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PUNJABI REVIEW
Sach de Sanmukh
About today’s politician, he writes: "Siasat hun desh bhagtan, loksewkan de hathan chon nikal ke, apradhian, rishwat khoran, beimanan dhan kuberan di rakhel ban chuki hai." (Politics has now left the patriots and servants of the people, it has become the keep of criminals, bribe takers, dishonest and the moneyed persons.) He further says that politics has entered the religious places and the clergy speaks the language the politician wants them to speak. It seems Kulwant had understood the ultimate truth of life, i.e., death, "dandanandi maut tan ayee si ik din lain nu, hasdian main vekh, sehmi oh mur gayee." (Death did come one day horrifyingly, but when saw me laughing, went back insipidly.) He had understood the enigma of death by dint of his wide knowledge, perspective and the gyan of Gurbani. The first poem Akkhar (word) indicates the vast knowledge the poet was endowed with. Akkhar means what does not melt and much more. The whole gamut of the poem tells the meaning of life and the inevitability of death. Ironically, Kulwant had been acutely suffering from cancer but never gave an impression of pain and never felt sick of life. The end, it is learnt, sadly came just days ahead of the release of this book, which became his last kirit. The poet was aware of his death and he was not afraid of it. Vidaigi (farewell), the last poem of his last book, speaks volumes of Kulwant’s understanding of life. He advises his relatives and friends that when every body has to go one day or the other, then why not bid him farewell happily. The works of writers, poets and thinkers have the force and strength that impact the people’s attitudes. A lovable read, Kulwant’s book is one of such productions. The foreword by Surjit Pattar, the noted Punjabi poet, is an great addition to the book. Sama te Supne This book by Ranjit Singh Bhinder contains 11 short stories. The background of the stories is mostly urbane, while the dominating theme is the conflict between the Western and Indian lifestyles, thoughts and actions.
In Saanjh (partnership), at a congregation of poets, more the pegs of wine are gulped the more poetry comes out. A women poet sitting aloof wants a partner who is teetotaler. But in heart of hearts, she pines for the drink that other women poets were enjoying. However, she is afraid of her husband at home who himself a drunkard but would not tolerate the partner (wife) drinking. She wants to get back home before the husband reaches. At the end, she reels out her pent-up feelings to a fellow poet who had offered her a lift in his car and gets a sympathetic shoulder. In Tin Bhenan (three sisters), the author has brought out the obnoxious side of the character of the so-called rich people in society. The author has the intellect, perception and sharp eye to gauge the societal behaviour and has the ingenious knack of a writer, which is apparent from these stories. At some places though the long descriptions appear flimsy, the stories on the whole are absorbing and one tends to read them in one go. Brahmanu Bhala
Aakhiay
The book also contains the profiles of Brahmins, scholars and followers like Bhai Sati Dass and Mati Dass who sacrificed their lives at the altar of Sikh faith. Iqbal Singh has already to his credit five books on Sikh history and philosophy. Of these five books, Musalman Kahavan Muskil is noteworthy, like the one in hand. The forward of the book is written by former Governor of Nagaland O.P. Sharma.
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Having
The
title of the first story Shower depicts a custom of merry-making
in the US when an unmarried woman adopts a child. A girl from India
studying in the US describes on phone the happening of ‘shower’ to
her sister in India. The adopted child in this case was born to an
unmarried girl, whose lover had deserted her. In sharp contrast, the
sister in India tells how their own sister was liquidated by their
father because the deceased had affairs with the son of a poor oilman in
their neighborhood.
