Surjit Hans (31 October 1930 – 17 January 2020), also appears as Surjeet Hans, was an Indian writer,

tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...

, scholar and lecturer. He is also credited with being a "

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

" for translating all the tragedies and thirty eight plays of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

into

Punjabi language Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 ...

. His name also appears in "

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

s" and "

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

s" for his research on

history of Sikhism Guru Nanak founded the Sikh faith in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and present-day Pakistan, in the end of fifteenth century. He was first of the ten Sikh Gurus. The tenth, Guru Gobind Singh, formalised its pr ...

and writing novels and poems. Hans wrote sixty books, including ''Mittti Di Dheri'', ''Loon Di Dali'' and ''Mrit Da Sapna'' throughout his life. He became the recipient of a literary honor

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 ...

twice in recognition of his contribution to the

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 ...

and language. It is believed he spent more than twenty years living a "Bard of Avon" life since he started translation work, including '' Macbeth'' which he did in 1955. In 2013, he received an honorary appreciation by the

Ealing London Borough Council Ealing London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Ealing in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. History There have previously been a number of ...

for his contribution to Shakespearean tragedies.

Early life

Hans was born in

Doaba Doaba also known as Bist Doab, is the region of Punjab, India that lies between the Beas River and the Sutlej River. People of this region are given the demonym "Doabia". The dialect of Punjabi spoken in Doaba is called "Doabi". Th ...

area of

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and ...

on 31 October 1930. After completing his primary and secondary schooling, he attended the Panjab University Swami Sarvanand Giri Regional Centre, Hoshiarpur where he studied

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and Philosophy. He took a keen interest in Shakespeare's writings after receiving education from professor Dinah Stock, and later in 1965, he went to

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

, London and worked as a postman at the Heathrow Airport as well as a bus conductor. He stayed there for six to seven years. Hans joined Royal Shakespeare Company and started working on Shakespeare's projects. In 1973, he returned to his hometown and joined

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 ...

in the Department of Guru Nanak Studies where he worked as a lecturer. Later in 1981 he became head of the department, and from 1986 to 1989 and 1990 to 1991 he was a faculty member of History Department of same university until his retirement in 1993. He published his first doctoral project on Sikh literature titled "A Reconstruction of Sikh History" which is recognized as a prominent research among his other work. It is believed he was inspired by

methodology In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for br ...

of a New Zealand scholar

W. H. McLeod William Hewat McLeod (1932–2009; also Hew McLeod) was a New Zealand scholar who helped establish Sikh Studies as a distinctive field.J.S. Grewal (2010), ''W.H. McLeod and Sikh Studies'', Journal of Punjab Studies, 17 (2010): 1-2, pages 115–1 ...

. He was also involved in research work of Punjab's insurgency.

Literary career

Hans chiefly wrote about

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, and philosophy. As a fellow 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. ...

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern 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'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...

, he began translating Shakespeare's projects into Punjabi on 1 January 1993 with '' Othello'' tragedy. As a translator for twenty years, he played multiple fictional characters' roles, including

Laertes In Greek mythology, Laertes (; grc, Λαέρτης, Laértēs ; also spelled Laërtes) was the king of the Cephallenians, an ethnic group who lived both on the Ionian islands and on the mainland, which he presumably inherited from his father A ...

in ''Hamlet'' and Seyton in '' Macbeth'', and is also credited with translating ''Henry VIII'' that was his last work and

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

's ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

''. He also used to write novels and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

themed

and

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

. His prominent publications include ''Mitti Di Dheri'', ''Gallo'', ''Apsara'', ''Pushtan'', ''Harijan'', ''Loon Di Dali'', ''Imtihan'', and ''Sikh Ki Karan''. He wrote about the all ethnic groups of Punjab in one of his research works titled ''

Jallianwala Bagh Jallianwala Bagh is a historic Bāgh (garden), garden and ‘memorial of national importance’ close to the Harmandir Sahib, Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India, Punjab, India, preserved in the memory of those wounded and killed in ...

: The Construction of a Nationalist Symbol'' that appeared in the prominent publications.

Assignments

Hans was employed or assigned to translate Shakespeare's work by the Punjabi University. The university used to offer him ₹8,000 for each

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

. It is claimed that each play he used to complete was done in a time span of six months.

Death

On August 31, 2014, he suffered from a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

but recovered later. On 17 January 2020, he died of chronic condition in Mohali city of Punjab.

Notes

References