Pakistan‘s latest Tryst with Democracy - Promises and Pitfalls

This article appeared in the monthly magazine Identity, June 2013

The community of the democratic states of the world - including India, in the forefront - had already announced the award of the gold medal to Pakistan for establishing its maiden national record: an elected civilian government had been enabled to complete its mandatory term of five years! The traditional three A’s - Allah, America and Army had opted not to play the role of a ‘spoiler’; and it was the meek and humble, often forgotten, the fourth A - the Awaam - the People of Pakistan who gave their verdict in a loud and clear voice, braving all the odds to cast their votes. The ‘Lion’ of Punjab who had been in political wilderness for fourteen long years was installed as the King again: almost, every Pakistani has been proclaiming that the Lion has indeed been ‘tamed’ or transformed during the years of adversity; and that he was the best bet for his beleaguered country. Mian Nawaz Sharif, born on December 25, 1949, has been lucky for the unprecedented third time to lead his nation of 200 million people who are all desperately yearning for peace, progress and harmony.

The seasoned Pakistan observers - in London, Washington and, of course, Delhi - have struck cautiously optimistic notes on the emphatic electoral victory of Nawaz Sharif. “Right now people think he is the best hope the country has,” a media doyenne was quoted saying. Sharif has been given credit for refusing to conspire to bring down the last government and was even accused of running a ‘friendly opposition’. The Sharif family had cast their lot with Zia-ul-Haq in the late 1970’s in the wake of the nationalization of their metal factories by the ZA Bhutto led PPP. There was never a looking back for the Sharifs and Nawaz rose to be the Finance Minister / Chief Minister of Punjab under the Zia regime. He became Prime Minister during 1990-93 and again in 1997-99 when he was ousted in a ‘popular’ coup by Gen. Pervez Musharraf. The friends quote him saying that ‘his entire outlook was changed by the misery of arrest and exile in Saudi Arabia and the UK... to his immense anguish, he was banned from returning to Pakistan to bury his beloved father.’ Sharif had finally returned in 2007 a ‘transformed man’, with even his enemies pointing to ‘his bald plate gaining hair transplants’. Dr AQ Khan, the (in)famous father of Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb, wrote in his column on 20th May, “As far as the position of PM is concerned, Mian Sahib’s long cherished dream has been fulfilled. The signing of the Charter of Democracy, the alliance with the PPP, the ‘friendly opposition’ and the 18th Amendment all have contributed to achieving this goal...”

Firstly, we must understand the complex dynamics of the forces attendant upon General election 2013 to 14th Parliament of Pakistan which have resulted in an emphatic win for Nawaz’s Pakistan Muslim League (N). The ‘Sharif’ Party scooped 124-116 out of the 148 from the province of Punjab - of the 272 seats of the National Assembly (NA), some 20 above the most optimistic forecast. It is further pointed out that PML-N has managed in Punjab to win higher number of seats out of a comparatively lower percentage of vote - 78% seats with 49% votes compared with 5% seats against 18% votes for Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and 1.4 seats against 10% share of the votes polled. The proportion of votes and seats share becomes slightly better at the national level. The PTI success - 17% votes and 9.6 percent seats - has been the biggest story of Election 2013. The PML-Q, the second largest in terms of votes and 42 directly elected seats has been almost obliterated. The commentators have drawn attention to the threats by extremist groups to the liberal / secular parties mainly the PPP and Awami National Party (ANP).The success of the role of media in inspiring people to come out to vote has been positive factor - the 60% turn out, against 44% in 2008, has been the highest and equaled the record of fateful elections in 1970. The backdrop of elections in terms of ‘failing economy, cruel power cuts, all pervasive corruption, militancy within and the unpopular alliance with America over terrorism’ made the people walk to vote.

The analysts in India have not sufficiently commented on the results of the elections to the Provincial Assemblies. The PML-N has secured 211 out of 297 seats decimating all opposition - full credit to Nawaz’s brother Shahbaz for managing the volatile province for five years with a degree of efficiency and reasonable trust among the people - ‘the younger Sharif, with a reputation for of getting things done, delivered several projects in time and faces no corruption charges.’ The province of Sindh has solidly voted back the PPP/MQM combine with more than 100 seats in the house of 130. The PTI led by Imran has won 34 seats out of 99 in the troubled Khyber Pakhtun Khwa province and the PML-N with 13 seats has decided to give him a chance to cobble up the coalition with the help of 14 independents. As regards the resources rich and violence rocked Balochistan, the local nationalist Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party has emerged the largest group in an Assembly of 51 and is expected to lead the coalition with PML-N. To quote a Pakistani student in the Tuft University, “Sharif’s Party has won without a national mandate, causing many in the smaller provinces to call his victory the tyranny of the majority.” The independent observers emphasise that despite disarray at homeland obstacles to regional integration, Nawaz Sharif has the opportunity to make Pakistan, “a safe, pluralistic and prosperous trading hub and shun the path of becoming Asia’s second North Korea.”

Nawaz Sharif, a billionaire steel magnate who has been hailed as ‘comeback king’, has certainly raised a sense of confidence among the business community of Pakistan. The Karachi Stock Exchange saluted him with the 100 index crossing 20,000 points for the first time in history within the first session of trading the day markets opened after his victory. Nawaz was quoted saying that privatization, free market economy and deregulation have been hall marks of his party in government. While he expressed confidence that he could work with the IMF to put economy back on track, Sharif’s two time Finance Minister and enduring adviser, Sartaj Aziz said, “We need stabilization with growth... all we need from the IMF is a little more time to pay back $5 billion.” The usual IMF recipe of cutting subsidies would also not be an easy task. The habit of tax evading among the rich Pakistanis has been historically proverbial. The budget making process must already be under way and would send strong signals across the financial markets of the intentions of the third Sharif regime.

In foreign policy Sharif faces formidable challenges. To quote a former Pakistani diplomat, 

“Finding a balance in relations with India is an urgent task ... setting the tone during the ‘long chat’ with PM Manmohan Singh, both invited the other to visit their respective countries. There is, perhaps, no better time for the two countries to move forward.” - Nawaz

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The Old Ties Must Endure

Miangul Aurangzeb, former ruler of Swat and  prominent politician with Begum Nasim Miangul (daughter of Field Marshall Ayub Khan). He sent this New Year Card to Ambassador Bal Anand in 1994.

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Up turns and down turns of diplomacy

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Triumph and Tragedy of Being Balraj Sahni

This article was published in the monthly magazine Identity, May 2013.

Going by all the tons of authentic accounts available, Balraj Sahni was one of the most decent individuals, the noblest intentioned patriot and the most magnetically charming personality of the 'glitteringly glamorous' but also the 'big bad, mad and sad' world of India's 'dreams-selling' industry of Bollywood. The life story of Balraj (May 1, 1913-April 13, 1973) can certainly be interpreted in terms of the larger history of India. The period of his life indeed encompassed the complex struggle for Independence culminating into 'freedom at midnight' that was tainted by the most shameful killings of innocent people in the wake of the Partition of the country. The first quarter century of India's 'tryst with destiny' was dominated by the leadership and legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, Balraj's personal idol. Balraj's journey of being 'a card holder' to 'a committed cultural activist' of the Communist Party of India can be acclaimed or faulted in the light of one's personal ideological prism.

I had the first and the last glimpse of Balraj sometime in 1969 at an Indo-Soviet Cultural Society (ISCUS) Conference in Ludhiana. Shri VK Krishna Menon, Nehru's once trusted friend but later a disgraced Defense Minister during the India-China in 1962, had been, perhaps, touted as a star crowd puller but his speech in English proved listless and required to be redeemed in translation for the audience, mostly the Punjabi peasants. As a young college lecturer in English, I remember that some HD Malviya had done a reasonably good job in rendering Menon's speech into Hindi. I do recall that Menon had said that the USA would have used Atom Bomb in the Korean War if the Soviet Union had not developed its nuclear bomb by that time and that the strong Soviet Union was the guarantor of the world peace against the imperialists. It was, however, the speech by Balraj Sahni, in chaste Hindustani with sprinkling of pure - theth - Punjabi, which had the audience spell bound. Then onwards, I started taking the 'pro-poor' popular actor more seriously. I had, however, not been fond of watching films considering it a waste of time and money and I was too busy preparing for my IAS / IFS, etc. examination.

