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IN MEMORIAM OCTOBER 14, 2022 | The Indian Eye 34

YATINDRA SAXENA ‘BEBAK’

(1933-2022)

SHOBHAN SAXENA An upright officer, an impeccable

t is not easy to mention a loved gentleman and a fearless poet
one in the past tense, especially
Iwhen you feel they live within
you – and through you. My father,
Yatindra Narayan Saxena, is one
such person.
My father, known as YN Saxe-
na sahab or simply as Saxena sahab,
would have turned 90 on the next
April 27. But he went away quietly af-
ter a brave fight with Covid-19 infec-
tion. He beat the virus and came back
home. But then other complications
followed and he left. He lived a full
life –with ups and downs -- and leaves
behind my mother, four children,
three grandchildren and one great
grandchild.
Born into a family of landlords
and barristers in Bareilly (UP), he Man of the Match. He understood
began his work in the education de- the game and could talk about with a
partment of UP government in the
1960s, and then moved to the Central lot of history.
In recent years, he had become
government, working mainly with weak and fragile. Physically, he was
youth affairs and sports ministries.
After retirement, he settled down first just a pale shadow of his former self.
But his mind remained alert and ag-
in Bareilly and then at Lucknow but ile. He continued to write and engage
continued to work as an advisor to
various ministers and NGOs for al- Illustration by Pranab Saha with the world at large. He had no
talent for small, loose talk. Our meet-
most two decades, while also writing a ings – shorter and rarer over the time
couple of collection of ghazals, books theatre director (though people know lice Lines or local teams on Sundays
and articles. him as the elder brother of actor during the winters. He played beauti- – and phone conversation were mostly
about politics and international issues,
My father, known as Ravi Dada Annu Kapoor). ful leg glances and late cuts and then
to family and close friends, was a I have not seen a better batsman share stories about how Ranjisingh culture and food.
As a human, of course, he had
man of many talents. A widely trav- than my father. He would open the and Duleep Singh and Rohan Kanhai flaws but he didn’t have a selfish bone
elled person, he was equally at home batting for the District Magistrate invented these shots. He also bowled in his body. Born in a traditional fam-
in English, Hindi, Urdu, and could XI as they played against the Po- slow off spin and was very often the ily, he was a gentleman to a fault and
easily survive in Farsi and Sanskrit. would not hurt anyone even by mis-
He could talk about international take. He would suffer himself than in-
news with as much ease as he would DESTINATION AFTER flict pain on others. His own suffering
talk about the poetry of Ghalib and DESTINATION came out in the forms of ghazals he
Firaq as well as the Vedas and Swami -
Vivekanand’s philosophy. Walked destination after destination, but wrote in beautiful Urdu. He penned
these ghazals under the pen name of
He understood the true essence never reached there
of life. He wrote poetry. He sang. He Found sadness, found happiness, ‘Bebak’, which means bold or fearless.
He was fearless, especially when he
played tabla, harmonium and flute but never the destination.
like a professional. He would sing the Man is only a toy, but the game is sat down to write. “Life is the distance
covered between birth and death,” he
ghazals of Begum Akhtar and Talat someone else’s wrote in a ghazal. “Why should we
Mehmood at family gatherings and This mystery was small, but the solution afraid of death if we are not afraid of
still illusive.
mehfils at our house or at the offi- life,” he wrote in another.
Keep it in your heart and listen to it
cers’ club where he lived. Even when The matter was small but understanding Now, he is gone, leaving behind
posted in small towns, he brought it difficult;
alive with his cultural activities, even Life is the distance travelled a treasure of very rich memories and
lessons about how to live life fully,
though it was not part of his job pro- between birth and death honestly – and meaningfully.
file. In the 1970s, he invited a young But we get lost in its confusions.
director Ranjit Kapoor from NSD in We consider ourself to be Shobhan Saxena is the
Delhi to conduct a workshop for lo- the God of the world Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Eye
cal artists in Rae Bareli. Later, Ranjit The world is God’s, we could not see it. group of publications
Kapoor would become a legendary

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