GRISHMA RITU - SUMMER ISSUE NO. 121 (May-Jun 2025)

Punjabi Literature in Prospect

Balwant Gargi’s play “Kanak Di Balli” at Amritsar, 2015. Image credit- The Tribune

Modern Punjabi literature is a rich and diverse field that encompasses poetry, prose, and drama, reflecting both traditional and contemporary themes. It builds upon traditional genres like narrative poetry, mystic verse, and love poems, but also incorporates new forms like nationalist poetry and experimental verse. Curated by Dr Tejwant Singh Gill, Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi, the feature takes a look at Punjabi literature since its difficult times during the formation of the Punjabi Suba after Independence, its growth over the decades and the challenging times now due to modern lifestyles and migrations. The influence of Gurbani and the role played by the stalwart Sant Singh Sekhon are examined, while the current status and prospects of poetry, fiction, and plays are reviewed by learned scholars.
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Highlights
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“For Sekhon, Gurbani was not a revealed text that the Almighty might have put at the disposal of the Gurus. Likewise, they were not divine personages who came to the earth to implement some supernatural agenda. They were exceptionally gifted human beings with whom to claim genealogical affiliation of the intellectual sort, was so very creditable in his eyes.”  (Dr Tejwant Singh Gill in “Sant Singh Sekhon - Gurbani’s Emergent Reading”. (FEATURE)


 

“Several decades, swayed by various ups and downs, were required to enable womankind to acquire awareness of her place in life, so far regarded as her destiny, as voiced in folklore. The credit for disseminating this awareness went very creditably to Amrita Pritam (1919-2005), who was the first to voice the acute pain of Punjab’s partition in words still resonating in the hearts of the Punjabi people.” (Dr Vanita in “Punjabi Poetry by Female Poets”. (FEATURE)


 

From one generation to the next, the female characters as depicted in the novel undergo acts of violence, exploitation, and cruelty. All such narratives portray a dismal reality of the fragile condition that women faced in late eighteenth-century British society.

Priti Das: Echoes of the Self: Natural Space and Female Identity in Charlotte Smith’s The Young Philosopher  (LITERARY SECTION)


 

This resistance to conventional biographical forms ultimately pushed Barnes to create something far more innovative - a work that, while exploring the life of Gustave Flaubert through an obsessive narrator, consistently undermines the possibility of a single coherent biographical understanding of Flaubert.

Kathiravan Annamalai: The Elusive Parrot: Reading Julian Barnes' Flaubert's Parrot as an Anti-Biographical Novel  (LITERARY SECTION)


 

In Shaik Asad's story, The Stir of a Leaf, the leaf is an allegorical representation of human feelings that are stimulated and intensified by a slight whiff of the wind but then die down and mingle with the mundane as if nothing has ever happened. (FICTION)


 

Interestingly, The Strangers by Mainak Chatterjee is a relatable story that illustrates the axiom ‘love is blind’ to the extent that one is stuck in the past and becomes oblivious to the present. (FICTION)


 

Hauntingly lyrical poems by Manglesh Dabral, translated with remarkable finesse by Nisarg Patel from Hindi, bring to life the emotions and sensitivity Dabral Sahab’s writing was known for. (POETRY)


 

In Jyotish Gopinathan’s poems, medicine and poetry meet in an intimate fusion, drawing out a tender sensitivity born from the quest to define oneself. (POETRY)


 

D. Sreejith commends A Modern History of Jammu and Kashmir: The Karan Singh Years (1949-1967) as a deeply researched and illuminating exploration of a pivotal era, shedding light on the political and social transformations that shaped the region’s history. (BOOK REVIEWS)


 

Sunaina Jain praises Habitat by Bashabi Fraser as a poignant and universally resonant collection, weaving themes of belonging, identity, and shared humanity. Through Fraser’s evocative verses, the essence of connection and the beauty of existence unfold, offering reflections that speak to readers across varied experiences and perspectives. (BOOK REVIEWS)
 

SPONSORSHIP

This Special Issue of Muse India on Punjabi Literature is sponsored by our member, Mr Paramjeet Singh, Founder, EduSikh.

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Past Issues

Issue:120:Kashmiri Literature Today

Issue:119:Film & Other Media Adaptations from Regional Literatures

Issue:118:The life & work of ‘Padma Shri’ Asavadi Prakasa Rao, a unique Telugu savant with subaltern roots

Issue:117:Westerners’ Encounters with Indian Philosophy and Spirituality

Issue:116:Writings of Anita Desai

Issue:115:FEATURE: Kerala Writing in Malayalam

Issue:114:Post-Independence Bengali Poetry

Issue:113:Contemporary Gujarati Literature