It was in November 1972; I had arrived in Delhi a year earlier after joining the Indian Foreign Service. The capital of India was agog over an unconventional convocation address delivered in the recently established prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University …by whom? It was by the actor-activist Balraj Sahni. Addressing in conversational Hindustani, Balraj had spoken from the heart and disarmed the determined protesters of the CPI(M)'s wing of students union. He said, "…l may just say that I could gather courage to speak to you because I deeply love the personality after whose name this University has been founded ... if I had been asked to clean up the floors and stairs of this august institution, I would have felt as fortunate as I feel now to stand up to address you ... when I was a student, our British professors made every effort to inculcate in us that making good films and producing quality plays and literature was the privilege of only persons with the white skin ... today we have film makers like Satyajit Ray and Bimal Roy and our artists and technicians have earned international reputation ... but in spite of all this, what we lack is the fact we are still copy-cats. We still use foreign formulas to make our films ... Today we are again in need of a Mahatma Gandhi who could inspire us to give up the impulses and instincts of the slavish mentality and embrace the ideals and values rooted in the culture of freedom..." Balraj carried the day with his sincerity and his straightforwardness; he concluded quoting the lines of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, “Blessed are those who serve the masses; mingle and rejoice with them/ The dust of feet of toilers is sacred for face and forehead; All the waves of desires are calmed by serving humanity.”

Balraj Sahni and Damyanti, 1936

Balraj has written at length and with a lot of relish about his family and friends in Rawalpindi; his education in Lahore and travels in the pre-partition Punjab. Born after five sisters (only two had survived), Balraj's original name Yudhishthira had to be discarded, being difficult to pronounce, and the family was overprotecting towards him. He was admitted initially in the orthodox Gurukul Ashram School but he protested successfully in getting himself shifted after three years to the more modern DAV School. .He passed matriculation in 1928, standing second in the district and earning a scholarship. He was deeply impressed by Prof. Jaswant Rai, a liberal minded teacher in the local DAV Intermediate College, who was also a good friend of the family. He travelled to Lahore in Dec. 1929 to listen to Nehru who, as the youthful President of the Congress Session, had bravely announced the adoption of  'goal of Pooran Swaraj - Complete Independence' of India. Defying family pressure for joining a professional degree course, Balraj joined Govt. College, Lahore and completed BA (Honors) followed by MA in English in 1934. Having no other option in hand, he reluctantly joined, for some time, the reasonably flourishing family business of 'import and export'. Meanwhile in December 1936, Balraj's marriage was solemnized with Damyanti (Dammo), the youngest sister of Prof. Jaswant Rai. In spite of the severest opposition of his father, Balraj and Damyanti departed from home in September 1937 to 'try their luck' in the wide world in the field of their natural interests - literature and art of theatre.

After a short unsatisfactory spell of attempts in writing and theatre in Lahore, they moved to Calcutta. Balraj was helped to take up a teaching job in Tagore's Shanti Niketan at fifty rupees per month. They found the literary and artistic atmosphere of the place quite consoling and reassuring. Balraj has candidly written about Tagore's advice to him that he should adopt mother tongue, Punjabi, for his literary expression instead of hankering after English or Hindi. He could not fully appreciate Tagore's advice at that time. Balraj and Damyanti became parents to a son, Parikshit, in July 1939. They escaped to serve in Gandhi Ji's Sevagram for the 'Naee Taleem'. Lionel Fielding, Director General All India Radio, during his visit to Gandhi Ji, impressed upon the Mahatma that Balraj could better work for the new India section in the BBC to be established in the wake of the need for broadcasts to Indian Defense Forces serving in the far flung areas of the world. The Sahnis soon set sail for Britain and had a life transforming time there till 1944. Both become dedicated followers of Marxist philosophy, thanks to their closer friendship with the British communists, progressive thinkers and writers like Harold Laski, TS Elliot, George Orwell, etc.

The chance meeting in Srinagar with Chetan Anand, an old friend since college days in Lahore, resulted in an offer of acting in his film, Neecha Nagar. They soon became part of the Indian Peoples Theatre (IPTA) and inducted for roles in several plays and the film Dharti Ke Laal. The role for Dammo in Prithvi Theatre production Deewar made her a star. When things had just started looking up for them, the sudden death of Dammo in April 1947 devastated Balraj's life. He even blamed himself for being neglectful and insensitive towards his young and most talented life partner. The catastrophe of Partition deprived the Sahni family of their home and hearth. Back in Bombay, Balraj struggled for work; he scripted and acted in a highly 'popular' play, Jadoo Kursi Ka - the Magic of Chair, reflecting the line of the Communist Party - making fun of policies of the Nehru Government. Balraj was later full of remorse about this play and made sure that all its copies are destroyed!

Do Bigha Zamin, 1953

After resisting pressure of relatives, he got married in March 1949 to Santosh (then divorced), his first cousin, who was his love of early youth. He had to undergo imprisonment for several months for his activities as a communist. He was completely broke: some relief came when he wrote the screen script of Chetan's Baazi, 1951 and dubbed a Russian film with Santosh (Toshi). The making of Do Bigha Zamin - Two Acres of Land - in 1953 by Bimal Roy changed it all for Balraj. He, at long last, arrived as the screen super star of a different kind of dazzling brilliance: by his sincerest portrayal of a rickshaw puller. He had worked in 10 films between 1944 and 1954. The number was impressive 125 for the next two decades of his life, including many commercial hits. He had flowered as the finest character actor - Kabuliwallah, '61; Haqeeqat, '64; Waqt, '65 and his swan song classic on the theme of Partition, Garam Hawa - the Hot Breeze - '73 are among his many ever green great films.

Kabuliwala, 1961

Garam Hawa, 1973

Once when asked about his greatest ambition in life, Balraj had replied, "Oh, I wish I had been a beloved poet of people...” He was quintessentially an artist yearning to express his abundant love of humanity and unfathomable beauty of nature in its myriad manifestations. He was a dream merchant who was ever eager to share his passion for life with the lowliest in life: his heart was always beating for the most deprived and mind ever trying to understand root causes of injustice in society. He had turned to scientific socialism via the routes of Tagore's universal humanism and Gandhi's path of the basic commonality of the morality of all religions and an impeccable faith in nonviolence.

With brother Bhisham Sahni, 1940s

With son Parikshit Sahni

Finally, fully convinced of Tagore's advice, he had determined to make a mark by writing in mother tongue, Punjabi. There are 13 books by Balraj published in Punjabi; four in Hindi and occasional essays, belle letters and columns for daily news papers of different languages. Balraj's Meri Filmi Atamkatha was first serialized in popular Punjabi monthly, Preet Larhi. His ambitious novel, A journey, a Story remained unfinished due to his sudden death by heart stroke. The autobiographical overtones in all his writings make them authentic, colorful and extremely readable. He had become a regular traveler to Punjab in the last decade of his life and dreamt of living in Punjab as a full time author of Punjabi. He enjoyed close personal friendship with all the prominent writers of Punjabi and was a steadfast crusader for the cause of Punjabi language. His book Samen di Pairh - Footprint of Time - has a deeply touching and prophetic interview, circa 1969, with novelist Nanak Singh on the communal-linguistic conundrum of Punjab. The two giant and full blooded Punjabis were dismissive of creation of a shrunken state on the false premises of language and culture.

It was again on the 1st of January this year, as since my many years in retirement in Delhi, that I attended the day long annual Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) function. The theme for the year long celebration of the birth centenary of Balraj was unveiled with the release of SAHMAT publication Balraj & Bhisham Sahni - Brothers in Political Theatre. I realized how the name Balraj forgetting his original name, Yudhishthira, had become a metaphor for the most decent values in life in a nation which has witnessed a steep and sharp decline in public morality and integrity at the altar of pursuit of political power. Tears trickled in my eyes remembering another Balraj, a Thanedar - Police Inspector- of my home town of Ahmedgarh. As a lecturer in college in Bathinda, I spent a month with him in his dormitory in the Police Lines. I noted that all his colleagues called him Sahni Sahib for his high qualities of character and excellence in the tough profession. Interestingly, Balraj was the personal hero of my mentor - my school teacher, Ashni Kumar (1916-99, born in Gujrat of legendary Sohni), a skeletal giant of knowledge, a Nehruvian like Balraj who taught me that Karl Marx could have been a reincarnation of Gautama Buddha for the modern epoch! And, I had been lucky to roam about in the streets of Balraj's 'Pindi as a representative of India!!

