment. Kulli must have got the ‘hint’ when Nirala responded to Kulli’s objection in the servant being with them. “Accompanying me is part of his job, but I can always send him away on an errand.” Nirala writes. “Kulli understood this in his own way. He imagined that I knew what he desired and would arrange things accordingly. I was the man he took me for.”

The last sentence in this section exposes the labyrinths of Kulli’s desires. In it also lie the contours of our understanding of love and love-making. “I was curious to know what Kulli was after,” Nirala concludes.

Kulli was different, queer, and naturally, an object of inspection for Nirala. That’s what queer desires have been so far, and might I say continue to be: an ‘interesting’ area for a heteronormative interrogation. What’s the difference, in that sense, I wonder, between Nirala and the neighbour’s that Kulli mentions when the former pays a visit where the unpleasant and unfulfilling incident occurred: “‘I live alone in this house,’ Kulli said. ‘I have no wife and no children. I own a little land and two traps. I live to please myself, but this does not please my neighbour’s. If I have a weakness or two what is that to others? It’s my money that I spend.’”

At this juncture, I remember the gay rights activist and documentary filmmaker Nishit Saran, who was lost in a car accident at the age of 26. In 2000, he wrote a column for The Indian Express: “My sexuality is your business” in which addressed the now-scrapped Section 377, which criminalised homosexuality amongst consenting adults. Saran’s principal argument was the fact that if the Indian state had the business to know what he would do in the privacy of his home, then sexuality doesn’t remain a ‘private’ matter.

This fact is also immortalised by Akhil Katyal’s poem, “Girl, when you”:

Blow your boy,

Or boy, when

You go down

On her, or when

Both of you use

A toy, and all the

World’s a blur,

I know it feels

Like heaven, you

Too violate 377

What Kulli desired was a world of his own and his advances towards Nirala were an invitation for the latter to enter his world. Though as a younger person, as Nirala claims, he didn’t understand what Kulli wanted from him, did his understanding remain that of an adolescent even while writing this book?

For example, when recalling their intimate encounter, Nirala writes: “There was a large mirror on the wall hung with small garlands at each corner. He put his arm around my waist, and when we looked in the mirror, we seemed to be garlanded even though we wore no flowers.” He sure is playing with a symbolic marriage between him and the subject, but he writes that he “feared that his illness — for that is what it must be — would bring him harm.”

It’s illness that Kulli Bhaat was reduced to, what he was understood as. No matter how progressive this late 30s text might attempt to be, it turns out to be the opposite.

Though there isn’t much mention of Nirala’s brief marriage in the length in the book (his wife, Manohara, died of contracting plague), Nirala writes how his wife “endured the tumult of her own feelings in silence.” This portrays Nirala as a concerned and ‘feminist’ husband, who understood his partner. She was more than a person with whom he would share the bed at night. Nirala also verbalises his disgust at Indians and their thoughts getting colonised: “Why didn’t these older women adopt Urdu ghazals the way the younger women fresh from college have adopted European ways of courting, of playing the piano and of working for the uplift of ‘backward’ women?” Considering these examples, it’s difficult to gauge whether Nirala was covering up his homophobia—a colonial import that Nirala seemed to have been least aware of—or if he was an outright nincompoop, who tried to cover things up under the garb of satire.

After their meeting at Kulli’s residence, the duo reunited when the plague epidemic was ravaging Uttar Pradesh. Nirala writes: “I travelled to the riverbank in Dalmau and waited. The Ganga was swollen with dead bodies. At my in-laws’ house, I learned that my wife had passed away.” The bodies floating in the Ganges remind us of an eerie resemblance with the contemporary reality owing to the current dispensation’s failure in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Kulli appeared: ‘I am aware that you loved Manohara deeply,’ he said. ‘God brings us to our senses by depriving us of what we desire. You are wiser than me. You know such things already. Enjoyment is fine in itself, but the main thing is to come to a good end,’” Was Kulli making nice? Or was he trying to establish that Nirala could turn up to him in case he was looking for a shoulder to lean on to? Either possibility cold be true—but isn’t it clear who had been the lonely one?

Later, Kulli marries a Muslim woman. The terms of their companionship don’t form the topic of discussion in this book. Nor the reader is informed of what led Kulli to marry her, but given whatever is documented of his wife, it is clear she loved Kulli to no end. As Nirala started achieving fame, and established him far and wide with his newness in prose and poetry, transforming the literary scene of his time, Kulli engaged himself in the reformation on the ground. He worked with untouchables, helped their children gain education, and did all he could do to aid their upliftment. As he was also marginalised and deprived of dignity of life, Kulli thought it fitting to work for others.

