Harbhajan Singh (8 August 1920 – 21 October 2002) was an Indian poet, critic, cultural commentator, and translator in the Punjabi-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 w ...

, 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 ph ...

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 c ...

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.

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, i ...

. 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. 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, ...

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 university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

. His PhD thesis discussed Hindi poetry in the Gurumukhi script. One of his three sons Madan Gopal Singh 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, Guru Nanak Dev University, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Punjab University, Jammu University and Gauhati University. He was invited to join the Department of Modern Indian Languages by a Board of anthropologists and linguists, 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 Arjan Dev, Shah Hussain, Waris Shah, Bulle Shah, Mir Taqi Mir, Federico García Lorca, Lorca,

, Noon Meem Rashid, and Puran Singh. Many prolific poets and scholars did their PhDs under him, including Attar Singh, Tirlok Singh Kanwar, Atamjit Singh, Mohinder Kaur Gill and Satinder Singh.

Honours

*1969: Sahitya Akademi Award, Sahitya Akademi, India, for ''Na Dhuppe Na ਛਾਂਵੇਂ'' * 1987: Kabir Samman – one of the highest literary honours in India given by the Madhya Pradesh Government. * 1994: Saraswati Samman – award for literary excellence in India, in * 1994: List of Sahitya Akademi fellows, Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, 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

Bibliography

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