Harbhajan Singh (poet)
Harbhajan Singh | |
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cultural commentator , translator |
Harbhajan Singh (8 August 1920 – 21 October 2002) was an Indian poet, critic,
Early life and education
Harbhajan Singh was born in Lumding, Assam, on 8 August 1920 to Ganga Devi and Ganda Singh, his father, who was suffering from tuberculosis. The family had to move to Lahore 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, Lahore. 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 Lahore, as a lower-division clerk with the Government of India 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
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
He was invited to join the Department of Modern Indian Languages by a Board of
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
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[1]
- 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: Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, New Delhi – a title only one other Punjabi writer received; Sardar Gurbax Singh Preet Lari.[2]
- 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, ISBN 81-260-0540-8.
- The Spirit of Khalsa – Three centuries of Interface, 2000.
- Sheikh Farid (Hindi). Hind Pocket Books, 2002. ISBN 81-216-0255-6.
- Bulleshah (Hindi). Hind Pocket Books, 2003. ISBN 81-216-0152-5.
Works in translation
- Ni Chhiyan Ni Tavaro (Rajasthani), tr. by Chandra Prakash Deval. Sahitya Akademi, 1997. ISBN 81-260-0304-9.
- Punjabni Lokakatha (Gujarati), National Book Trust, 2000. ISBN 81-237-3279-1.
References
- ^ Punjabi Archived 31 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Sahitya Akademi.
- ^ "Biography". Retrieved 10 August 2006.
Further reading
- Harbhajan Singh, Punjabi Poet Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: End-century Edition, by Kartik Chandra Dutt, Ramakanta Rath, ISBN 81-260-0873-3. Page 448.
External links
- "Biography with selected poems".
- Harbhajan Singh (1920 –2002) Biography and works at the Wayback Machine (archived 26 October 2009)
- Books by Harbhajan Singh
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