It's not Kulli’s wise words, at the time of Manohara’s death, that impressed the narrator. Instead, it was because Kulli was a “true doer, the one lion among jackals. He was not well educated, but he transmitted sincerely everything he knew. The light of his sincerely shone in the faces of his pupils.”

Kulli was pretty clear of his politics and remained unfazed by the popular influence of the Mahatma or Chacha. He continued social work, without being part of an organisation. Organising inevitably leads to corruption because by its nature a handful few exercise their power over many. And in the state of desperation, one heeds to the powerful, often giving them more power by becoming vulnerable themselves. Kulli may have known or experienced this fact, hence, he stayed out of any such structures, but it also meant that he was without support in the event of most need.

At his in-laws’, after Manohara’s and many others’ deaths in Nirala’s family, Nirala learns that Kulli had taken ill. His brother-in-law whispers something unusual in his ear: “The genital organ is missing.” When Nirala probes, the brother-in-law replies: “It wasted away, that’s what people say. Even if he survives, they say, what use will he be to his wife?” The genital was of course a mark of masculinity. It’s crucial to point out here how the genitalia took precedence over love. For simpler people of their time, it was understood that Kulli could no longer ‘man’ his wife, even if he survives.

When Nirala visits Kulli, he had to “force” himself to stay in the room. It stank. Kulli’s joy knew no bounds seeing his love interest. Observing his visible discomfort, he said: “I have confined the disease to the nether parts. Above my heart, I am well. See for yourself.” Taking the hint, Nirala sits at the head of the bed. “It was true there was no stench there,” Nirala observes. Seeing him in such a dire state, and devoid of funds at home, Nirala considers raising money for his friend’s treatment. As Kulli had gotten married to a Muslim woman, he was ostracised from the immediate society except for untouchables, whom he had helped, but already marginalised with no money and social capital, they had no other option.

Using his cunning speech, Nirala was able to extract seven rupees out of a Congress party worker, who had been planning for Vijayalakshmi Pandit’s visit, by saying that he frequently meets her and that she is a real Goddess Kali. The funds were put to good use; Kulli, however, didn’t last much longer.

Nirala eventually grieves:

How had this ordinary man come to matter so much? I won’t cheapen words by writing down what Kulli thought of me, but I do know which person’s example made the deepest impression on him. In their last days, Premchand and Jaishankar Prasad shared some confidences of their lives with me. I will keep their secrets safe. Making them public would only stir gossip and cause pain to the departed souls. Kulli, too, lived with a secret. Premchand and Jaishankar Prasad parted with their secret late. They were concerned for their reputation. Kulli parted with his secret early.

Though he didn’t want to “cheapen words,” he indirectly does exactly that by writing of Kulli’s “secret”, and spilling beans about Prasad and Premchand. It’s perhaps of this “secret” that, perhaps the book was titled a life “misspent.” What are the metrics to judge the usefulness of a life? Were queer people allowed to have a life, while remaning the subject of interest of heterosexuals like Nirala? Will Premchand become the Premchand that we know, if his “secret” was outed early?

I was soon reminded of a book that I had read about a year ago: Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill by Lee Wind. The teenage protagonist in this book extracts historical accounts and writes a searing story about Abraham Lincoln being gay. He was ridiculed by his teachers. (See “So What If Lincoln Was Gay?,” Louis Bayard, The Paris Review.)

I wonder what if, as a child, I knew of all our literary idols that were gay or nonbinary. Would I still be asked questions like, You must be happy seeing your ‘tribe’ in every miniseries and movies now? What if my teachers never covered up (only if they knew) Virginia Woolf’s bisexuality, or if they knew of Vikram Seth having a same-sex partner while we read him?

Would they include these authors in our syllabi at all? I wonder of an upbringing where the other wasn’t so frequently othered. I wonder what impact it would've had on my sensibilities and understanding of love, had the man-woman relationship not been branded and taught as the only form of love in the world.

[Ivy Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a tiny little novella that can be finished in an afternoon, this book packs in a lot. It sets out to be a biography, but is an autobiography. It's almost as if Nirala (there's a fascinating account of how life gifted him the name) stands in place and spins around with a torch in his hand... and writes about whatever the light shines on. The political change of guard, his own internal revolution and evolution, the caste system, court intrigue, godmen, family, Gandhi, Nehru, Babri Masjid, (homo?)sexuality. Nothing is fleshed out, so there's an unsettling sense of disconnect and discontent. A feeling that we will never know. However, what Nirala also leaves us with is a portrait of his energy, his willingness to embrace life, capricious as she is. In his own (well, translated!) words, "Those who pursue livingness itself are not denied acquaintance with life's mystery."

