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A Life Incomplete
Hailed as the Father of Punjabi novel, Nanak Singh’s felicity with words and vivid imagination has won him many readers. He has been translated often enough. This isn’t the first time that his grandson Navdeep Suri has translated his work either. Nanak Singh’s better-known work Pavitra Paapi, that was made into a film, too has been translated to much acclaim by Suri alone. This particular work is unique, because the lead characters have been drawn from Nanak Singh’s personal life. The central protagonist, the mercurial Kuldeep Singh, is unable to sift between true love and passion. shades of Nanak Singh’s persona and of his early life. Of course, the story of unrequited love stands on its own feet, even if we forget the fact that is inspired from real-life events in the author’s life. The poignant story of love, lust, sacrifice, compassion and much more shines through beautifully and emphatically.
Thee novel belongs to the pre-Independence era when friendship between a Muslim and Sikh was possible and plausible. Indeed, the novel set in the background of Punjab in the 1920s does provide a chronicle of its times. But the historical facts peppered within the nar rative do not weigh heavily on the storyline. It first and foremost remains an engaging tale of human emotions and an astute psychological analysis of human behaviour. Once again, there is no jargon to justify or explain the irrational acts of some of the lead players. Rather, subtle nuances accentuate the psychological inflections. Expectedly, the novel holds a mirror to the values that Nanak Singh upheld. So while the principles of secularism pulsate, the writer’s abhorrence for self-styled gurus who preach abstinence yet are not lust-free themselves also comes across. Above all, of course it’s humanity that reigns supreme. To the modern generation, the bond between Saroj and do-gooder Waryam might seem a trifle unpalatable as it shifts many gears and works on many tangents. It must be remembered that the book is set in times far removed from the world of today where few espouse altruism. Those were times of innocence, where a woman decides to marry a man simply because of his charitable work and the man rising above personal desires decides to give a new meaning to their tie. The author’s and the translator’s skill lies in taking the readers to a period gone by yet transcending those times to arrive at universal values of love and anguish, of passion and human foibles, of irony and the quirkiness of fate in deciding and shaping the course of our lives.
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CAN translation do
justice to the original.. can it carry the essence and ethos of the
languages and the idiom in which it is rooted? Each time a translated
work comes into the market these and many other queries automatically
trail a publication. But all the niggling doubts concerning
translations are laid to rest as one goes through the translated
version of Nanak Singh’s novel Adh Khidya Phul. In the book A
life Incomplete, Nanak Singh’s grandson Navdeep Suri lives up to
the import of the original classic.
The tale harks back to
times when life was leisurely. Good Samaritans like Waryam Singh, who
places public good over self interest, is simple and honest. Of
course, there is drama but as was Nanak Singh’s wont there is no
artifice in the portrayal of characters. Even the seductress Parkash,
with a shady past, is believable and credible, if not lovable. On the
other extreme, a woman of immense virtue Saroj, the heroine of the
novel, despite abundance of goodness doesn’t seem contrived either.
Be it the quarrelling mother-in-law, the fickle son or the suffering
wife, the beauty of the novel lies in its etching of characters as
human and humane.