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West Punjabi Poetry
- Ustad Daman to Najm Hussian Syed
By Safir Rammah
The article focuses on the Punjabi
poetic tradition that developed in West Punjab following the region’s
partition in 1947. It examines the works of poets such as Ustad Daman,
Sharif Kunjahi, Ahmad Rahi, Munir Niazi, and Najm Hosain Syed by situating
them in the context shaped by religious segregation, literary isolation,
and the lack of state patronization in West Punjab. The survey ends with a
brief exploration of regional poetry in West Punjab.
Sharif Kunjahi - Serving
His Language
By Safir Rammah
IN a short span of less than one year, the
Punjabi language has lost some of its brightest stars: Amrita Pritam,
Munir Niazi and now Sharif Kunjahi.
As a poet, prose writer, teacher, research scholar, linguist,
lexicographer and translator, Sharif Kunjahi served the Punjabi language
with unwavering dedication throughout his long and productive life in many
more ways than his eminent co-travellers. The modern era of Punjabi
literature, as far as Muslims’ contribution to it is concerned, began with
Sharif Kunjahi, and with his death the last living link to the early days
of modern Punjabi literature stands severed.
Amrita Pritam: A Restless Cloud
Safir Rammah
Amrita Pritam, the eminent Punjabi
poetess, novelist and short story writer and an outstanding literary
figure of South Asia, passed away quietly in her sleep at her residence,
25 Hauz Khas, New Delhi, during the afternoon of October 31, 2005. With
her demise, a golden era of Punjabi literature, of which she was the
shining light, came to an end. Before she made her mark on the scene of
Punjabi literature, the voice of Punjabi women was either weaved into epic
love stories by the classical Punjabi poets who were all male or was
hidden behind certain forms of Punjabi folk songs that have anonymously
given expression to women feelings for many centuries. Amrita Pritam
single handedly changed this forever.
Punjabi books in 2005: Promoting language and literature
Safir Rammah
There was a time in Lahore in the early 50s
when publishing a Punjabi book, establishing a Punjabi organization of a
few diehard Punjabi writers, bringing out a Punjabi magazine and other
such activities....
Status of Punjabi in Pakistan
Safir Rammah
Punjabi is the mother tongue of the majority
of people in Pakistan. According to 1981 census, the last census for
which the figures are available, Punjabi (including Saraiki, Hindko and
other variations) is the “commonly spoken in the household” language for
60.43 per cent Pakistanis, followed by Pushto for 13.14 per cent, Sindhi
for 11.77 per cent, Urdu for 7.60 per cent and Baluchi for 3.02 per cent.
Yet, Punjabi has no official status either in Pakistan or in West Punjab.
The medium of teaching in government and private schools in West Punjab is
Urdu and, to a lesser extent, English. There is not a single Punjabi
medium school in Pakistan, as compared to 36,750 Sindhi medium schools in
Sindh and 10,731 Pushto medium schools in the NWFP, per a study in 2001.
Except for a very small number of writers and activists, Punjabis are
illiterate in their own language – they can neither read nor write
Punjabi. The rich tradition of Punjabi literature, going back to the 12th
century AD when Baba Farid composed his poetry in a highly developed and
sophisticated Punjabi language, has been forgotten. Among the educated
classes of Punjabis, instead of pride and affection, contempt and shame
for their culture and language is commonly observed.
Shiv Kumar Batalvi: Life and Poetry
Safir Rammah
The life and poetry of Shiv Kumar Batalvi -
the most popular modern Punjabi poet and the youngest recipient of
Shahitya Academy Award in 1967 - has been the subject of a large number of
books and magazine articles, mostly written in Punjabi. Yet, a reliable
and coherent study of his life has not come to light. The authors have
attempted to put together a broad outline of Shiv’s life through detailed
review of relevant published material, by interviewing a number of his
contemporaries and family members and by conducting background research on
people and places and the social and literary environment that shaped
Shiv’s life and poetry. The authors also present an overview of Shiv’s
poetry, highlighting its versatility and deep roots in Punjabi literary
traditions. The authors have identified the main reason behind the
extraordinary popularity of Shiv as his exceptional capability to embody
the collective psyche of Punjabis and their traditional cultural identity
in his poetry.
