|
Giani Gurdit Singh of Mera Pind is no more
WSN Bureau
 Chandigarh: Mera Pind is everyone's
village now. Decades after Giani Gurdit Singh ji put his pen to
paper to paint a portrait of a Punjabi village as no one ever or
since has done, Mitthewal, the obscure Malwa village, is somewhere
in the heart of every Punjabi. So the sadness was near universal,
the gloom near personal for every Punjabi when news came that Giani
Gurdit Singh ji has passed away.
Mera Pind, of course, will always live on, and Giani Gurdit Singh
will always be the father of Punjabi village life's portrayal
because of his little epic that captured the heart and soul of rural
life as it was in yesteryear.
He was a scholar of great repute, who made significant contributions
in the areas of journalism, politics, Sikh religious studies and
Punjabi culture. He was 84. His son, Roopinder Singh, is also a
journalist known for his perceptive writings and academic
excellence.
Giani Gurdit Singh played a pivotal role in the establishment of
Punjabi University, Patiala. On the basis of his report filed to the
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Takht Sri Damdama
Sahib was established as the fifth Takht.
He founded the Sri Guru Granth Vidya Kendras in Delhi and Chandigarh.
In fact, he was a towering figure in post-Independence Punjab, who
held important posts and received many honours. But what set him
apart from others was his integrity and refusal to budge from what
he held true, no matter what the political climate of the time was.
He authored scores of books on culture, folklore and religion,
having started his career as the editor of Prakash, a daily Punjabi
newspaper from Patiala he started in 1947.
His literary circle in those days included writer Suba Singh and
Prof Pritam Singh. A spontaneous essay, written in his daily in 1953
on his village paved the way for Mera Pind, published in 1961. The
Encyclopaedia Britannica calls the book “one of the most outstanding
novels depicting rural life in Punjab.”
 Well known writer Khushwant Singh had said of Mera Pind: "Mera Pind
is a collection of delightful essays on various aspects of village
life in the Eastern Punjab. The book gives us a lively picture of
pastoral life, written in delectable prose, studded with aphorisms,
proverbs and songs. The one thing which will give Mera Pind a long
lease of life, if not immortality, is the fact that the author has
used the Punjabi language as it is spoken by the common people. The
Punjabi of Mera Pind is full-blooded and masculine." On the same
lines, the online edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica found the
book to be "one of the most outstanding novels depicting rural life
in Punjab…. almost a classic in Punjabi literature."
As the news of the Giani’s demise spread in literary circles, short
story writer Mohan Bhandari says: “I have said it before and I am
saying it now that even 12 Sahitya Akademi awards for this book
would have been less for in it is encased the soul of Punjab.”
The book that defied classification did not win the Sahitya Akademi
award but awards never make a book, readers do. Running into its
seventh edition, the book is one of the best read in Punjab and
commenting on it poet Surjit Patar says: “If you haven’t read this
book, you have missed much of Punjab.”
Mera Pind portrays the innocence and simplicity of the Punjabi
village before the intervention of ‘development’ and materialism.
Paying a tribute to the Giani, Punjabi critic Bhushan says: “Mahatma
Gandhi had said that India lived in its villages, and I say that the
village lived in Giani Gurdit Singh.”
Deeply perturbed over the overshadowing of written word and
literature by West-oriented television programmes, Giani Gurdit
Singh, always felt that the growing lack of interest among younger
generation in serious literature was a huge loss with far-reaching
consequences for the nation.
 "I don't agree that the importance of the written word has
vanished. But at the same time, I don't relish the hard fact that a
big section of the younger generation has somehow lost interest in
literature. Most of the youngsters are interested in watching those
television programmes, which either present the fragmented Punjabi
culture or distort it to a certain extent. Can they tell the message
weaved in "Shakuntala", which is an immortal classic?" Giani Gurdit
Singh once questioned while speaking to some reporters in Jalandhar
where he had gone to inaugurate a bookshop called Browser, one of
the best bookshop chains in Chandigarh run by Pankaj P Singh.
Giani ji was concerned at the way in which different "Birs" of Sri
Guru Granth Sahib were not being preserved on account of their being
"old". On his part, he had undertaken an elaborate research on the
history of "Birs" of Guru Granth Sahib.
Giani Randhir Singh ji had a major role to play in bringing Gurdit
Singh closer to literature. He was also highly respected by Gian
Singh Rarewala. Akal Takht jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti and
SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar condoled the death of Giani ji.
Justice Ajit Singh Bains, Ashok Singh Bagrian, Dr Maan Singh
Nirankari, Bibi Neelam Maan Singh, Prof Navjit Singh Johal of
Punjabi University, Gulzar Singh Sandhu and MP and former National
Minorities Commission member Tarlochan Singh have also condoled the
death of Giani Gurdit Singh.
24 January 2007
|
Read Also