[Teenu Vijayan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A life misspent by Suryakant Tripathi Nirala translated by Satti Khanna from Hindi was not an easy book to read.
I don't know if it was the translation or the way the original text was written, the story lacked depth and was an amalgamation of loosely scattered musings. It starts at one point and the when you move to the next chapter, the transition is crude and mostly it put me off. When I say I struggled to finish a tiny book, I mean it.
The translator's note in the end gave some clarity and elevated the overall reading experience for me personally.
Having said all this, I did want to finish the story and see where it was going. Maybe that says something about the book. The book is said to be semi autobiographical in nature and though it is said to be queer literature, the author has definitely missed a mark. Kulli is the connecting element of the story, the author befriends him on a visit to his in-laws place where despite warning from his family that Kulli is interested in men , author strikes a friendship. Kulli's character remains unclear even though he's present in most of these snatched ramblings. The protagonist moves away from the village and they both lose touch, life moves on and their next meeting is quite pragmatic. Kulli is a changed man and having seen personal losses on life, so is our author. What struck to me was despite giving so much to the society, Kulli couldn't overcome the stigma attached to his name. His every move was scrutinized and the reverberation of this could be seen the way he was treated towards the end of his life.
If this novel intended to through light at the mistreatment of queer person during that era, I wish we had more insight. I had to piece together haywire information to deduce some things.
Nevertheless, I'm happy I finished it. A very unusual read for me.
2.75/5 stars.

[Girija (thesacredwhispers) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Life Misspent by Suryakant Tripathi Nirala translated from Hindi by Satti Khanna is an auto/biographical memoir of the well known poet Suryakant Tripathi Nirala. Why I say it's auto/biographical is because while the book is about different events that happened in Nirala's life, it also mainly revolves around one person Kulli Bhaat whom Nirala meets in Dalmau when he goes to his in laws house to get his wife back to his hometown.

Kulli Bhaat is treated as an outcast because of his inclination towards men. Nirala however is not aware of this and despite his mother in law warning him to stay away from Kulli Bhaat, Nirala doesn't understand why and goes ahead and befriends Kulli Bhaat.

Kulli Bhaat is indeed a person with a peculiar personality. Having limited education doesn't stop him from being a person with values much better than other learned people. His fight for the untouchables and the extent he goes to help them is worth reading.

The book takes us through the life of Nirala as he learns new things, gets inspired by different people, follows different paths gaining experiences while loosing a lot as he grows up.

Nirala in his memoir, puts forth things as they are. Set in pre independence period, I think this book was a perfect start to kick off this readathon as the book gives us a glimpse of all the things, social, political and personal, that took place in pre independent India during the 20th century.

While I did enjoy reading this short book, I feel a lot was lost in translation and probably would've made a far greater impact if I had read this book in Hindi.
⭐⭐⭐.5/5.

[Anupama C K(b0rn_2_read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated from Hindi, this is an autobiographical account by the Hindi Poet Suryakant Tripathi also known as Nirala. This was my first book by the author, now I feel I should read some of his poetry.
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I don't know what to call this book, a satire or a coming of age novel, maybe it was both. We go back in time when the author was 16 and is sent to bring his wife(who is 13) back home. There he meets Kulli Bhatt, who is attracted to him. Though his in laws discourage his friendship with Kulli, the narrator is fascinated by him. Read the book to know more about their friendship and Nirala's life
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It is a pretty short book, which you can finish in a day. The narrator is my favorite character, I loved seeing him grow. Kulli Bhatt was was a strange character, I didn't know what to make of him.
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Though parts make you think, parts make you smile, I do think something was missing. Maybe I should try reading the original.
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I don't like open endings, however here the ending was perfect even though abrupt.
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🌟🌟🌟💫

[Apurva Nagpal · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The tone of the book is comic. It would be good if people did not take offence at it and thereby reveal their inadequacy as readers.”

Suryakant Tripathi Nirala is one of the most significant poets of Modern Hindi.
At the age of sixteen, Nirala is married and sent to fetch her wife in a small village, Dalmau, where he meets Kulli Bhat, for the first time. Despite his notorious image, Nirala continues to meet Kulli, spends most of his time with him and develops a deep bond.

