Kavi Pradeep (1915-1998)

- February 6, 2020


While there are hundreds of people who ritualistically dance to the tune of “Main To Aarti Utaroon Re Santoshi Mata Ki” and proudly sing the song “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo”, many would not remember the man who wrote these iconic songs. So, here’s a little story about him. 

 #OnThisDay in 1915, Ramchandra Narayanji Dwivedi was born in the small town of Badnagar near Ujjain. In 1939, when he moved to Mumbai, he changed his name to Pradeep, which means light in Hindi. In a career spanning over five decades, Pradeep wrote nearly 1700 songs, poems, and hymns. These also include song lyrics for about 85 films, many of them becoming box-office hits. Pradeep became widely popular for his patriotic songs, which instilled a sense of pride in Indians and provide encouragement to our soldiers even today. 

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Pradeep won several laurels for his work including the Best Film Song Lyricist. He was also made Rashtrakavi (Poet Laureate), after which he was revered as Kavi Pradeep.

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The Sons of Rama

The story of Rama and Sita was first set down by the sage Valmiki in his epic poem 'Ramayana.' Rama was the eldest son of Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, who had three wives - Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. Rama was the son of Kaushalya, Bharata of Kaikeyi and Laxmana and Shatrughna of Sumitra. The four princes grew up to be brave and valiant. Rama won the hand of Sita, the daughter of King Janaka. Dasharatha wanted to crown Rama as the king but Kaikeyi objected. Using boons granted to her by Dasharatha earlier, she had Rama banished to the forest. Sita and Laxmana decided to follow Rama. While in the forest, a Rakshasi, Shoorpanakha, accosted Laxmana but had her nose cut off by him. In revenge, her brother Ravana, king of Lanka, carried Sita away. Rama and Laxmana set out to look for her and with the help of an army of monkeys, defeated Ravana. On returning Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile, Rama banished Sita because of the suspicions of his subjects. In the ashrama of sage Valmiki, she gave birth to her twin sons, Luv and Kush.

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