A Thematic Analysis of the Poetry and Lyrics of Shailendra

 A shy but determined Dalit man; born in pre-partitioned Rawalpindi, Shailendra (1923-1966) was the poet whose subversive poems and deeply romantic and philosophical songs, I grew up listening to. I remembered word for word many of his works but was completely oblivious, for many years, to the genius of the lyricist who penned them. Years later, I critically analyzed his verses to discover how he brilliantly fused the age-old Indian consciousness with the tensions of the modern world in his mainstream lyrics. His legacy is that they have, over the decades, seeped into the corpus of Indian folk culture and linguistic life.