Mesmerised by his wife’s fluency and knowledge on Khari Boli Hindi, he goes on to study and write poems in this language and struggles to get noticed.

Like Nirala struggled for acceptance in the world of literature, Bhat struggled or acceptance in society. As a Dalit, unafraid of his attraction to other men, later married a Muslim, Kulli embodied the perfect social pariah for an intolerant society. His boldness and drive for the acceptance of Untouchables inspired Nirala deeply.

Published in 1939 (in Hindi language) and translated to English by Satti Khanna, A Life Misspent is his biographical memoir for his friend Kulli, but reveals more about Nirala and his life — his early childhood, marriage, his journey from Bengal to Uttar Pradesh, further education, creative struggles and familial loss.

Like the mentioned lines from his preface, this is written in a very lyrical and somewhat comical way. He doesn’t shy away from putting forward his opinions, standing with and supporting his friend, when the entire village has suspicions about his sexuality and maintains this friendship till the end!

I did have a minor problem with the translation, because Nirala writes with a flow, which I felt was lost and the transition felt rigid in some places.

[Chittajit Mitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Life Misspent originally written in Hindi basically takes us through a part of Nirala's life. As he gets married at a very young age & goes to Dalmau in UP to get his wife from his in-law's place he receives a very royal treatment for which his father had prepared him already. That's where he meets Kulli Bhaat, a man who is considered strange by everyone in the village bu Nirala doesn't pay heed to the rumours & mingles with him anyway. He finds Kulli quite informed about several things and can't really understand why people keep their distance from him.
As an influenza epidemic breaks out, Nirala returns to Dalmau after he feels uneasy in this environment of hopelessness. There he finds that Kulli now has several reponsibilities & works for social upliftment of people considered as untouchable by villagers.
I had picked up this book for the #DiscoveringIndiaReadathon & I am so glad I did. Nirala's simplistic approach to write about a queer man & not ridicule or dehumanize him is what makes this book path breaking. His portrayal of emotions explain why he is considered as one of the best authors till date. Can't recommend it enough.

[Shamira]

Much needed - got me out of my reading rut.

Picked this up because we had a lovely poem by the author in our 8th grade Hindi textbook, called ‘Todti Patthar’.

This is short book, and I’ve realised European languages translate much much better than Asian ones.
The Indian storytelling style is inherently different - less pacing, odd descriptions, reliance on subtext, indirect ways of saying simple things, less wordy.
There’re a lot of sudden outbursts and changes in emotion, which I’ve noticed with Asian books in general, and it did make me wonder if that’s a cultural thing.

I can tell it probably reads much better in Hindi, but it’s an interesting story nonetheless. That, and because of how entire chunks of the plot felt lost on me (the episode with the Raja and the sadhu? What was the point of this?), I cannot rate it. The protagonist, in some way, feels unknowable. Lowkey this is how I felt when I tried reading short stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Sometimes I just don’t know what writers mean.

What I can say is that I definitely enjoyed it, and would recommend it. Definitely a good portrait of pre-Independence India, and he speaks so frankly and often brutally. Discusses so many sensitive issues - homophobia, casteism, Islamophobia, religion, women’s rights and what working for the oppressed means.
He’s very unapologetic about his opinions. Crazy he did that back in 1939. In present day India they would dox you on twitter for this

[Kartik Chauhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book. Effortlessly reconstructs portraits of Dalmau, Rai Bareilly and Lucknow—made me want to urgently visit them! But also, in its efforts to skirt around (because one couldn’t be explicit) the mention of queerness and venereal disease, writes into history Kulli Bhaat’s moving life lost in time.

[Anuradha Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nirala was born in 1896 in Mahishadal in Bengal. Although Nirala’s family originally was from Baiswara, due to his father’s job, they had to move base to Bengal. By the time he turned 12, he was married to a girl a year younger but they started living together only when he turned 16. His wife was the one who introduced him to the Khari Boli of Dilli.
In a lifetime, there are only a few people who leave their mark upon us. And if that “us” is a renowned artist of his time, it becomes an intriguing question, who are those “few people”. A Life Misspent by Suryakant Tripathi Nirala is the author’s dedication to one such man, who despite being a nobody compared to the artist, held such a place in his life that Nirala couldn’t let go off writing an autobiography with that person at the core. The person, to whom Nirala’s work accolades is Kulli Bhaat, the strange man whom he meets when he visits his in-laws' place for the first time ever.