It is well known that Balraj loved the 'city beautiful'; many senior Chandigarhians would tell tons of charming tales of his visits here. Master Sohan Lal Bansal, the legendary teacher of Mathematics and a dedicated Comrade, shared with me how Balraj had walked into his house in February 1971 while on a campaign for Amarnath Vidyalankar for the Parliamentary elections. He was indeed overwhelmingly polite, without the slightest sign of any fuss or airs. Looking from the windows, he complimented Master Ji for the blessings of sun light and green trees and quiet atmosphere around his home, the real luxuries mostly denied to him in big city. It was an uphill task how to escort Balraj to the venue of public meeting, without the crowds taking him a hostage on the roads. Instead of Master Ji, as asked for by Balraj, guarding him against milling crowds, it was Balraj who had to help in tracing Master Ji on the way to the venue of his speech! My Guru in Foreign Service, another 'Pindian Sahni' who has been living for decades in the city would certainly have many more authentic anecdotes of the darling magician of the masses, Balraj. The centuries have to await when the angelic human beings, like Balraj, visit the planet earth ... the world indeed remembers you most sincerely, Balraj, on your 100th birthday!!

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Further links:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balraj_Sahni
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0756379/ 
• Balraj Sahni’s Convocation Address at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1972
• Balraj Sahni Autobiography
• WorldCat book list of author Balraj Sahni
• http://anuradhawarrier.blogspot.in/2011/04/greats-balraj-sahni.html

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A Memorable Literary Festival

Dr S. Tarsem being honored by Ambassador Bal Anand with a special commemorative Cap bearing prints of autographs of national leaders and a Red Shirt with insiginia, 'lover of books'

A well attended literary event was organised on 24th March in Barnala by the various Writers' bodies and the Punjab Welfare Association for the Blind to felicitate and honor eminent Punjabi writer and scholar Dr S. Tarsem on his 70th birth day.

Identity, a popular cultural monthly published from Chandigarh, had carried my article of tribute in its issue of last December dwelling on the sterling and versatile contribution of Dr Tarsem as a popular poet, a respected scholar-critic and a forceful prose writer.

Dr Tarsem has been conferred many prestigious awards as an inspiring professor and for his high quality literary output in spite of being visually challenged. Dr Tarsem's large circle of friends from the literary community and admirers from all walks of life including high dignitaries thronged to the spacious Green Palace in the city of Barnala famous for the historic tradition of literary activities by energetic and progressive local Sahit Sabhas since the PEPSU times. The city is once again proud to be the District Headquarters.

The highlight of the function was the release of the 450 page Abhinandan Granth - The book of honor - titled, "Dr S.Tarsem, Sangharash te Sirjana - the Struggle and Creativity”, edited by Mitter Sain Meet. The quality publication is indeed a collector’s item with 64 additional pages in color depicting the milestones of Tarsem's life and virtually the 'Who is Who' of Punjabi literature including all those who have contributed articles on his many faceted personality. Identity feels proud that its December issue article has been given the pride of place at number one in 104 learned articles.

The occasion was also utilised to release the Hindi edition of Tarsem's celebrated autobiography, 'Dhritrashtra' published by National Book Trust of India. Six other writers were also honored by various   Memorial Literary Trusts. The atmosphere at the function - a veritable Sahit Mela - was indeed so perfectly enjoyable for the writers, lovers of literature and cultural activists.

Friends and admirers of Tarsem Ji, salute him once again and wish him a good health and many more vigorous years of profound literary creativity, of love of humanity and 'living life like a light house'!

The SAARC Pilgrims’ Progress - in the Taj City

“Let governments keep playing devious political games;

Allow all diplomats to craft tons of cunningly noble documents;

Let us - we, the poets, painters, musicians, dancers and dreamers -

Come forward to celebrate Love of creativity in humanity ...”

It was indeed the above passionate inner awakening - adopted as a resolution at the SAARC Writers Conference in April 2000 - which became the motivational mechanism for ‘an immaculate conception’ of the noble idea resulting in the ‘natural birth’ of Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL). The chosen person by the Destiny of SAARC for the instrumentality of this challenging task was the steel-willed Ajeet Caur - born (in 1934) in legendary Lahore, with her new nest in New Delhi. She had been cherishing for years the dream of a forum of friendship for all the writers and artists who had been desperately ‘dying’ to come together in friendship and goodwill and restore the disrupted emotional human bonds of the civilizational harmony of South Asia. 

Ajeet Caur, a powerful voice in Punjabi literature and a formidable activist for legitimate cultural causes, had known how to persist and push in the intricate corridors of bureaucratic and political power for opening the windows of opportunities for the writers and artists of South Asia to chirp together. To quote her, “Times were turbulent in the SAARC region... Peace in these disturbed times is always a mad dream... (but her endeavors) grew into a full-fledged movement over the years, maturing into the first ever SAARC Writers Conference in April 2000... laying the foundation of cultural connectivity through interaction of creative minds and paving way for understanding and respecting the ‘otherness’ of others... FOSWAL was elevated to Apex Body at SAARC at the Summit in January 2002.” 

Thanks to the lifelong commitment, vision and devotion of Ajeet Caur - honored with Padma Shri for her role - FOSWAL has admirably organized - in India and other SAARC countries - 42 Major cultural and literary festivals. The themes have included the seminal subjects of Buddhism, Sufism, Folklore, gender-bending, environment, etc., inviting eminent and promising writers, artists and activists of different persuasions. The medium of films, theatre, visual / performing arts have also been promoted. An ambitious program of translations and publishing of anthologies of poetry and other categories of literature in the eight SAARC countries has been a great success. The quarterly SAARC journal Beyond Borders has earned a great reputation for the range and quality of its contents. Meanwhile the FOSWAL has kept commissioning eminent scholars to edit region, language, topic and literary genre specific anthologies of writings from all the SAARC countries. The SAARC Library of Literature is another pioneering effort of FOSWAL.

The Festival of SAARC literature held in Agra on 10-12 March, 2013 has carried forward the tradition of high quality manifestations of mutual appreciation of cultural and literary traditions. The theme of the conference was - ‘The Articulation of Environmental and Ecological Concerns in Contemporary South Asian Literature’ - the countries were well represented with distinguished delegates from Afghanistan(12); Bangladesh(10); Bhutan(6); India(60); Maldives(2); Nepal(14); Pakistan(25) and  Sri Lanka(10). The Conference was inaugurated by Dr Suresh K. Goel, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations preceded by a thought provoking welcome address by Ajeet Caur Ji. Three books including an epic novel by Dr Abdaal Bela of Pakistan were released and 12 prominent participating writers were honored. There were six sessions for presentations of scholarly papers; two sessions of recitation of poetry and captivating performances of folk songs/dances by Pakistani  (Fakiri/Malangs) and Indian (Baul/Odissi) artists.  

It was a great delight and instruction for me to participate in this conference. I had earlier attended the   similar SAARC Conference on Sufism held in Bhopal in November 2011. It is indeed always a rewarding experience to meet and interact on such occasions with so many talented persons from the neighborhood of India. It was a special pleasure to discuss in Agra many matters of mutual interest with delegates from Maldives and Pakistan where I had been posted to represent India. It is natural to look back - after decades - and feel nostalgic about people and places one had known so intimately - and affectionately too! The details of location and owner of the house namely ‘Odessa’ in which I had lived Maldives in 1978-80 was known to the extremely popular Maldivian delegate, Ibrahim Wahid, Commissioner, Election Commission, who is an eminent intellectual and musician. The conversations with eminent novelist, Dr Abdaal Bela and Peace activist-philosopher, Nisar Chaudhary brought back touching memories many eminent friends in Pakistan - the late poet Ahmed Faraz; elderly politician Mian Gul Auranzeb (Wali of Sawat and son-in-law of President Ayub Khan); champion of Indo-Pak friendship writer Fakhar Zaman and other distinguished artists who would be equally admired in India. 

I was assigned the duty of chairing the second session after the inauguration involving the presentation of academic papers on the theme of the Conference - ‘Environmental and Ecological Concerns in Literature’. Prof. Samantha Herath of Sri Lanka and Dr Sudipto Chattopadhyay presented extremely competent papers along with several other participants. Chattopadhyay quoted Tagore, “Looking at the grass-covered quivering earth / in the new light of the harvest month... I search my soul...”. The poet from (land-locked) Nepal, Momila (B.1967) celebrated Himalaya and the rivers in her poetry, “My life is a life of river / calling for open seas. / Your song is song of river/ calling for open seas.” It was nice to meet the young Punjabi poet Gurprit; the celebrated Surjit Patar and Dr Kewal Dhir who added hue of Punjab in this colorful cultural festival. Distinguished poet - diplomat Abhay K., presently posted in Kathmandu, recited his recent poems dwelling on the subtle themes of nature.

