Dalbir Singh Jhand known as Punjabi writer Dalbir Chetan was a foremost

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer of contemporary

Punjabi literature Punjabi literature, specifically literary works written in the Punjabi language, is characteristic of the historical Punjab region of India and Pakistan and the Punjabi diaspora. The Punjabi language is written in several scripts, of which the Sha ...

. He had won awards, both regional and national, and is a widely translated author. He retired as Indian Air Force officer. Chetan's works were translated into a number of South-East Asian languages. Though not a prolific writer, he was the author of four thought-provoking short story books — Rishteyian De Aar Paar, Raat Baraate, Khara Badal and Mehndi Bazaar book's main story Mehndi Bazaar was translated and reviewed in journal South Asian Review. His book Mehndi Bazaar was translated into seven South-East Asian languages and selected in Twenty Stories from South Asia., page 174 Many of his stories were translated into Urdu, English, Hindi, Oriya, Telugu and Gujarati languages. Some of his short stories were telecast on television. He also edited an anthology "Asi Javaab Dinde Haan", which won him appreciation.

Biography

Dalbir Chetan was born on April 5, 1944 in village

Taragarh Talawa Taragarh Talawa is a village which now officially called Taragarh located at two kilometers from Jandiala Guru, Amritsar district, Punjab, India on the Grand Trunk Road, located at 31° 33' 41N 75° 1'36E at an altitude of 229 m (754 ft ...

in the

Amritsar district Amritsar district is one of the twenty three districts that make up the Indian state of Punjab. Located in the Majha region of Punjab, the city of Amritsar is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, it is the second most populous distr ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

in a well-to-do land-owning family. He was educated at

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

and

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

. Dalbir Chetan completed his studies and joined the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

where he served for a long span of 15 years. After retiring from the Air Force, he started a school at his native village. Later, he joined the Excise and Taxation Department from where he retired two years ago. After superannuating from the Air Force and the Excise and Taxation Department, he continued to pursue writing.

Collection

Books: Dalbir Chetan was a famous Punjabi short story writer, the author of Six books of short stories titled: * Rishteyian De Aar Paar * Raat Baraate * Khara Badal * Mehndi Bazaar. * Chetan Katha * Vida Hon To Pehlan Mehndi Bazaar was translated into seven South-East Asian languages, and many of his stories were translated into Urdu, English, Hindi, Oriya, Telugu and Gujarati; some were also dramatized for television. His story Mehndi Bazaar is also part of MIT OpenCourseWare(OCW) South Asian literature and culture coursework of top University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

of USA and selected in Twenty Stories from South Asia. He edited an anthology entitled Asi Javaab Dinde Haan, which won him appreciation. His story Mehndi Bazaar was also part of MIT Open course as mentioned above. The characters in Chetan's stories and short stories are the downtrodden and the innocent rural folk with suppressed desires and passions. Tragedy and irony mark the main elements of her fiction. Complex inner duality of the female psyche is the chief theme of Dalbir Chetan. One of his admirers remarked that his demise had recreated a vacuum in the literary circles. It was about Chetan that

Amrita Pritam Amrita Pritam (; 31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of wo ...

said, "Dalbir Singh Chetan has such a power in his writings that his personified characters actually stir up the sentiments of the reader."

Awards

Kulwant Singh Virk Kulwant Singh Virk (20 May 1921 – 24 December 1987) was an author who wrote mostly in Punjabi but also extensively in English. His short stories were translated into several other languages, including Russian and Japanese. Kulwant Singh Vir ...

Award * Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chetan, Dalbir 1944 births 2005 deaths People from Punjab, India Sikh writers Punjabi-language writers

Biography

Collection

Awards

See also

References