When visiting one’s in-laws for the first time, what does one expect? Not hostility for sure. Nirala was subjected to a rueful mother-in-law when he visits her home in Dalmau to take his wife back to his place. Reason? Because he traveled from station to her home in the trap which Kulli owned. Also, Nirala refused to reject the offer of sightseeing made by Kulli for the next day, further triggering both his mother-in-law’s and wife’s irritability. Unknown to Nirala, Kulli harbored desires for him, the same ones which Nirala had for his wife. When Nirala became aware of this fact on his third meeting with Kulli, he left agitatedly, not only from Kulli’s place but from Dalmau itself, to move to Calcutta for further studies.
The book spans over several years, narrating events and incidents from Nirala’s life, his childhood, his stubbornness in front of his father and the village when they bash him for keeping in touch with the illegitimate children of a man, the influenza epidemic that claims almost all the adult members of his family including his wife, his steady growth as a writer of substance, his reconciliation with Kulli years later when he takes a Muslim wife on Nirala’s agreement, their conversations related to Kulli’s social work for the untouchables and the changed thinking of people regarding the once dicey Kulli. The book starts with Kulli and ends with his death.

Though I feel I am incapable of reviewing the writings of such great artists, I still give it a try, not in terms of reviewing their writings, but my own understanding of what they wrote.
When a writing is translated into another language, a lot depends on the translator and his capability to bring forth the original magic. With this particular book, I wouldn’t say the translator had a choice. The effect which this book would have had if read in Hindi doesn’t have when reading in English, the charm is lost. In fact, I was thinking of giving up after a few pages, the English translation felt comical. Nevertheless, I continued and hoped for it to get better, which eventually it did.
The story told in this book is not a proper autobiography, it is mostly a collection of incidents from the author’s life, most of them bearing relation to and centering on Kulli whom Nirala considered a man of quality. The chapters are abrupt, there is no continuity in the story barring the presence of Kulli from beginning to end. Nirala flits between the time a lot, now he is in the present, next he is talking about his past. A lot is left to the imagination, Kulli’s sexuality, Nirala’s attitude towards earning money and his grief at losing his family members due to the epidemic.
A topic that brings across Nirala’s fondness for Kulli is his death. When Nirala’s family had perished, he had shown almost no emotion towards it, but when news of Kulli’s passing away reached him, he says, “I was in the sitting room when I heard Kulli was dead. I was in the sitting room when I was told his corpse had arrived in Dalmau. I was in the sitting room when the funeral procession set out and returned. I was seated as before. That evening I ate my dinner as usual. Kulli’s wife sobbed and cried. I heard her and did nothing.” the stillness of Nirala in these lines ripple enough to show his state on the death of his hero.
Nirala, from his writings in this book could be considered a radical, one who disregards Gandhi and Nehru, as if predicting the views of the masses almost a century later. Not only this, Nirala’s perception of the society then holds true even now, his opinion on inter-caste marriages, untouchability (though he prides himself in being a Brahmin almost all throughout the story), Kulli’s sexuality and peoples’ hypocrisy at large is so apt! Nirala, though he lived in the pre-independence India, was much more independent than a lot of people today with his forward views and awareness.
Though I didn’t find a closure in this story, I was left with wonder at how times change and still don’t. Was it Nirala’s life misspent or Kulli’s?
Would recommend it to those who can stand satire, dark humor and admire what is shown when one holds a mirror to them.