The most impressively colorful and the most soulfully committed caravan of SAARC - consisting of its conscience keepers, community of its writers and artists - chose to meet and deliberate in the historic city situated on the legendary Yamuna. It is known the world over for Emperor Akbar’s visionary concept of ‘Sulahe Kul - Understanding among All’ and his grand-son Shah Jahan’s monument of eternal love. They all had prayers on their lips and noble thoughts in their minds for the lasting peace and prosperity of people of South Asia representing a quarter of humanity and concentrated in just four percent piece of land of planet earth!

Bhai Ditt Singh Gyani - the Poet-Polemicist and Scholar-Ideologue of Sikh Resurgence

This article has been published in, 'Studies in Sikhism and Comparative Religion', Volume XXXII No-1, January-June 2013

Bhai Ditt Singh Gyani

The last five decades of the nineteenth century in the history of Punjab had indeed witnessed an epochal and rapid transformation of the social, economic and spiritual domains of the vast former kingdom of ‘the lions of the Punjab’. The valiant Sikhs had been cheated - not defeated - by the dark deceit of the ‘Gora’ - the white British and the tragic treachery of traitors from within. The British had moved quickly to consolidate their position with a comprehensive political and administrative plan of action for the newly annexed kingdom of ‘Koh-i-Noor’, a territory of historic strategic significance to the vast empire of Malika Victoria.

The far reaching fall out of the uprising of 1857 had resulted in several rewarding dispensations - territorial and financial - for the Cis-Satluj Sikh rulers. The confused and demoralised Sikh soldiers who were licking their wounds after the loss of their popular and powerful kingdom were also sought to be mollified. The British administrators, to consolidate their control in a long term perspective, debated in depth the strategy to win over the hearts and minds of the Punjabis, the Sikhs in particular. They apparently invested considerable thoughtfulness in ‘Operation - Peaceful, Prosperous and Loyal Punjab’ undertaking unprecedented efforts to understand the Sikh mind and their energetic creed as a faith distinct from the fluid Brahamanical-Hinduistic traditions. A special space was soon sought to be earmarked for them, as a martial race in the British army - deeply reinforcing their particular physical identity with the Five K’s. 

The British administrators, in a good or bad faith, soon unleashed the ‘game of numbers’ of each faith - and it was never a looking back in the history of India. As could indeed be expected, an inevitable and never-ending tussle on the religious turf - with the innumerable attendant sects and sub sects of each religion and also the explosive caste divides among the Hindus and Sikhs - broke out soon to claim and reclaim the new and the lost religious and spiritual territories - more obviously in terms of the head count. The first comprehensive and reliable census in Punjab in 1881 reported a Sikh population of 1,716,114 - believed to be a gross underestimation because of census commissioner Ibbetson’s definition ‘appearing to be a Sikh’ - with a strong impression among the Sikhs that it had decreased from one crore when they were rulers. The British soon manouvered to slip into playing the role of an umpire - a schematic arbiter - with its own axe of Faith (Christianity) to grind - adopting a biased and motivated, albeit cautious approach in the battles among ‘warrior-preachers’ of the myriad hues of competing faiths. 

The Sikhs indeed faced a complex situation of being caught in the middle of cataclysmic changes of this unprecedented socio-religious and cultural-educational fermentation. The determined and state-supported Christian missionaries had started making daring forays of poaching on the Sikh elite - with the deposed Maharaja Dalip Singh and Kapurthala Princes as their earlier trophies. The large scale conversions to Christianity from the ranks of numerically significant but forever the humiliated and insulted as ‘Achhut - the untouchables’ among Hindus / Sikhs sent shock waves into the citadels of the self-aggrandizing custodians of the local religions. 

The rulers of Sikh states in the Southern Punjab and their attached feudal elements; the new aristocracy groomed by the British and also so many saints-scholars-soldiers had felt the urgent need of an organized body of the Sikh Panth to counter the newly emerged serious dangers posed by the Christian Missionaries and other reform movements including Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ahmadiyas not to speak of the countless rebel sects of the mainstream religions. The result was the founding of the Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Amritsar on July 30, 1873. The body was registered with S. Thakur Singh Sandhawalia (1837-1887), a cousin of deposed Maharaja Dalip Singh, as President, and Prof Gurmukh Singh (1849-1898), Bhai Ditt Singh Gyani, Bhai Mayia Singh (1862-1928) and Bhai Jawahir Singh (1859-1910) as the other office bearers. Prof Gurmukh Singh as secretary and Giani Ditt Singh as in-charge of the office worked day and night to spread the mission of the Sabha. The Sabha was, however, soon rocked by differences. The immediate cause of rift was over Baba Khem Singh Bedi (1832-1905), a descendant of the first Guru, seating himself over the ‘mattress’ adjacent to the Granth Sahib and receiving ‘obeisance’ - ‘Matha Tekna’. The reform-minded group of Gurmukh Singh, Ditt Singh and Jawahir Singh parted ways and launched a parallel Singh Sabha in Lahore on November 2, 1879 with the avowed aims of undertake the contingent necessary reforms in restoring the pristine character and practices in strict conformity of the teachings of the most exalted Shri Guru Granth Sahib - the Living-Eternal-Guru. The war of words - and even court battles raged between the Amritsar and Lahore Sabhas for many years till the main protagonists passed away, within a couple of years of each other, at the turn of the century.

The life of Bhai Ditt Singh (b. April 21, 1850; d. September 6, 1901), the first to qualify formally the degree of ‘Gyani’ from the Oriental college, in the first ever examination held in 1878, is an inspiring saga of immense scholarship and dedicated service in the cause of the Sikh Panth during a very controversial and challenging period. He was born in a pious Ravidasia family - a low caste according to the practice of prevailing norms of social order - and his father Divan Singh was known as a Sant for his piety. Himself an admirer of the liberal and free-spirited Gulabdasia sect, his father sent him at the age nine years to be educated in the Dera in Teor, near the town of Kharar. Ditt Singh studied diligently for about seven years learning the various traditional studies in Gurmukhi, including grammar, prosody, Vedanta, Niti shastra, etc. Then he shifted to the main center of the Gulabdasis at Chathiawala, near Kasur and was soon initiated as an independent preacher. The contact with Jawahar Singh, a former Gulabdasia, who had joined the Arya Samaj led Ditt Singh also into this new wave organization. The two friends were soon drawn into Sikh fold by Bhai Gurmikh Singh, an educated activist for reforms in Sikhism and Ditt Singh’s life was transformed for ever for his most luminous scholarly contribution to the Sikh resurgence.

Apart from being one of the leading lights of the Singh Sabha movement, Ditt Singh was in the unique category of his own for inspiring the Sikh youth to follow the path of knowledge and being the pioneer to promote Punjabi language and literature. He was a crusader for establishing educational institutions and played a crucial part in the establishment of the Khalsa College in Amritsar. He pioneered, in close collaboration with Prof Gurmukh Singh, publication of journals and newspapers in Punjabi for social and spiritual awakening of Punjabis. He was amazingly prolific in his journalistic, literary and religious writings. According to Pritam Singh, a senior civil servant who retired in 2000, and has since been making Herculean efforts to retrieve and laboriously edit / publish the complete works of Bhai Ditt Singh, Giani Ji wrote 72 books - 60 in exquisite traditional poetry. The available works have been classified as consisting of the eight authentic accounts of the Sikh martyrs; seven biographies of the Sikh Gurus and twenty five didactic booklets and declamatory brochures explaining at length the Gurmat point of views on the raging controversies of his time. He has employed his immense talent as a poet and prose stylist in all his works. He was indeed a precursor and path finder for the entire next generation of Punjabi writers in the line of Bhai Veer Singh.

The folk fame of Giani Ditt Singh in the Sikh circles has been firmly woven around the three debates he had held with Swami Dayanand, recorded to have been held in Lahore on April 19, 24-27 and June 24-27, 1877. The 40 pages text titled, ‘My Debate with Sadhu Dayanand’ details an interesting account of the points and counter points of an extended discourse about the concept and identity of God; Vedas being of divine origin and the attainment of salvation. Giani Ditt Singh dared to assert that Swami Dayanand succeeded in impressing his followers in Punjab because of their limited knowledge of Sanskrit and linguistics and it also explains why he could not succeed in Bengal and southern India. Another longer essay titled, “How are Nations Born and How do They Prosper” dwells on the nobler tasks undertaken by the Christian missionaries in spreading education among all and providing the health facilities. Gyani Ji narrates the progress of Buddhism and Islam and the rise and decline of Hinduism and Sikhism. He quotes Kabir, 

Yahan gyan tahan dharam hai; 
yahan jhuth tahan paap. 
Yahan lobh tahan kaal hai; 
Yahan khima tanhi aap. 
Where there is knowledge, there is righteousness; 
ignorance is synonymous with sin. 
Greed breeds destruction; 
forgiveness is divine.

