epic poem
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
...
, a creation realized after 14 years of writing. He was a writer, poet, philosopher, and a scholar, who wrote in the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
,
Shahmukhi
Shahmukhi (, ) is a Persian alphabet, Perso-Arabic alphabet script used historically by Punjabi Muslims (primarily in present-day Punjab, Pakistan, Pakistani Punjab) to write the Punjabi language. It is generally written in the Nastaʿlīq Callig ...
and
Urdu language
Urdu (;"Urdu" ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...
s.
Biography
Harbans Bhalla was born in
Pasrur
Pasrur (Punjabi and ur, ), is a city of Sialkot District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is the capital of Pasrur Tehsil and is administratively subdivided into 26 wards of municipal committee Pasrur.
It is located at 32°16'0N 74 ...
, now in the
Sialkot District
Sialkot District ( Punjabi and ur, ), is one of the districts of Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located in the Majha region of Panjab, otherwise the northeast of the province. The city of Sialkot is the capital of the district. The Sialko ...
of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. To his mother's pride, he wrote his first story in the 7th standard; It was titled ''Meri Mehbooba''. After the
partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
in 1947 he moved to
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 ...
, India. Rather than having been inspired by other writers, Bhalla's works came organically from his feelings. Bhalla had a unique writing style: for a given topic he wrote 20 – 1,000 verses and each started with the same word. He wrote more than 14 books which were written and published in several languages.
He penned an
epic poem
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
...
titled ''Peelay Pattar'' (meaning ''yellow leaves'') with 70,000 verses. Peelay Pattar is originally written in Shahmukhi language which is a variant of the Perso-Arabic script used to write the Punjabi language. It took him 14 years (From 1978 to 1992 )to complete the work and he hoped that it would make the
Limca Book of Records
The ''Limca Book of Records'' is an annual reference book published in India documenting world records held by Indians. The records are further categorized into education, literature, agriculture, medical science, business, sports, nature, advent ...
. The first of ten volumes of the work will be released at the
Punjabi University
Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew University of Israel. ...
on 7 May 2013, which is the 83rd anniversary of his birth.
One of his stories ''Tazaaka'' was selected for a
Hindi film
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
. He subsequently received offers for his works to be included in Indian movies, but he rejected the offers. His works were published in newspapers. During his lifetime he was considered a "lesser known figure in the literary circles of
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
," India. After suffering from cancer, he died on 5 April 1993.
Published works
Some of his published works include:
* ''Peelay Pattar'' (Punjabi)
* ''Rekha'' (Gujarati)
* ''Ik Lehar Du Pathar''
* ''Jad Phul Khidey'' (Punjabi)
* ''Zhanjar Dharti Di'' (Punjabi)
* ''Kani Kani Chandani'' (Punjabi)
* ''Piase Rishtey'' (Punjabi)
* ''Nike Nike Ghungru'' (Punjabi)
* ''Nari Ba Roop'' (Sindhi)
* ''Pyarji Rah Anagee'' (Sindhi)
* ''Khoon Patthar Pyar'' ( Sindhi)
* ''Akinchan Sambandho'', a novel With N. A. Vora
Poetic Journey
Harbans Bhalla is famous for his literary poetic work ''peele pattar''which has almost 70,000 verses or rhythmic couplets. He took fourteen years to complete. Peelay Pattar is originally written in Shahmukhi language which is a variant of the Perso-Arabic script used to write the Punjabi language. It took him 14 years to complete the work and he hoped that it would make the Limca Book of Records.The first of ten volumes of the work will be released at the Punjabi University on 7 May 2013, which is the 83rd anniversary of his birth. 10 volumes of the magnum opus, “Peelay Pattar” was released at the 6th World Punjabi Conference by
Punjab Vidhan Sabha
The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, directl ...