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kullibhat- Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’- Semi autobiographical book- Written 1939- published 1978- Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’ was born in Mahishadal, Bengal. His father was in the service of the King of Mahishadal. Nirala’s mother expired when he was quite young. He was educated in Primary School in Mahishadal, Bengal and learnt Bangla and Sanskrit. For High School examination, his subjects were English, Bangla, Sanskrit and Maths. He did not do well in maths exam and left studies on his own he studied classics in English, Bangla, Sanskrit. He studied Indian religion and Bhagwat Gita. He was married to Manohara Devi of Dalmau. When Manohara devi was 13-year-old, Nirala and his servant Chadrika went to Dalmau to take his wife to Mahishadal visiting his father in law’s residence in village Sherandazpur tehsil Dalmau district RaeBareilly. The place is located on the banks of river Ganga. The Tongaman is Kulli Bhat. He drives them to the village but does not accept any payment as Nirala has been married in his village. Next day, morning Kulli visits him and asks whether he would like to visit river ganga and the nearby old fort. His mother in law suggested that he and his servant both should go with him in the evening. The book describes the community-based life of people. Marriage was performed within the community. Marriage outside the caste was taboo. They went with Kulli bhat to see the fort. At the fort, Kulli bhat asked Nirala to sing a song. After this the returned home. He was invited to a sammelan where poets read and sang poems. His wife also participated and sang one bhajan and a ghazal. Nirala was impressed. She informed him about Khadi Boli and various famous writers like Ayodhya Singh upadhaya Hariaudh, Mahavir Prasad dwivdi etc and their books. Up to this time Nirala was aware of Bangla, sanskrit and English only. He planned to learn Hindi Brijbhasha and khadi boli. He left for Calcutta. He joined the office of King of Mahishadal as a petty clerk. The King was interested in staging a play in sanskrit. Nirala was provided a part in the play. Nirala was able to recite the verse to the satisfaction of the King. The king organised a tutor so that Nirala should learn to sing. The year was 1917, his Nirala’s father had expired one year earlier. Influenza spread. His father in law informed that his wife is seriously ill, he should visit her immediately. Nirala went and found that his wife had already expired. He went of his village Garhakola where many of his relatives expired of influenza before him. He returned back to his job. He started writing poems in Hindi and sending them for publication in magazines. At Mahishadal he could not adjust with the situation therefore, he left and returned to his father in laws house at Dalmau. Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement had started. Also, people were using the charkha to spin cotton thread and sell for manufacture of khadi cloth. Kulli bhat had joined local politics. His poems about the poor situation of farmers were noted and he was invited to Kavi Sammelans. Thus, his recognition in Hindi literature and financial situation improved. Kulli Bhat suggested that he should remarry but Nirala refused. At this time Gandhiji stressed on considering untouchables as equal to other classes. Kulli Bhat informed Nirala that he had married a Muslim lady. She could recite the Ramayana. Under the influence of Gandhiji Kulli also opened a school for untouchable students where about 40 students were enrolled. He wished to inform Gandhiji about this. Nirala gave the postal address of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru to Kulli Bhat. At Dalmau the local sub tehsildar and husband of lady doctor did not like Kulli Bhat because they thought that as Kulli Bhat himself has studied up to class 3, how could he teach children. Nirala went to Kulli Bhat’s school. The parents of the children came to meet Nirala. They brought flowers for him to show respect. Nirala accepted them. Nirala informed Kulli Bhat that Mahatma Gandhi will visit the whole country to assess the situation of untouchables. So Kulli Bhat started serving them with all his ability. Nirala stayed in Lucknow for time and wrote poems for Hindi publishers. Mahatma Gandhi was preaching against Purdah system. Women in Dalmau were aware and seemed agitated. Kulli Bhat joined Congress party as a member. Nirala was a popular poet, thus local poets of Dalmau met him and discussed on his and other poet’s poems. When Nirala returned from Lucknow, he was informed that Kulli Bhat was seriously ill. His wife took him to Raebareilly for medical treatment. Nirala also went there and collected money for his treatment. Mrs Vijaylaxmi Pandit sister of Jawahar lal Nehru was visiting Raebareilly and people were donating money for her reception. Civil Surgeon operated Kulli Bhat. Kulli Bhat expired. His body was brought to Dalmau. Poor people gathered in large number to pay respect to him for his service of the downtrodden society. Members of his family cremated him. No brahmin was ready to perform his 11 days ceremony and havan. Nirala performed this 11th day ceremony for Kulli Bhat. It is a class book and a good read for all. I have read the book in Hindi and not the translation.

[Krishna Srinivasan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a translation, thus I can't critique the prose/style of original author Nirala. I have read that this is a weak translation - I disagree (without knowing the original of course). There are a few errors here and there in the sense that the work could flow better and make more sense; I bet this would be really hard for a non-Indian to understand. However the abrupt changes in the book's structure are explained at the end by the translator.

From the scant info available online, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala is one of the Hindi language's greatest poets. It is even more remarkable that he was neither highly educated or a natural Hindi speaker. (I would love to read more of his works or works about him - if people know of more English translations, please let me know by messaging me!)

Making some radical comments for the time, A Life Misspent is an engrossing memoir about a friend Nirala's by the name of Kulli. With some questionable (for the time) acts at the start, Kulli gradually makes some remarkable changes in his life, which mirror the changes in Indian society at the time.

From the point of view of the book, the difference lies in the superficiality of the changes... The changes in caste and religion are somewhat superficial at the top of Indian society (e.g. Nehru and Gandhi - a fabulous section of the works questions them somewhat: 'If Gandhi is so radical and egalitarian, why doesn't he bring a Muslim woman home?' The reply to this is hilarious: 'How can Gandhi - in his old age - bring a woman home?!') whereas Kulli's change is genuine, his attitude is heartfelt and his heroic actions are taken to such extremes as to cause his death.