Gyani Ditt Singh has been rightfully, though belatedly recognised as the father of journalism in Punjabi. The British had undertaken the monumental ‘Project Punjab’ pushing and rushing province headlong from medievalism to modernity. The magical machine of the printing press of Gurmukhi was as much as much an engine new era as gigantic rail road projects. Prof Gurmukh singh and Gyani Ditt Singh and their close friends were all children of the spirit of the time and the saga of the ‘Khalsa Akhbar’, started in June 1886, indeed symbolized the new dawn. Gyani ji who edited 695 issues out of 699 of this first formidable weekly of the Panth till his last in September 1901 must be the most influential wielder of the pen in Punjabi. When Prof Gurmukh Singh was ‘thrown out’ of Panth by the feudal clique controlling the Amritsar Singh Sabha by adopting the Gurmata-religious edict, Gyani Ji stood up to valiantly defend him by writing the most convincing articles in Khalsa Akhbar and succeeded in forcing the withdrawal of the unjust edict. When Gyani Ji published in May 1887 ‘Swapan Natak - A Dream Play’, a satire targeting the false practitioners of Sikhism, the Amritsar faction dragged him to court in a defamation case - the conviction by the lower court imposing a fine of Rs 51/- was reversed by the higher court on April 30, 1888.

Biography by Pritam Singh

It augurs well that during the last three decades, the researchers in the universities of Punjab and public spirited cultural activists have invested lot of efforts to evaluate the multi-dimensional personality and totality of the writings by Gyani Ditt Singh. To quote Harjot Oberoi, “one man can rarely change the course of history, but without Ditt Singh the Singh Sabha might have been a rather different body. Author, publisher, journalist, public speaker, preacher, consultant, teacher and polemicist par excellence, Ditt Singh remained unrivalled in his command over print culture.” The books by Dr N.S. Kapur (1987); journalist-scholar Gurditt Singh ‘Giani’ (1999, Tercentenary of the Khalsa) and Dr K.S. Somal have comprehensively brought out the path breaking contribution of Gyani Ji in the social, intellectual and literary life of the Sikh people. According to the modern secular and Dalit scholars Gyani Ditt Singh courageously faced the personal insults inflicted on him by the feudal orthodoxy and the upper caste elite among the Sikhs. In the words of Dr. N.S. Kapur, “No doubt, Gyani Ditt Singh was a giant of his age. He was utterly lacking in material means but he turned the impossible into possible by dint of his dedication, determination and single mindedness… he steered the ship of Sikh Panth from the whirlpools to the shore of safety like an accomplished boatswain.” 

The untimely demise of Gyani Ji on September 6, 1901 had occasioned a deep and wide spread grief in the Panthic circles. Bhai Vir Singh paid rich tributes to his twenty years senior and precursor in a real sense of Sikh ideology, Punjabi literature and journalism by penning three poems and two touching tributes. A few lines are worth quoting, “Sade vicchon sajjan bhara guunm ho giya, bhai: Ditt Singh editor gyani, panth kare vadiaaee - A thorough gentleman has departed from among us, brothers: Ditt Singh, Editor and Gyani is most admired in the Panth.” The two other poems namely, ‘Long Lasting Sleep of Bhai Ditt Singh,’ and ‘An Elegy of Bhai Ditt Singh’s Pen’ express a deep sense of loss and bereavement of the Sikh community in the death of its most gifted scholar. The fairly longer ‘Editorial Note’ in Khalsa Samachar of September 11, 1901 titled, ‘Qaum Looti Gayee - The Nation has been Looted (Robbed)’ appeals that, “…The loss suffered is irreparable and nor can we ever repay for his services, but the best thing to preserve the memory of the dear departed is to make the best arrangements for the completion of the interrupted education of his son…” Gyani Ji’s son Baldev Singh ‘Sher’ did become a highly qualified doctor but found the doors in India to all the positions commensurate with his qualifications shut in his face - because of his being born in a low caste! H.W. McLeod has narrated how the curse of caste had vitiated the life of Dr Baldev Singh - even at the edge of the world in distant New Zealand!

One hopes that the Panth Khalsa in Punjab and its cultural historians will fully embrace and put this most scholarly son of soil on a higher pedestal of the honor that he had earned by his noblest pen.

Tales of Time and the New Year

          The Persistence of Memory - Salvador Dali, 1931

In a letter of deeply personal reflections addressed to all my intimate friends to mark the New Year, penned on December 21, 1995 from Panama - the country of the miracle of a canal joining the two mighty oceans - I had said, “It is difficult to exactly pinpoint when the concept of the ‘calendar time’ pierced into my consciousness... I think it began with my entry into the elementary school… the Gregorian Calendar, perhaps, started making some sense when I was in my third grade… I, however, distinctly remember that it was in the fourth grade-perhaps, in October 1952 - that I had experienced the delight of solving the sum of the exact age of Mahatma Gandhi - 78 years, 3 months and 28 days!”

The phenomenon of the calendar year and the related run of the events-personal, in India and in the world - have, therefore, been long since an occasion on my part for an intense introspection-a sort of stock-taking conversation with the soul! Around the end of every calendar year, the most pervasive - and extraordinary - feeling has often been, ‘how quickly-and so stealthily - the Time seems to pass…’ The latest example of this perception pertains to my persistent efforts for more than one and a half year to convince all those who should be interested and his innumerable admirers that the birth centenary of former Maharaja Yadvindra Singh of Patiala - born on January 7, 2013 - deserves to be celebrated for his immense services to Punjab and the nation. The tragically-bitter reality could be well understood: If the Congress Party led by Captain Amarinder Singh had come to power in the Punjab, there would have been hundreds of historians and bards around to tell tales of the tall Maharaja!

In this context, the words of an upright Governor, NV Gadgil - he had ceased to be the Governor of his own accord when he said so - at the convocation of the Punjab University in March 1963 - still ring fresh in my ears, “They (politicians) have made wisdom a by-product of power…” Time, of course, would always be on Atlanta’s heels - my own slipping this year into the venerable group of seniors in the range of the three score plus ten came as a mixed pleasant surprise to me too!

As the count down to the year 2013 C.E. started in earnest, the ‘calendar-cognoscenti’ and ‘Time-Watchers’ had got themselves hooked to the ‘end of the bak’tun, the 5,125-year old ancient calendar of the Maya’. The media and the internet dooms-day-dreamers scattered some fear - and much more fun - that the end of the world is nigh - before the North Pole reached its position furthest from the sun on Friday, 21st December! I was strikingly reminded of 4th of February, 1962 when we - as undergraduate students in the DAV, College, Jalandhar - were witness to an amusing hysteria among many faithful Hindus in Bharat prophesying that a rare constellation of planets was all set to decimate this world, in the Mahaa Pralaya predicted in the scriptures of Jyotish Vidya!

Kaalchakra - Wheel of Time - has indeed been a serious subject for the Indian thinkers ‘who evolved, not a linear, but a cyclic theory of time made up of yugas, manvantras, and Kalpas. They were convinced that the universe is without beginning and without end - going on recurrent phases of manifestation and dissolution. According to Vishnu Purana, each yuga-Krita, Treta, Dvaapra and Kali represents a progressive decline in virtue morality, happiness and longevity…The four Yugas constitute the Mahaayuga of 4,320,000 earthly years. Further, one thousand Mahaayugas or 4,320,000,000 earthly years make a Kalpa, a day of Brahma! At the close of this day of Brahma, a collapse of the universe takes place…’At the end of (Brahama’s) night, he awakes and creates anew’!

