Harbhajan Singh (8 August 1920 – 21 October 2002) was an Indian poet, critic,

cultural commentator A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole. Cultural criticism has significant overlap with social and cultural theory. While such criticism is simply part of the self-consciousness of the culture, the social positions o ...

, and translator in the

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

-language. Along with

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 ...

, Harbhajan is credited with revolutionising the Punjabi poetry writing style. He published 17 collections of poems, including ''Registan Vich Lakarhara'', 19 works of

literary history The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

and translated 14 pieces of literature of others including those of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

and selections from the

Rig Veda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

Early life and education

Harbhajan Singh was born in

Lumding Lumding (Pron:/lʌmˈdɪŋ/) is a city with municipal board in Hojai district in the Indian state of Assam. Etymology The word 'Lumding' owes its roots to a couple of Dimasa words 'Lama' and 'Ding' connoting 'straight pathway'. The word ''Lu ...

, Assam, on 8 August 1920 to Ganga Devi and Ganda Singh, his father, who was suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. The family had to move to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

where they bought two houses in

Gawalmandi Gawalmandi is a town located in the central part of Lahore. It is regarded as the cultural centre of Lahore. The famous Food Street of Lahore is located here. Gawalmandi is a made of two words Gawala meaning Milkman and Mandi meaning Market. Forma ...

. His father died before he was one year old. Then his mother and two sisters died leaving him without a direct family by the time he was 4 years of age. He was brought up by his mother's younger sister who lived in

Ichhra Ichhra ( Punjabi, ur, ) is a commercial and residential area in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is predominantly a residential and commercial area. Being a very old locality, some very old buildings can be seen in Ichhra. It is noted for its Ic ...

. He was educated in the local DAV School and was a top student from a very early age. In his educational ventures, he was among the top three in Punjab but had to stop his studies for lack of money. He took up odd jobs as a sales-boy at a Homoepathic Chemist Shop in

, as a lower-division clerk with the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in New Delhi and then as an Assistant Librarian in Khalsa School, New Delhi. Singh completed his higher education without going to college, he had two degrees in English and Hindi Literature, both from the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. His PhD thesis discussed Hindi poetry in the

Gurumukhi Gurmukhī ( pa, ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). It is used by Punjabi Sikhs to write the language, commonly r ...

script. One of his three sons

Madan Gopal Singh Madan Gopal Singh (b 1950, Amritsar) is an Indian composer, singer, lyricist, actor, screenwriter, film theorist, editor and polyglot. He is currently Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi while on leave from Satyaw ...

is a well-known singer and scholar.

Career

He started his academic career as an English teacher before switching to Hindi and then to Punjabi. He worked at the

as Professor Emeritus until he retired in 1984. He visited and gave lectures at many prestigious universities and institutions including the

Indian Institute of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Institu ...

Guru Nanak Dev University The university is Entitled by University Grants Commission to offer higher studies degree courses online. Guru Nanak Dev University's campus is spread over near village of Kot Khalsa, nearly west of the Amritsar, next to Khalsa College, A ...

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a State university in Jalandhar, Punjab * Panjab University, a public collegia ...

Jammu University Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of , ...

and

Gauhati University Gauhati University, also known as GU, is a collegiate public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established on 26 January 1948 under the provisions of an Act enacted by the Assam Legislative Assembly. It is the oldest ...

. He was invited to join the Department of Modern Indian Languages by a Board of anthropologists and

linguists Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, including Professor Pritam Singh, who Singh supported greatly until his death.

Influences

He praised Ustad Reham Din, Lala Suraj Bhan, Dr Mohan Singh Diwana, and Dr Nagendra as his most preferred teachers throughout his education. The poets he most admired and rated highest were

Guru Nanak Dev Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

Guru Arjan Dev Guru Arjan (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ, pronunciation: ; 15 April 1563 – 30 May 1606) was the first of the two Gurus martyred in the Sikh faith and the fifth of the ten total Sikh Gurus. He compiled the first official edition of th ...

Shah Hussain Shah Hussain ( pa, ; ; 1538–1599), also known as Madhoo Lal Hussain, was a 16th-century Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet who is regarded as a pioneer of the Kafi form of Punjabi poetry. He lived during the ruling periods of Mughal emperors Akbar ...

Waris Shah Waris Shah ( pa, ; ; 1722–1798) was a Punjabi Sufi poet of the Chishti order, known for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is primarily known as the author of ''Heer Ranjha'' . Background Waris Shah was born in Jandiala Sher Kh ...

, Bulle Shah, Mir Taqi Mir, Lorca,

Noon Meem Rashid Nazar Muhammad Rashed ( ur, ), (1 August 1910 – 9 October 1975) commonly known as Noon Meem Rashed ( ur, ) or N.M. Rashed, was a Pakistani poet of modern Urdu poetry.Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

, India, for ''Na Dhuppe Na ਛਾਂਵੇਂ'' * 1987: Kabir Samman – one of the highest literary honours in India given by the

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Government. * 1994:

Saraswati Samman The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any of the 22 languages of India listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. It is named after the Hindu goddess of knowledge, Saraswati. The Saras ...

– award for literary excellence in India, in * 1994:

Sahitya Akademi Fellowship The Sahitya Akademi Fellowship is a literary honour in India bestowed by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.Quote: "In his acceptance speech when India's National Academy of Letters (Sahitya Akademi) in 1997 conferred its h ...

, New Delhi – a title only one other Punjabi writer received; Sardar Gurbax Singh Preet Lari. * Soviet Land Nehru Award – a now extinct award highly coveted while it existed * 2002: Dhaliwal Sanmaan – the highest award presented to him by the Punjabi Sahitya Akademi,

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 Indian census, 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the ...

Bibliography

* ''A Light Within: Selected Poems of Harbhajan Singh'', tr. by S. C. Narula,

, 1998. . * ''The Spirit of Khalsa – Three centuries of Interface'', 2000. * ''Sheikh Farid'' (Hindi). Hind Pocket Books, 2002. . * ''Bulleshah'' (Hindi). Hind Pocket Books, 2003. .

Works in translation

* ''Ni Chhiyan Ni Tavaro'' (Rajasthani), tr. by Chandra Prakash Deval. Sahitya Akademi, 1997. . * ''Punjabni Lokakatha'' (Gujarati), National Book Trust, 2000. .

References

External links

* *
Books by ''Harbhajan Singh''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Harbhajan 1920 births 2002 deaths Poets from Lahore Punjabi-language poets Delhi University alumni Academic staff of Delhi University Recipients of the Saraswati Samman Award Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Punjabi Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship Indian literary historians Indian Sikhs 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Poets from Assam 20th-century Indian male writers