Rekindling My Love for Hindi Literature: A Journey with Bharat-Bharati (Part 1)

I have started reading Hindi again after a long time. Growing up as an avid reader, I lost touch with reading material not related to engineering many years ago. Now that I have completed my PhD, I’ve taken it upon myself to rekindle my love for literature and rediscover an old hobby.

With this thought, I picked up Bharat-Bharati by Maithilisharan Gupt. The book is divided into three parts: Atit Khand (the past), Vartaman Khand (the present), and Bhavishya Khand (the future). Gupt reflects on the rise and fall of India as a nation and Bharat as a civilization.

The book was published in Vikram Samvat 1968–1969 (1911–1912 CE), and the author devoted an entire year to writing it. True to Gupt’s signature poetic style, this work captivates the reader with its pure Hindi—language that is both beautiful and challenging, characteristic of the literary traditions of that era.

Even as a native speaker and reader of languages in the Devanagari script, I’ve found this book quite difficult to read. But that challenge is part of the experience. The content is engrossing, and the themes are timeless.

The first few sections of Atit Khand make it clear that the rise and fall of any civilization—or any system—is not only inevitable but also a natural law of life. There was a time when Bharat was a beacon of knowledge, culture, values, and spirituality—a land of rishis, sadhaks, and brilliant women who helped shape an extraordinary society. But as with all great things, what rises must fall. And yet, what falls will rise again. That cyclical movement is the central theme of this profound work.