''Sujan Singh'' was a story writer of

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...

Early life

Singh was born on 29 July 1909, to father S. Hakim Singh, in

Dera Baba Nanak Dera Baba Nanak is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, in the state of Punjab, India. It is 36km away from Gurdaspur city, the capital of the district. Since November 2019, a corridor between India and Pakistan has been estab ...

, a town of

Gurdaspur district Gurdaspur district is a district in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of Pakistani Punjab, and the districts of Amritsar, Pathankot, Kapurthala ...

in Indian Punjab. He was brought up by his maternal grandparents and spent his early childhood days in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

. After his grandparents' and father's death, he had a difficult time. He got his primary education from Bal Mukand Khatri Middle School and did his Bachelor of Arts from Khalsa College in

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 ...

. He did his ''Giani'' (a course) and Master of Arts in

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 ...

by corresponding. He started working as a bank clerk. After some time he became a

teacher in

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of th ...

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 ...

. He also worked as a headmaster. Later he became a Punjabi lecturer. He was also a principal in Guru Nanak College,

Gurdaspur Gurdaspur is a city in the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a border with Pakistan. The ...

. He was known as a progressive writer. He regained President of Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha, Senior vice president of Punjabi Sahitya Academy Ludhiana, member of presidium of progressive Writers Association of India and of Afro-Asian Writers Association. He was married to Joginder Kaur. He had three sons and five daughters.

Bawa Balwant Mangal Sen (1915–1972) was a Punjabi writer, poet and essayist in East Punjab, India. He wrote first under the name Balwant Rai, but is most famous for his poetry under his pen name Bawa Balwant. He started writing poetry in Urdu but later sw ...

, a noted

poet of

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 ...

was one of his close friends.

Career

He had a deep understanding of human mind and social relations and he stood for the down trodden and deprived section of the society. Since he was acquainted to world literature, he attempted to write short stories which can be compared with the classical short stories of the world literature. He was associated with the progressive literary movement and its impact can be observed in his stories. He also attempted to retell the stories of Sikh gurus in his own way. Although he is known for his stories, he wrote some essays too. His first essay, ''Tawian wala Waaja'', was published in the monthly magazine ''Likhari''. He published two collections of essays, ''Jammu Jee Tusi Barhe Raa'' and ''Khumban Da Shikar''. His story anthologies include ''Dukh Sukh (1939)'', ''Dukh Sukh Ton Pichhon(1944)'', ''Dedh Aadmi'', ''Manukh Te Pashu(1954)'', ''Kalgi Dian Annian(1969)''''Kalgi Dian Anian''
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

and ''Shehar Te Garaan(1985)''.

Awards

He was awarded the ''

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 ...

'' by 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's National Academy of Letters, for his story collection, ''Shehar Te Garaan'', in 1986. He was also awarded the Best story writer of

by the Language Department of Punjab in 1972. He also wrote three books on the lives of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji (Wade Kian Wadiian), Guru Amar Dass ji (Amar Guru Rishman) and

Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Sing ...

ji (Kalgi Dian Annian).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Sujan Punjabi-language writers Punjabi people Indian Sikhs 1909 births 1993 deaths People from Gurdaspur district 20th-century Indian short story writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Punjabi Writers from Punjab, India