To my Western eye, I would like to have seen further exploration of Kulli's supposed homosexuality. A more honest, upfront account would have provided more satisfaction - only even as radical as Nirala was, one could hardly expect that kind of honesty in those times. This is a only a minor plot point though - the greatness of the work is its radical focus on social issues.

I can't even imagine what it would be like to read this work in the original Hindi: having read of Nirala's genius with the pen, it must be a true pleasure.

[Vyom Desai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never ever read a single poem by one of the great poets of his time. Nevertheless, I feel glad to have read his memoir A Life Misspent. It is a tale of an unusual friendship with Kulli Bhaat, his journey when influenza broke out and towards being a great poet of the history.

A life misspent is a book I long for, it is a book I wish I have read a long time ago. It is a book I want to sleep with everyday. It is a book which let me put my guards down and allow me to savour friendship beyond boundaries of caste and discrimination. It is a book that allows me to feel the loss of people I have lost. It is a book which allows me be vulnerable but also reminds me of the sanity I should be holding.

"The tone of the book is comic. It would be good if people did not take offence at it and thereby reveal their inadequacy."
- Nirala

Nirala forms a full circle by talking of the castism, hypocrisy of Hindu people, about politics, Gandhi, Nehru and many other things unapologetically in the book as if he is making a conversation. Not to forget the frequent mentions of great poets and ghazals throughout the book is a treat. It makes me feel so ignorant of not having know even a bit of our cultural literature.

The short autobiographical book is a reminiscence of his friendship, this marriage, his times during the epidemic and his journey of being a know poet and I have no reason to not love the book but reread it in future again and again.

To not know the life,
Is a life misspent,
To not know friendship,
Is a life misspent,
To learn and to not educate
Is a life misspent
To talk about a cause and being ignorant
Is a life misspent
To know and not do anything
Is a life misspent

- Vyom

A person cannot be the smartest, most intelligent or intellectual but what they have and they chose to pass on to the society is a great act of kindness.

[Geeta Ramani]

Prompt:,Found via bookstagram:
A life misspent By Suryakant Tripathi Nirala. Translated by Satti Khanna.

The book, set in pre-independence India, was written decades ago and since then everything has undergone a sea change. It is written by a very renowned Hindi poet, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala, and that was my primary reason for picking up the book.

The book is written in his own inimitable style and the local flavours are really refreshing. But without a context, it was very difficult for me to understand and appreciate this piece of work.

At the outset, the poet warns his readers, "The tone of the book is comic. It would be good if people did not take offence at it and thereby reveal their inadequacy as readers."

I am extremely disappointed by the translator, Satti Khanna, for not providing a context. The limited research and additional notes do not contribute in anyway to the understanding and appreciation of the times when this book was written. Satti Khanna could have done this imaginatively thus enhancing the joy of the reader. Unfortunately there were no takeaways from such a scholarly work, robbed completely of its value by poor translation. So I shall refrain from rating it.

[Anurag · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are no questions about the greatness of his poetry but Suryakant Tripathi exceeds his standards in this novella. Though an english translation, this book captures the hindi literary narrative style perfectly and is a good medium to compare the flows of hindi and english literature.
On the question of the content, the book speaks way ahead of its time - on homosexuality and caste based discrimination. The personal connections that the author makes with the other characters in the book resonate with the reader. There is a sincerity in the words that helps capture a side of the nationalist movement that is often missing from the popular rhetoric. It is simple, yet profound and solves complexities that texts way larger in magnitude than this 100-odd page book have failed to disentangle.
I have been a fan of Suryakant Tripathi but this work is a revelation! It is a pity that I couldn't read the Hindi version first.

[Bhavya · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is the first novel by nirala that I have read so far and maybe it is my lack of experience that I wasn't able to fully grasp this as one whole thing. As far as I can comprehend this book contains three completely unrelated things to weave a tale which are kulli bhaat's unusualness, nirala's autobiographical pieces and the struggles for change in Indian society ( astonishingly the changes struggled for don't include what kulli bhaat was suspected of). I liked all the three things separately and wanted the affections of kulli bhaat for nirala to have been given a little more focus because I really can't understand what was the reason for people being so suspicious of kulli and his relationship with nirala. If they were friends I will say they did not make a great friendship.