The most fascinatingly instructive interpreter of time during the times of my generation-ranked already in the line of Newton, Einstein and Carl Sagan in the modern epoch- has been the uniquely gifted genius Stephen Hawking, born on January, 1942. The mathematician-Physicist Prof. Hawking’s, ‘A Brief (made Briefer in 2005) History of Time’ has rightfully been acclaimed as one of the most popular books of our time- particularly for ‘non-scientists’ seriously interested in scientific thinking about cosmology . Speaking-using the specially designed speech generating devices- about life of intelligent creatures on other planets, he says,” To my mathematical mind, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens rational. The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like… I think human race has no future if it does not go into space”

Apart from the ‘fear and fun’ dimension of the Maya calendar which is now behind us, like the 2K terror, another aspect of similar nature about the newly born year pertains to the ‘unlucky’ number 13. The eagerly awaited prestigious annual number of The Economist, ’The World in 2013’ warns against ‘globalization of superstition’. In one if the lead articles, John Grimond explains that while,” Twenty-thirteen: for most people, another year…nothing special... the United Nations says it will be the International Year of Water Co-operation and also the International Year of Quinoa (a plant with edible seeds)” To cater to the hunger of the numerologists, Grimond dishes out that 2013 will be the first year since 1987 to have all digits different from one another.

John Grimond further points out that 20 and 13 add up to 33which numerologists– crackpots too-consider a “highly charged master number”, full of meaning. He, however, concedes that for triskaidekaphobiacs- meaning, those afraid of 13-‘the prospect of 2013 is not so much interesting as terrifying.’ Referring to the roots of the fear of 13 in the Christian and Persian historic traditions, the article also points out that ancient Egyptians, Greeks and modern Jews had myths that 13 brings good luck. It is quite clear that both the traditions share complete absence of reason behind their convictions.

While musing over the mysteries of the history of measuring the ‘immeasurable’ Time, I am transported to my years in Iran. In 1976, the Iranians awoke one morning to be in the new ‘Gahshumar-ye-Irani’ i.e. the Iranian Calendar System suddenly proclaimed Shahanshahi- Imperial’ replacing suddenly the centuries old Islamic 1355 to 2535, marking the birth of ancient emperor Cyrus as the first day instead of the migration of prophet Mohammad from Mecca to Medina. And within less 1000 days of the change of Calendar, the Shahanshahi Iran had been swept into dustbin of history by the Islamic Revolution of unprecedented global implications. I vividly remember my stroll two decades later in the balcony of a much meager bungalow in the Contadora Island in Panama-His imperial Majesty Aryamehr Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was destined to spend there a few of his last months of life –perhaps, conversing with the waves of the Pacific Ocean! The dethroned and hotly hounded by determined enemies, the once Mighty Monarch might have been wondering over the tyranny of Time-and also over tens of thousands of tyrannical deeds of the SAVAK, his dreaded secret police.

It is much gratifying to know that India has been spared any serious controversies of the Calendar kind. The calendar Reform Committee presided over by the noted astro-physicist Meghnad saha attempted to reconcile traditional practices of various ‘desi’ calendars with modern astronomical concepts. A solar month was defined as the interval required for the Sun’s apparent longitude to increase by 30 degree, corresponding to the passage of the Sun through a Zodiacal sign (rashi).The officially introduced at Chaitra 1, 1879 Saka Era on March 22, 1957 calendar has remained confined, in practice, to be legally indicated in the official documents of the Government of India. In the preface to the report of the Calendar Reforms Committee, PM Jawaharlal Nehru had said, “ Now that we have attained independence , it is only desirable that there should be a certain uniformity in the calendar for our civic, social and other purposes and this should be done in a scientific approach to this subject.” The periodic reports in media point out that Sikhism, India’s most dynamic faith, is still to put a final seal on its calendar related issues involving dates of various festivities.

Reckoning and reconciling my own calendar issues, I may interestingly state that my date of birth is only an approximate entry by a very wise school teacher. I do remember the first ever news I had listened to on Akash Vaani. It was over a ham radio set in my village contrived by a wireless technician on vacation from army that I could listen amid disturbing noise, "Ceylon ke Pradhan Mantri Senanayke ki ghorhe se gir kar mrityu ho gayee hai…” The google search has now confirmed PM Stephen Senanayke had “suffered a stroke and fell down whilst riding the police mare ’Chitra’…on the morning of 22 March 1952…” I also vividly recall the excitement and a deep sense of accomplishment when as a student of eighth grade, in October 1956, I was selected to speak on 'All India Radio' school broadcast programme. On the children Day function in School on 14th November, I was awarded Rs. 7 and Annas eight paid by the AIR for my two and half minutes speech - Rs. 3 per minute appeared indeed a kingly-mind-boggling-sum! Time, I must be telling myself, is indeed money!!

While meditating over Time - past, present and future - many, many poetic expressions criss-cross my mind: Time as the invisible but ultimate arbiter of human destiny and Time as a unit of every breath and each beat of the pulse! Time - the eternal traveler; time, the ever present; ever the same; and also never the same!! Cheer, a very happy New Year!!!

*     *     *

The Art of Living like a Lighthouse

 This article was published in the monthly magazine Identity, December 2012

It had been an inexplicable psychological complex with me for a long time whenever I had to undertake a journey from Ahmedgarh, the town of my rented tiny home during my schooling from 1951 to 1959 and my periodic stay up to 1971.Travelling towards Malerkotla, 15 Km in the south, seemed to denote as if I am taking steps towards darkness; while going towards Ludhiana, 20 km towards North, looked like pursuing the Light- in the right direction of the Pole Star and towards some dream destination! I may confess that even when I was a daily commuting student of the Intermediate classes in the Government College, Malerkotla (1959-61), this indefinable impression had somehow got even further reinforced. When in March 1960, I could afford to buy some books of my general interest from the then famous Lyall Book Depot, Ludhiana, I had penned in the inside cover of one of my most consulted books, 'English Idioms and How to Use Them' by William McMordie,“O God, I need thy Light to illuminate this dark life!”

It is, therefore, with a soulful pride that more than 52 years after praying for the guidance by the Divine Light, I am essaying to express my deeply felt thoughts about the resplendent and illuminating personality of Professor Dr S. Tarsem of Malerkotla. He has indeed been for me a personification of a unique human lighthouse in an area of darkness pointed out in the opening paragraph. Dr Tarsem has become an incarnation and a metaphor for super human determination and titanic courage in his epic struggle against the relentless infirmity of visual impairment. He has triumphantly emerged an Olympian hero as the foremost poet, critic and an extraordinary scholar-teacher of Punjabi with an encyclopedic range of knowledge of the world of literature. He intuitively reminds me of the great classical poet-scholar John Milton whose celebrated poem, 'On His Blindness' lights up  thousands of 'lamps' of memories among mine and Dr Tarsem's contemporaries when we studied it in our text book of B.A. titled 'Living Lyre', also mentioned by  Tarsem in his much celebrated a autobiography, 'Dhritrashtra'.

It was September 1984. I was on leave in India from Romania. Punjab was a picture of an uneasy calm and scary confusion in the wake of military action in the Golden Temple, Amritsar. I paid a visit to Govt. College Malerkotla to meet some lecturer friends who had been my colleagues during my own most enjoyable spell as a young lecturer. It was Prof. C.P. Singh of the Dept. of Physics who conjured up an instantaneous poetical session in the lawn near the main entrance. Prof. Tarsem and Prof, Jagdish Mohan Sharma delighted us by reciting their select poetry of Punjabi and Urdu respectively. The next day, I requested an old student friend of mine to record their fine verses for me in my tape recorder. A bond of lasing personal and literary friendship with Dr Tarsem was firmed up soon when he respond-ed, vide his loving letter dated Feb.7,1985, in his touching poetic prose, to my letter of Dec. 25,1984 from Romania. He also forwarded to me his book of stories titled, 'Paatiya Duddh - the Split (spoiled) Milk'. Some of the stories in the collection indeed impressed me for their fresh themes, genuineness of characters and the use of the typically authentic diction of our area of Malwa.  Most interestingly, I handed over the recorded cassette of 1984, still in good audio quality, to Dr Tarsem during my long cherished meeting with him at his home in Malerkotla in November 2011 after more than 27 years! He told me that Prof Jagdish Mohan had died many years back and that the cassette might, perhaps, be the only one containing his highly popular satirical poems in his own voice!!

Looking back and reflecting  over the many years of our affectionate interaction while I continued to move on to the various countries, I must say that Dr Tarsem has been one of my few friends who was always meticulous in responding to my letters and keep me informed about the goings on in the realm of Punjabi literature. It was a particular delight and instruction for me to receive when I was posted to Pakistan (1992-94), his two collections of poetry titled Kirmchi Harf Kaale Hashie and Soohi Mehk Siah Mausam. A number of Ghazals and poems had subtle poetic allusions to the extremist violence and communal fire raging in Punjab and how they were treacherously stoked from across the border. He had dared to challenge the tyrannical forces of darkness. He had skillfully employed the symbols of bombs and explosives, curfew and censure, gun and bullet when the body and soul of his beloved Punjab was being torn apart by those who had proclaimed themselves to be the custodians of the inheritance of the legendary land of five rivers. I may quote Tarsem's lines:

Jis samein ton soch ikk, aaee kiton barood kha,
agg khani tik ke ouh, behndi nahin hai, dosto!

