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Obituary

Atamjit Singh

A Beloved Punjabi Teacher and Mentor

tamjit Singh, who has died aged 76, was an academic and a literary scholar who worked tirelessly throughout his life to promote Punjabi language and literature in India and abroad.

Born to Kesar Singh Uberoi, college lecturer, and Balbir Kaur, he graduated from C.B. High School , Ambala Cantonment, and pursued further education in at G.M.N. College , Ambala, as well as Government Colleges in Ludhiana and Patiala .  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Delhi under the guidance of Punjabi poet-scholar, Dr. Harbhajan Singh. His doctoral work was on the Concept of Shringār in the Compositions of the fifth Sikh Guru, Arjun Dev.

At age 20, Dr Singh began his first job as a lecturer at Mukand Lal National College , Yamunanagar. He went on to distinguish himself as a teacher-scholar at Khalsa College and Arts Faculty, University of Delhi , as well as at Guru Nanak Dev University , Amritsar .  He served as a Professor and Chair of the School of Punjabi Studies at Guru Nanak Dev University . He also taught courses in Punjabi language at Tokyo University of Foreign Languages, and gave seminars and workshops at the Osaka University of Foreign Studies. His other diaspora experience included conducting courses in Punjabi and Sikh Studies in Thailand , United Kingdom , and United States . He was twice the Director of Punjab State Text Book Board, Chandigarh , where he led the development of curriculum and textbooks for use in East Punjab at K-12 and college levels. While he was primarily a scholar of Punjabi language and literature, he knew many other languages such as Urdu, Persian, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bengali.

In August 1993, Dr. Singh joined the University of California-Berkeley 's Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies and established the first-ever Punjabi Language Program on a California campus.  In 1998, he moved to San Jose State University (SJSU), where he directed until June 2010 a successful Punjabi Language Program as part of the university’s Department of Modern Languages. He worked with volunteers from the community, high schools in Bay Area, and other academic bodies to establish a solid program for Punjabi studies at SJSU. With the support of community leaders such as Doctors Mahinder Singh Madān, Avtar Singh, and Inder Mohan Singh, he also organised over the years several major international conferences on Sikhism and Punjabi Literature. He was a beloved teacher and mentor to many students in the Bay Area, including at the San Jose Gurdwara, where he taught Punjabi for many years.

Both in India and the United States , Atamjit Singh worked with a number of academic organisations such as the Punjabi Sahit Akademi (the Punjabi Literary Academy ) in India and the Punjabi Writers Associations in U.S. and Canada .  In a message from Delhi, Professor Chandra Mohan, the General Secretary of Comparative Literature Association of India (of which Professor Singh was an Advisory Council Member), paid tributes to Atamjit’s “outstanding contributions to the development of Punjabi and Comparative Indian Literature both at national and international levels.” David Ray of Tucson , Arizona , a well-known American poet and an old family friend, described Atamjit Singh as “a strong link in the web of connections that might heal us all – the many different communities that so desperately need the light of education and tolerance, loving and co-operative engagement.”

While highly respected as a scholar and teacher, Professor Singh’s most endearing qualities were his humanity, gentle humor, and forgiveness.  He was gentle, sweet and generous in his ways. His brilliant intellect did not come in the way of his tolerance for human foibles, or for his respect for religious and cultural diversity.  He combined his soft-spoken ways with active and strong progressive attitudes toward men and women of all castes, classes and races. Amritjit Singh, an eminent professor of English and African American Studies at Ohio University , recalled his beloved older brother as “a gentle lion, whose rib-cage was made of steel-like values.”  He added: “Atamjit was both Blake’s Lamb and Tiger.”      

Atamjit Singh is survived by his wife, their son and large family.

– Jasmit Singh

Atamjit Singh, Punjabi academic born August 7, 1934 Muktsar, East Punjab, died San Jose USA November 12, 2010