Abstract

 Resistance poetry which resists conformity or compliance with so called mainstream tradition generally emerges on two counts—– either contents of the poetry would be so radically different that it may not get any sanctions from the traditional poetics of its time or on the other level, its style and form will be unconventional to such an extent that it may appear outlandish or avant garde in its functions and appearances. The qualifier in Khari Boli Hindi is Khari that literally means Standing as it always takes stand, as some argue and that is the hallmark of any resistance. It is generally said that from the very beginning Khari Boli Hindi has been a language of resistance and it has been emphasized that this language evolved in the process of resistance itself against the tradition of Braj-Bhasha, Urdu and English. So, on the one hand the language itself was language of resistance and on the other hand, most of the literature written in this language was part of anti-colonial resistance and later anti-establishment resistance of the post-colonial India especially during emergency (1975-77). But apart from tracing the political resistance, the proposed paper will try to locate the tradition of resistance poetry in Khari-Boli Hindi in respect to   nationalism, gender and caste and at the same time its opposition and interactions with traditional forms of conventional Hindi poetry.