Shri Biren
(Shribiren)
Shri Biren
Shri Biren
Native name
Meitei: Nongthombam Shri Biren / Meitei: Nongthombam Shribiren
Died29 December 2011[1]
Achom Leikai, Uripok[1]
Resting placeAchom Leikai, Uripok[1]
Occupationeditor, poet, playwright, social reformer, teacher and short story writer of works in Meitei literature[1]
LanguageMeitei language (Manipuri language)
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndian
EducationB.A.
Alma materGauhati University
Periodmodern
Genresexistentialism, iconoclasm, metaphysics, modernism, philosophy in Meitei literature
SubjectMeitei literature
Literary movementmodernism in Meitei literature
Notable works
  • Tollaba Sha-dugee Wakhal[1]
  • Masina Imphalgee Wareeni[1]
  • Mapal Naidabasida Ei[1] (Winner of the "Sahitya Akademi Award 1990"[2])
  • Sanagee Keirak[1]
  • Chatloiko Ei Mapham Kadaidasu[1] (winner of "Manipur State Award for Literature 2011"[3])
Notable awardsthe Manipur State Kala Academy Award, the Central Sahitya Akademi Award and the Jamini Sundar Gold Medal[4][1]

Nongthombam Shri Biren, better known shortly as Shri Biren or Sri Biren,[lower-alpha 1] and also spelled as Shribiren or Sribiren,[lower-alpha 1] was an Indian editor, poet, playwright, social reformer, teacher and short story writer of works in Meitei literature.[5][6][1] His writings are characterised by the wrath and the mood of the loss of hope and confidence. He was active in writing in the 1960s and the 1970s. Most of his writings are predominant with the "iconoclastic extreme anger and questioning of everything in life". He was considered to be an angry young man of the 1970s, for his poem, Tangkhul Hui (Meitei for 'Tangkhul Dog').[5][7] He was known for portraying the lives of people in a metaphysical and philosophical way, protesting against the existing socio-political systems and institutions and attempting to break them, using symbolism and allegory as tools, as evident in "The Two Doors".[8][9] He was bestowed with the Manipur State Kala Academy Award, the Central Sahitya Akademi Award and the Jamini Sundar Gold Medal for his poetry and short stories. Unfortunate to the Meitei literature is that he died at an early age, suffering from Parkinson's disease.[10][1]

Education

Nongthombam Sri Biren completed his graduation from the Gauhati University in 1965.[11]

Works

Throughout his lifetime, Shri Biren contributed 4 books of collection of poetry, 2 books of collection of short stories and one book of a collection of short plays, to Meitei literature. His poetry book "Sanagee Keirak" (Meitei: ꯁꯅꯥꯒꯤ ꯀꯩꯔꯥꯛ, lit. 'The Golden Ladder') contains 44 poems, written between 1989 and 1997.[12]

Drama

Using drama as a tool for social critique, Sri Biren and his contemporaries, earnestly attempted to take up vast human tight spots to be shown in experimental performances, thereby to break up with the traditional trends in the drama forms of owing only regional themes as their backgrounds. However, since the 1980s, drama as literary works got declined in Meitei literature. The main reason for its scantily publications was that of the rise of regular stage-plays produced by the numerous theatre houses as well as other experimental associations, thereby providing the people (readers as well as viewers) diverse taste.[13]

In the 1970s, adhering to existentialism, Sri Biren shows the "cry of hopelessness and loneliness" in his short plays, including but not limited to the Khongchat (Meitei for 'Journey').[14]

With a dilemma of modernism, Shri Biren experimentally penned on the Meitei language dramas, getting widespread readership, and many of which were translated into English. He was one of the people who made modern Meitei dramas into a "strong literary force".[15]

Poetry

The era of predominance of conventional or romantic poems in Meitei literature took a break as Sri Biren and his contemporary poets took up their pens. Sri Biren's collection of poems titled Tollaba Sadugi Wakhal (Meitei for '"The Lowly Creature's Musings"/"The thoughts of the poor animal"') was notable for raising voices of disillusionment, to free oneself from illusion.[16][17]

Shri Biren is often called as "an angry young poet". His poems show that there is no future for mankind in the present situation of happenings. His distinct way of writing is a constant search of answers to different queries for which he himself gives no satisfactory replies. As his sobriquet suggested, he was very young during the peak of his poetic writings, and he was known for having his own poetic visions and expressions.[18]

Short stories

In his short stories, Sri Biren expressed his sentiments in the same way as he did in his poems. He showed his fury over the inequalities in society and economy as well as in the downfall of the morality of people. His stories had imitations of the lines from his poems. He initiated diverse styles and modes of narrations in his writings experimentally. One of the most unique features of his work is that while narrating stories, he used to ask different questions by himself intermittently and all the answers to the questions were also given by himself.[19] He was known for writing psychological stories with the intentions of creating shocks and provocations to the readers.[20]

Legacy

Shri Biren is considered to be one of the celebrated poets of Manipur in the 21st century. Many of his poetry were translated into Bengali language. Significantly, some of them were read out in public by Kulamani Singh as a part of the 2-Day celebrated Indo-Bangla International Poets Meet-2013.[21]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Shri" or "Sri" used in this particular name is not a honorific but a part of his own given name, like that of "Sri Devi" aka "Sridevi".

