Majha House remembers Punjab poet Surjit Patar

Amritsar, May 21

Majha House hosted a special programme to pay tribute to late Dr Surjit Patar, the beloved bard of Punjab, who passed away on May 11. Since the programme was online, fans and admirers joined from overseas to share their memories of Dr Patar and to read their favourite poems by him. Recalling his association with Majha House, Preeti Gill, founder Majha House, said Dr Patar had inaugurated the Punjabi segment of literary discourse, ‘Aakhar’ started by Majha House in collaboration with Prabha Khaitan foundation. He was also the key note speaker at the Punjabi Litfest.

‘I remember that he was not feeling well but in spite of that he stayed with us the whole day, which speaks volumes about his commitment,” Gill recalled. She also shared that for the new series on Punjab and Punjabi, she had written to him seeking his blessings for the project and to invite him as the main speaker. ‘It was on May 11 that I wrote to him only to find out a few hours later that he had passed away. It was such a shock!” she expressed.

Amy Singh, a poet, said she too had a long and much cherished association with Dr Patar. ‘I did not go to Ludhiana to pay my respects as I do not wish to think that he is no more. I want to remember him as he was,” she said. She also reminisced that music came to him very naturally and he had no hesitation in singing his verse. He once told me that when he went to ‘see’ his to be wife, he only asked her if she liked to sing. On his request she sang a verse of Bani and he agreed to marry her.