Ever since mind was poisoned with a deadly fire,
Destruction does not seem to stop, friends!

The poem titled, 'Suneha (message), Page 67 of Soohi Mehak siah Mausam' was indeed the most insightful:

Tusin bhole ho, barhe hi bhole ho; tuhanun pata hi nahin lagan ditta ke kadon Washington te Islamabad da computer tuhadi khoprhi 'ch tika ditta giya; te tusin saare Girjhan di joon vich pai gaye, sappan di joon…hanere di joon pai gaye!

It was a touchingly nostalgic experience for me to receive from him, in 1997, when I was in Panama, an anthology titled, 'Aapne Aapne Khambh (Wings of Their Own)' containing the Ghazals by 23 poets of the ilaqa of Malerkotla. The names of Shankar Mubarakpuri (Ambrin uddiie te haase Chhirhkiye /Dharti Phulkari Bana Ke challie); Ram Lal Premi (Ethe tan vasde Sikh jan Hindu jan Musalman / Kitthon milange lok hun Nanak de naal de); ex-MP Bhan Singh Bhaura (Hanjuan sang morhda han viaz apne ishak da / peerh saari umar di lekha chukavan vaaste) and Naaz Bharati (Ai meri ham nafas; zindagi hai kashmakash) transported me to my dream-like days of the school and the circle of the intimate friends of my dervesh Comrade Chacha Shankra Nand Ji. The Sahit Sabhas, local literary associations, were indeed at the best of their creativity and dedication during those 'distant' days! The meticulously researched introduction of the book by Dr Tarsem had introduced me to the promising scholar-critic in him.

And then finally I returned as a pensioner of Bharat Sarkar in 2004 after a long innings of 'lying' abroad in the service of the nation. After completing the process of settling down in my new little nest on the bank of legendary Yamuna, I set out seriously to pursue in the sun-set years, 'what I always longed to do but could not do' i.e. to indulge full time, in a disciplined manner, in the pursuit of 'Three R's - reading, reflecting and writing'. Dr Tarsem has been quick to emerge again in my distinct category of those friends who fit into my scheme of things - ham umar, ham safar, ham khyal, ham khwab - same age, same pilgrimage, same thinking, and same dreams. He had been quick to introduce me to the Quarterly, Nazaria - Point of View - the vehicle of high quality literary expressions published under his watchful and benign guidance. All the special issues of Nazaria, I may mention among those on Lal Singh 'Dil'. Prof. Mohan Singh, Faiz, Hasan Manto, must be ranked among the collectors issues for their excellence of literary standard. They invite comparison with similar journals published by institutions with far more resources at their disposal. I have indeed been overwhelmingly impressed by his prolific literary output since his retirement: it is surely an inspiration for me, 'the Niagara of creativity often springs up and rushes forward when you become your own boss, 24x7!' We have further discovered that we, quite surprisingly, have several common inspirational individuals from my uniquely knowledgeable school guru Ashni Kumar, to the teachers'- teacher Prof. Pritam Singh and the poet-philosopher futurologist Krishan Ashant. I was simply amazed by his deeply insightful portrait of Prof. Pritam Singh in Nazaria and he was delighted to publish my review article on Ashant's swan song anthology of poetry, 'Beete nuun Aawaazan - Calling up the Past' and even couple of my personal recent letters to him.

The first public event of our  literary togetherness was destined to take place in Chandigarh in Oct 2011 when I attended the session of discussion on his recently published monumental book of 496 pages titled, 'Punjabi Ghazal Shastar'. I must admit that having long been a student of the traditional craft, modern practice and the huge popularity  of Ghazal in Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi - not to mention English Sonnet - I was genuinely impressed by this detailed compendium of research and critical appraisal of an important genre of oriental poetry. To read the book was a personal voyage of discovery in the evolution of the art of one of the most enduring forms of poetry, particularly in the background of my having lived in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan where I was privileged to listen to the finest lyricists of the south Asian countries. I had also been fortunate to enjoy an intimate friendship with one of the most respected poet and literary historian, Shri Ali Jawad Zaidi. I am confident that the importance of this scholarly work will be appropriately recognized sooner than later by the relevant institutions in India and Pakistan.

Nourishing an ambition - with the usually attendant dreams and night mares- of penning my autography, I have studied Tarsem's two volumes of autobiography, Katchi Mitti Pakka Rang (152 pages) and Dhritrashtar (308 pages), with a much deeper empathy and extra attention. Katchi Mitti first published in 1990 and as a revised edition in 2002,  covers the period of the first fifteen and a half years of Tarsem's life. The book captivates the reader with its lyrical and restrained prose style, wit, humor and pathos. The details of childhood and early youth of author's life in a semi-rural area of Malwa region are dramatically unfolded. The chapter,  'Sarbala Banan da Sawad - The Taste of being the Best Man of the Groom'- gives a hilarious account of the pleasures and perils of the marriage as they were solemnized in the romantic era in Punjab when there were no proper roads and the engines of vehicles were also quite moody in functioning. The second volume of the autobiography, 'Dhritrashtra', published in 2009, is dedicated to the loving memory of author's devoted life partner who had passed away, at 49, on the night of the Karuva Chauth, on October 8, 1998. The 40 chapters of this work of Tarsem's mature vintage might be considered highly valuable socio-cultural documents and an authentic running commentary on the cross currents of the happenings in Punjab that shaped the author's life during the five decades since 1958. The book has  indeed been of fascinating interest for someone like me who had spent his life during the most of this period in far off lands but had also remained emotionally attached to so many of those very places and people mirrored prominently in this book.

While reaching the mile stone of three scores plus ten years of his life, Dr S. Tarsem can surely look back and forth with legitimate pride and satisfaction over his constant struggle and regular success. The versatility of his literary output, his global circle of admirers, his gigantic capacity for sustained hard work and his nerves of steel in the face of any challenges make him much taller and more farsighted among all those who are luckier to know him and work with him. The title, 'Dhritrashtar' for his autobiography has itself an interesting background  when he had to contest –and he win- an election against his  much admired friend, late Gursharan Bhaji for the post of President of Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha.  He has not hesitated to tell the truth about the evolving characters of his close relations and the sweet-sour realities of family life. He has described, without any streak of anger and hatred, how he and his family were subjected to serious threats to their lives and a few narrow escapes during the dark period of extremism in Punjab. The 21 year long career in Govt. College, Malerkotla, in the words of Charles Dickens, had its moments of, 'the best of time and the worst of time' for Dr Tarsem. The chapter titled, 'Wasiat - The Will, Page 301' tells how Tarsem has categorically instructed that after his passing away, his mortal remains must be donated to the Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, “for transplant  of any organ for the needy patients and the remains of his body should be utilized by the students for their education…I hope that my sons and inheritors would not entertain any doubt or fear in doing so…I shall not frighten any one assuming the form of a ghost-in reality, there are no ghosts…they exist only in the imagination of the sick minds…”

Dr Tarsem's intense and never ending struggle in all his life and his shining success indeed make an inspiring saga for all. The blind and visually impaired people have contributed immensely not only in the realm of music and literature of the world, from Homer to Milton to Surdas, but in ever increasing new area of human endeavors in the recent past. Dr Tarsem has been in the forefront in the forums for fighting for the rights of the blind. He has dwelt on his dream-plan to build 'Home for the Old and the Blind' in his Autobiography. The modern medical technologies have certainly scored notable successes in treating the scourge of sightlessness but India has the dubious distinction of having 15 million, with 26 percent being children out of the total of 37 million blind in the world. The national program by the Govt. of India to control blindness expects to reach its blindness elimination target of 0.3 percent by 2015, five years before the WHO deadline of 2020. The shortage of ophthalmologists and optometrists is appalling, just one eye surgeon for 100,000 people! We need many more determined soldiers of Tarsem's caliber and commitment to wage war against blindness in India in terms of cure and care.