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Adieu to 2011 and Adieu to Oja Shri Biren". Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Akademi Awards (1955-2015)". Sahitya Akademi. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Birendrajit Naorem Manipur State Award for Literature 2013 A Profile". Retrieved 22 August 2023. ... recipients of Manipur State Award for Literature: Year Writer Book Genre 2013 Birendrajit Naorem Turel Nangdi Poetry 2012 Kshetri Bira Nangbu Ngaibada Novel 2011 Shree Biren Chatloiko Ei Mafam Kadaidasu Poetry...
  4. ↑ Sivasankari (15 March 2020). Knit India Through Literature Volume 2 - The East. India: Pustaka Digital Media. p. 383.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. 1 2 George, K. M. (1992). Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-7201-324-0.
  6. ↑ Singh, Elangbam Nilakanta (1982). Aspects of Indian Culture. Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy. pp. 109, 112, 118.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ↑ Iyengar, K. R. Srinivasa (1973). Indian Literature Since Independence: A Symposium. Sahitya Akademi. p. 173. Another young poet, N. Sri Biren, in his collection of poetry, Tollaba Sadugi Wakhal, (The thoughts of the poor animal', 1970) called everything in question and saw the death of God being followed by the death of Man.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  8. ↑ Indian Literature. India: Sahitya Akademi. 2008. p. 205. Shri Biren writes poems of political protest full of symbols and allegorical meanings "The Two Doors", for example, has deep philosophical implications about the meaning of life.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  9. ↑ Prachi: A Literary Digest of East Indian Languages. India: Sahitya Akademi. 1988. p. 210. ISBN 978-81-260-0274-0. Sri Biren, who has been an angry poet ready to break the existing systems and institutions, has mellowed down and reached the stage of reflection enquiring into the metaphysical aspect of life.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  10. ↑ Sivasankari (15 March 2020). Knit India Through Literature Volume 2 - The East. India: Pustaka Digital Media. p. 383.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. ↑ Sinha, Biswajit (2008). Contemporary Theatre: East & North-East. Raj Publications. p. 319. ISBN 978-81-86208-59-5. Sri Biren , N. A poet , editor , short story writer , playwright and teacher , Nongthombam Sri Biren was born in 1946. His forte is however , poetry . He obtained his B.A. degree from the Gauhati University in 1965 and later joined the ...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  12. ↑ "Sanagi Keirak". Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  13. ↑ The Administrator. India: Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. 1998. p. 212.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  14. ↑ Seagull Theatre Quarterly. Seagull Foundation for the Arts. 1996. p. 33.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  15. ↑ Datta, Amaresh (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti. India: Sahitya Akademi. p. 1087. ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0. ... Biren Singh with his experimental plays has drawn wide attention and some of his plays have been translated into English. ... and N. Sri Biren for the modern dilemma. Drama in modern Manipuri has by now developed into a strong literary force.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  16. ↑ The Administrator. India: Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. 1998. p. 214.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. ↑ Iyengar, K. R. Srinivasa (1973). Indian Literature Since Independence: A Symposium. Sahitya Akademi. p. 173. Another young poet, N. Sri Biren, in his collection of poetry, Tollaba Sadugi Wakhal, ('The thoughts of the poor animal', 1970) called everything in question and saw the death of God being followed by the death of Man.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  18. ↑ The Indian P.E.N. India: P.E.N. All-India Centre. 1973. p. 5. ... Shri Biren is an angry young poet. He sees no future for mankind in the present state of affairs. His is a constant search but he gives no satisfactory reply. A very young poet who has his own poetic vision and expression ...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  19. ↑ Zama, Margaret Ch (11 April 2013). Emerging Literatures from Northeast India: The Dynamics of Culture, Society and Identity. India: SAGE Publications India. p. 103. ISBN 978-81-321-1334-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  20. ↑ Glimpses of Manipuri Language, Literature, and Culture. India: Manipuri Sahitya Parishad. 1970. pp. 26, 30. ... Shri Biren produces psychological stories intended to shock and provoke people. ...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  21. ↑ TwoCircles.net (16 July 2013). "Indo-Bangla international poets meet concludes at Imphal". TwoCircles.net. Retrieved 22 August 2023. ... At the outset, Kulamani Singh read out the poems of some of the celebrated poets of Manipur, namely Kh. Chaoba, Dr. Kamal, Hijam Anganghal, E. Nilakanta, Shri Biren in Bangla translation. ...
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