When he recorded Nirala?s voice clandestinely

He is a multi-faceted personality and has good knowledge of several regional languages of Hindi belt, including Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj, Bundelkhandi and Rajasthani. He has written, directed and produced hundreds of plays for All India Radio in these languages. Besides, he has made valuable contributions to Hindi literature.

He is a multi-faceted personality and has good knowledge of several regional languages of Hindi belt, including Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj, Bundelkhandi and Rajasthani. He has written, directed and produced hundreds of plays for All India Radio in these languages. Besides, he has made valuable contributions to Hindi literature.

HT Image

With a sound rural background, he found it easy to act as a kisan in radio plays.

This was the reason he won laurels for his superb performance as Matai and Badloo Chaudhari. Besides, his serials like 'Jhagdu Mahraj', 'Chalaka Chachi', 'Pilpili Saheb', 'Mansukh Pandey' and 'Bajrangi Pahelwan' became so famous and laudable that after retirement from All India Radio he was given two years' extension as a very special case.

Yuktibhadra Dixit's father Balbhadra Prasad Dixit 'Padhis' was a renowned litterateur and illustrious poet. The trio of 'Padhis', Banshidhar Shukla and Ramai Kaka has left an indelible mark in the field of Awadhi poetry. Hence, Yuktibhadra acquired love for literature as legacy. He says: "Since I have been witness to struggles of rural life and have even faced it, I felt it was my responsibility to promote folk theatre and this always remained my first and foremost concern.
" During his youth, Dixit even waged a war against exploitation of farmers and labourers as a member of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). His role as 'Raja Shiv Dutt' in Shivgarh area of Rae Bareli district during pre-independence days won hearts of thousands of locals in 1946.

Recipient of several prestigious awards, 79-year-old Dixit has two collections of poems, as many plays and five children books to his credit. He has edited the famous 'Padhis Granthawali' and 'Satyamev Jayate. Over a dozen of his drama serials and three hundred songs have been broadcast by AIR. When people were skeptical of presenting and promoting 'nautanki' (a form of folk theatre) through AIR, Dixit came forward to shoulder this responsibility and his efforts were crowned with success.

The excerpts from the interview:

Since I started acting in Ramlila and nautanki since my childhood days, I felt acting in radio programmes easy and I participated in an AIR programme in April, 1938, just a few days after the establishment of AIR station in Lucknow. I was lucky that got an opportunity to learn and work in the company of renowned artistes, including Shaukat Thanvi, Sardar Akhtar, Arshe Munir, Gauhar Sultan, Shanta Vaidya, RH Chishti, Mukhtar Ahmad and Gul Mohammad Shah and Ishrat Rahmani. They were experts in broadcasting and were always interested in promoting junior artistes.

I can never forget the generosity of Firoze Gandhi. He was the managing director of the 'National Herald' group of newspapers. I was a sub-editor in the 'Navjivan' in 1947 and my editor was also an MLA. Over some issue the editor opened fire at a rickshaw-puller. I covered this news in the newspaper, but did not mention his name. Next day, the editor expressed his anger and asked me to get my dues cleared and get lost.

While I was talking to Sitaram Gunthe, the account section in-charge, Firoze Gandhi overheard my conversation and called me to his chamber. After listening to me, he asked me to resume the work. When I told him that I had even collected my dues, he said: "Treat that amount as bonus and resume your duties just now." This showed that he favoured even an ordinary employee for a right cause.

I shifted to Allahabad and joined the Universal Press as the editor of the 'Kishor Bharti' a children 's magazine. Later I edited 'Sher Bachcha' and 'Sajani Sajan' magazine for some time.

In 1952, there was a leave vacancy in AIR Lucknow and Narmadeshwar Upadhyay helped me get the job. For a few months of working for AIR and the publication group simultaneously, I concentrated on AIR job. In the meantime, Ford Foundation, a British broadcasting group, opened its unit in Yamunapar area and engaged me as a producer. I got an opportunity to make experiments and hone my skills.

I introduced several artistes in this programme. In 1955, AIR engaged me as a full-time staffer. In AIR programmes, my emphasis was always on 'entertainment with purpose of rural uplift.

Renowned poet Surya Kant Tripathi 'Nirala' was never interested to participate in AIR programmes. But once I recorded his voice while he was reciting his poems at a function held to celebrate his birthday on Basant Panchami in 1960.

Narmadeshwar Upadhyay and I went to cover the function. I hid under the table-loth to record his voice and ultimately succeeded in my efforts.

In 1961, Chandrakanta Tripathi, a senior radio artiste, told Niralaji that Sumitranandan Pant was seriously ill. Niralaji expressed his desire to visit Pantji and when they were on their way Chandrakanta brought him to radio station.

Niralaji, who was warmly welcomed by the then station director Girija Kumar Mathur, was in good mood and expressed desire to recite his poem for AIR. It was a pleasant surprise for Mathur and he immediately asked his staff to get a contract paper signed by Niralaji.

When Niralaji learnt that he would be paid Rs 100 as fee, he said he won't accept less than Rs 10,000. Niralaji kept sitting for several hours leaving Mathur in tight spot. However, Mathur asked me to solve the problem. I took some chewing tobacco and went to see Niralaji. I touched his feet and reminded him that Pantji was ill. He shared 'khaini' with me, held my hand and asked me to take him to Pantji's place.

The memories and experiences of the past inspire me to remain active even
today.