Shyam Lal Gupta

Shyam Lal Gupta Biography

Shyam Lal Gupta was a poet and lyricist who penned the famous patriotic flag song, Jhanda Oonche Rahe Hamara. The song acted as a catalyst of Indian freedom struggle movement and was originally penned in 1924. Indian National Congress adopted the song as the official flag song in 1924 and was first sung at Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs' Day on 13 April 1924 at Phool Bagh in Kanpur. The song was featured in the Hindi film, Azadi ki Raah Par, released in 1948. The song was composed by Shekhar Kalyan and sung by Nightingale of India - Sarojini Naidu. He served as the president of the Fatehpur district congress committee for 19 years. In 1969 he was honoured with Padma Sri Award.

Shyam Lal Gupta was born on 9 September 1896 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He was born as the youngest son to Visheshwar Prasad and Kaushalya Devi. His father was a businessman. However Shyam was reluctant to join the family business and started his career as a teacher. He was active in freedom struggle movement, while working in different schools. He got arrested once in 1921 and later he worked underground. He was later arrested in 1930 and 1944 for his involvement in freedom struggle movement.

Once he took a vow that he won’t use footwear and umbrellas till India gets freedom and he kept the vow. He wrote the great patriotic song, Jhanda Oonche Rahe Hamara in 1924. The song is now included in school curriculum. The song then played a significant role in evoking patriotism in the minds of many.  Gupta was felicitated by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi during the republic day celebrations of 1972. He passed away on 10 August 1977.

Published: N/A

Updated: April 26, 2016