[Ami 乁⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠o⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ㄏ (written by Jane Austen) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very small read but with a lot to unpack, especially regarding the condition of India in the pre-independence early 1900s. I'd like to say I enjoyed reading it but really, the narrative felt too disjointed and the voice, too, was flat, lacking anything that could be counted as engaging. That being said though, I think this is a good read for people who want to acquaint themselves with the pre-independent India.

[Mythri Kukkaje · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read, biography & autobiography style writing. Talks about caste discrimination, non-cooperation movement, sexuality among other things. Seems like an important book, it may have been. But rather than a life story progressing gradually, it felt a like a chronological collection of important event of the author's life. Perhaps a lot of the essence of the book was lost in translation!

[VSG]

"He had turned his face to God only because he lacked for human help, human support, human encouragement."

The English translation of this short work captures some aspects of Nirala's style, the off-kilter pacing, the satire, the sudden end, his manner of being loving and self conscious. But mostly it makes me want to locate and read the original.

[Manisha Pradeep · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very interesting tongue in cheek way of writing...not really Nirala's autobiography, literally...its a translation of biography of Pandit Patvaridin Bhatt aka 'Kulli Bhaat', which is also the name of the original Hindi version...written in a very lyrical and somewhat comical way

[Fiza Pathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My heart bled for Kulli !

[Pascal Dsouza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book was written in the pre independence era, it still is very much relevant in today’s times.
A totally short and easy read.

[A A · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I found most valuable in this book was the insight into the lives of Indians pre-independence. It cast a light on poverty, caste-relations, and the freedom movement.

[Dibyajyoti Sarma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cipher for modern India

A reviewer’s job is not just to recommend a good book, but also to suggest a way to appreciate it. I will recommend this slim auto/biographical sketch from one of Hindi’s foremost modern poets, the founder of Chhayavaad school of poetry, Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’, translated by Satti Khanna. But how do I explain it?

In 117 pages, the book (not a novel, neither a biography nor autobiography, but a combination of all three), written in 1931, encompasses the core of the political reality of modern India, so much so that I am tempted to call it a history of India during Independence. The book has everything – the Brahminical system and the zeal to protect its hold, the reality of casteism in rural India, and the uneasy existence between Hindu and Muslim communities. The book also reveals the exact moment of the country’s willingness to break away from the feudal system (and the royalty). The book is also critical of Nehru and Gandhi, and it notices the seed of discontent in Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid.

Amidst all these, the book is the story of two men, in their 20s and 30s, struggling to survive in a world against them. A reviewer recently introduced the book as ‘biography of a Brahmin homosexual, written in the 1930s’. This may be headline grabbing, but it’s not true. We must remember that the book was written in 1930s, in Hindi, set in a remote UP village. To read the book from the prism of our understanding would be doing it a disservice.

The book is designed as a biography of a man called Kulli Bhat, the man who tried to ‘seduce’ Nirala and was thwarted, the man who over the years became Nirala’s friend and confidant. Yet, the book is more about Nirala, the man who would be the poet, and about his one great love, his wife.

Perhaps what makes A Life Misspent an important book is that raises more questions than it does answer. The interactions between these two men open up the idea of a country we will come to inhabit more than half-a-century later. It is an enigmatic cipher for the malaises of modern India.

(Published in Sakal Times, Pune, 14 August)

[Sudeepta Pradhan (booksteaandmore) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A life misspent is a memoir of Suryakanth Tripathi Nirala. Originally written in Hindi it has been translated by Satti Khanna.

Nirala was the first modern poet in the 20th century India. He changed the spectrum of poetry and was associated with the chhayavaad movement. He was the first poet who started writing in Khara Boli dialect. During that time Braj language of Mathura was more popular and he changed that by introducing Khara Boli. The poet lost his entire family including his wife at the tender age due to an epidemic.

This memoir more than being his personal account the poet dedicates the book to Kulli Bhaat. Kulli was his friend, lover and few of his loyal friend. It is through his relationship with Kulli that we come to know a lot about the author.

This book deals with questions of sexuality, caste, religion, and love. It also gives us a glimpse into prehistoric India and the rich tradition of poetry we had.
The only problem I had with the book was the writing style because though at the core its simple I expected much more from it considering the life of Nirala. But then again Nirala was known for poetry whose value one realized in the beat of the words. So one realized the poweress of his works when it is recited or sung.

I would recommend all to read this book and his works. We have so many such authors and poets whom we have sadly forgotten books like these make you realize the value of them.