A FEW WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE
Safir Rammah
The Punjabi literature produced on both
sides of the Punjab border since partition is surprisingly equally robust
and of a matching and complementary high quality...
A Dream Year -Punjabi Literature in 2004
Safir Rammah
2004 was certainly a dream year, if not a
dream come true, for Punjabi writers and activists. After neglecting
Punjabi language for more than 57 years since partition, Punjab's
government not only displayed a lot of interest in the language and
cultural heritage of Punjab, but also began the process of lifting the
iron curtain between the two Punjabs. It started a dizzying chain of
events and an unprecedented positive change in the unsympathetic
atmosphere endured by the proponents of Punjabi language, literature and
culture for so long. Only the future historians of Punjabi language will
be able to place the extraordinary events of 2004 in a proper historical
context and determine whether they were a bizarre anomaly or the beginning
of a new era.
Bulleh Shah (1680-1758) - Leading Light of Punjab
Safir Rammah
Bulleh Shah (1680-1758) and Mir Taqi Mir
(1723-1810) shared the same time and space - eighteenth century Northern
India - and were amongst the major poets of their respective languages.
They had both lived during the time just before the proliferation of the
printing press, state-sponsored educational institutions and standardized
textbooks. Today, it is hard to find an educated Pakistani with any level
of interest in literature who doesn't have some appreciation of Mir Taqi
Mir's poetry. It is equally hard to find someone in that privileged group
who knows much about Bulleh Shah.
Punjabi in North America
Safir Rammah
December 9, 1913 marks the date when the
first Punjabi publication made its debut in North America. That day the
Ghadar Party in California, newly formed by the Indian students at
Berkeley and Punjabi farmers in the Bay area, began publishing the Punjabi
edition of Hindustan Ghadar from its printing press at 436 Hill Street in
San Francisco. The English and Urdu editions had started publication a few
months earlier.
Punjabi Literature in 2003: Winds of Change
Safir Rammah
While surveying Punjabi publications
of the year 2003, it is hard to ignore a noticeable positive change in the
prevailing adverse environment for Punjabi language in Pakistan. Since
Punjabi language has been deprived of any official patronage, recognition
or status by the federal and provincial governments, publications in
Punjabi language not only represent creative talents of the writers, they
also signify the struggle against all odds of a handful of activists,
writers and publishers to keep the Punjabi language alive at the literary
level. Any discussion on Punjabi books will be incomplete without a review
of the overall atmosphere in which these books are written and published
Shiv Kumar
Batalvi
Safir Rammah
Lyrical sweetness - the magic
touchstone of poetry - found a permanent home in Punjabi poetry more than
a millennium ago. While Baba Farid (1173-1266) wrote most of his Punjabi
poetry in the melodious two-line metre of dohras, many major Punjabi poets
that followed him explicitly set the lyrics of their poetry in
well-defined ragas of classical Indian music. Punjabis relate to their
poetry primarily through singing. Whether it is Baba Nanak's saintly
verses, Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain's kafis, Sultan Bahu's baits, Waris
Shah's Heer or Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, Khwaja Farid and Sachal
Sarmast's enchanting poems - the depth and meanings of their poetry are
primarily experienced through the powerful feelings brought to life by a
master singer.
Why Punjabi
Should be teh Medium of Education in West Punjab's Schiools
by
Safir Rammah
APNA firmly believes that the medium
of education in West Punjab's government schools must be immediatly
changed from Urdu to Punjabi. Here are some of the reasons why have we
come to this conclusion: 1. We believe that Punjabi is among the most
viable languages in the world. It is a true statement based on all
pertinent criteria that one may use to judge the viability of a language,
including but not limited to, the different stages of its natural
development that it had gone through over more than two thousand years,
number of native speakers (more than 120 millions worldwide), vastness and
depth of vocabulary, richness and variety of literature and much more.
Another year of progress: Punjabi books of 2002
by
Safir Rammah
2002 was another year of continued progress
for Punjabi language and literature. While in Pakistan, the large number
of Punjabi writers, activists, research scholars and various forms of
publications have clearly reached a critical mass , the quality and
quantity of Punjabi literature produced in Indian Punjab and by the
Punjabi Diaspora, as well as, the increasing interaction among Punjabi
literary circles around the world points towards a bright future for the
Punjabi language that is spoken by more than 120 million people. |