I salute my soul mate friend, Dr S. Tarsem, on his stepping into in the club of senior citizens of seventy plus. I pray for his health and happiness and a more vigorous output of creativity and scholarship! I look forward to my next engagement of enlightened discussion on life and literature with him in Malerkotla, a city whose reputation for me appears to have been much redeemed by his lighthouse persona, his learning, his social commitment and above all his genuine fondness for friends, including me. It is another matter that the shadow of the dark and feudal values of the PEPSU, I apologize, if I hurt someone by saying so, seems to have lengthened to cover the entire Punjab -and to my dismay- Punjab has been more 'PEPSU-fied' than the vice versa during the last four decades. It requires a moral courage to make a clean breast that the further truncation of Punjab was a game of petty politics by the pigmy politicians and had nothing to do with the cause of development Punjabi and the heritage of Punjabiat. I, however, have full faith in the optimistic note in Tarsems's lines:

Koee tarshul vande,
Jan koee kirpaan lishkaae
Magar mein kol apne,
dostee di dhal rakhanga.

They may distribute tridents
or sharpen swords
I shall strongly hold my
shield of friendship

*   *   *

Shri Guru Ravi Dass - Poet and Prophet of Emancipation

The article was published in the bi-annual, Studies in Sikhism and Comparative Religion, Volume XXXI Number-2 July-December 2012, Guru Nanak Foundation, New Delhi

          Painting by Rajni Kashyap

The elevation - in a geometric progression - of the spiritually inspirational stature of Shri Ravi Dass Ji (Circa 1450-1520) from an initial Bhakata - a devotee/worshipper - in his contemporary and earlier Hindu Brahmanical religious discourses to a Sant - a spiritualist par excellence - in the later medieval period and to an emancipator - Guru / the liberator-teacher - in the more recent epoch of democratically determined ethos indeed represents an arduously marathon and excruciatingly revealing pilgrimage of India's challenging tryst with her complex - Varna Ashram / caste system singed - religious and spiritual identity. The defining departure and the path breaking turning point for the ‘revolutionary re-envisioning’ of Ravi Dass Ji - a spiritual and moral colossus yet an incarnation of humility to the extent of even self-denigration - was, however, the inclusion of his select sublime verses - 40+1 in 16 celebrated classical ragas measures of melodies - in the Adi Granth, compiled in 1604 AD by Shri Guru Arjan Dev ji (1563-1606 AD), the uniquely scholarly and divinely farsighted fifth master who was the first to embrace martyrdom on the altar of the ‘freedom of faith and conscience’ in the evolution of the most distinct tradition of making the supreme sacrifice of in the Sikh faith. The rest, as they say, is the history and the ‘tryst with the societal and spiritual destiny’ of independent India.

When introspecting back and forth over the centuries after the decline of Buddhism and the consolidation of the Muslim rule over Delhi and the territories much beyond it in all directions, we find that that the saints of the Bhakti and the Sufi traditions had surged forward to guide the masses amidst the confusion and conflict of moribund Hinduism and aggressive Islam. The spiritual horizons of the entire north-western Bharat were indeed brightened as never before by the several saint–gurus, most of them with the lowly and humble origins according to the so called ‘divinely sanctioned Brahamanical scriptures’. The spiritually most polluted region of Awadh with Benares emerging as the capital of Brahmin ‘Thugs’ plying their nefarious trades by exploiting the names God and the dark deserts of orthodoxy of the kingdoms of Rajputana were indeed dazzled by the songs of light and beauty attributed to the true messengers of humanity, particularly Kabir (C. 1398-1518?) and Ravi Dass. The wandering folk singers were quick to carry far and wide the heart touching Vaani - the verses - of the two inspired masters with abode in Benares, like gentle breezes carry, on their invisible wings, the fragrance to the dark and desolate corners.

The inspiration for a just and egalitarian social order in the heart and mind moving poetical narratives of the various eminent saint-poets would seem to have culminated in the concept of Begumpura - The Sorrow-less City - a very earthly abode proclaimed by Ravi Dass Ji. He was loud and clear to announce his project to make God a public wealth, available to all through purity of heart and the simple means of love: “The Lord is no one’s property; to love does the divine monarch yield.” The entire environment of the various places of worship in India becomes full of Divine fragrance when the accomplished musicians sing the Ravi Dass Vaani like the soul stirring song in Sri Raag, “Tohi mohi, mohi tohi; antar kaisa… You and I, I and You - how are we different? Only in the sense that gold differs from the bracelet, and water differs from the wave. If I did not sin, O Eternal Lord, You could not be called Purifier of sin… ” (SGGS P.93 TR. Nirmal Dass). Ravi Dass made a frontal attack on the empty rituals and discriminatory practices which had polluted Hinduism, “Though a man bathe in the pools of all sixty-eight shrines; though a man worship the twelve Lingams; though he dig public wells and create ponds of fresh water - but if he reviles others - all his good deeds shall be utterly wasted….” (SGSS P.875 Tr N. Dass). He indeed struck a strongly original note in his epoch emerging as a practical social-reformer-crusader, addressing, as if, our own time today. No surprise that the people belonging to the toiling and devoted community of Ravi Dass - the oppressively persecuted and systematically marginalized - in the entire Northern India, in the vast and valiant historical Punjab in particular, were to find an eternal fountain of solace, strength and salvation in the dynamic faith based on equality and fraternity formally launched by Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji in AD 1699.

It has been interestingly a combination of several factors - above all the parameters of democratic polity - that the last five decades have witnessed an era of diligent and dedicated research and scholarship to explore more and more original sources and references relating to the non-Brahamanical discourses on spirituality like the Bhakti and Sufi movements. Interestingly, the life and works of Guru Ravi Dass have been subjects of many new learned treatises following the rigors of modern research methodologies and the over all inclusive approach. The universities of the northern states of India would seem to have been vying with each other to establish chairs to promote special studies on the works of low born saint poets.

There has been a phenomenal resurgence of resourceful Ravi Dass Deras and they have been very energetic in availing of all the modern popular means of mass media like the audio / videos of the exquisite Vaani sung by distinguished artists apart from bringing out attractive editions in various languages, including in English, for the strong diaspora community, of all the verse attributed to the saint-liberator who had roared about and even celebrated his so called ‘lower class station of caste’. The internet facility with dedicated websites, publications and all the other attendant means have been systematically pressed into service to promote the ideals contained in the verses of the ‘divine teacher.’ The birth day of Guru Ravi Dass - now a closed holiday in several states of India - is celebrated with huge fan fare festivities in the Ravi Dass temples with special gathering in the recently consecrated magnificent Seer Govardhan Temple, the pristine place in the periphery of modern in Varanasi.

It is indeed quite interesting and purposeful to examine the various available accounts - unauthentic and unreliable as per the prevailing practice in the medieval times - to elucidate upon the life of Guru Ravi Dass. What can be inferred with certainty is the humble - low caste - birth of Ravi Dass in the vicinity area of present Varanasi and that he followed the family occupation of tanning hides and shoe making. There are several references in the verses by Ravi Dass himself and also by the fourth Guru Ramdas (1531-1581 AD) and the fifth Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606) indicating his caste as Chamar and occupation of maker of shoes and disposer of carcasses of animals. The verses of other saint poets and later commentators further reveal this reality and also suggest the period of his life. Bhai Gurdas (1551-1629 AD) in his verse compositions called Vaar - ballad - contain important insightful references to Ravi Dass. Among the earlier Punjabi sources, mention may also be made of the Janam Sakhi of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji by Sodhi Manohar Dass Miharban (1581-1640) - son of Prithi Chand and nephew of Guru Arjan - mentioning how Mardana would sing Pads of the Bhagats, including Ravi Dass, to Nanak. Pothiprembodh (C. 1693 AD) contains accounts of lives of sixteen saints including Ravi Dass.

Among the early Hindi sources of references on Ravi Dass, the Ramanadian tradition refers to Hariram Vyas of Orcha (C. 1560 AD), the celebrated Bhaktamal of Nabhadas (C. 1600 AD) and the Bhaktirasbodhini by Priyadas (C. 1712 AD). Furthest the Raidas Parchian (C. 1588 AD), The Raidas Kabir Goshti by Sain (C. 1600 AD ?), The Bhaktnamavali by Dhruvdas (C. 1538-1623 AD), The Vaani Dadu (C. 1554-1603 AD), the Sarvangi (SAR) by a prominent Dadu disciple Rajab (C. 1567-1689 AD), the Vani of Sundardas (C. 1596-1689 AD) another Dadu disciple, Garibdas-Dadu’s son-have all paid tributes to Ravi Dass in their works. The single most fact about Ravi Dass - Raidas to locals in Benares - which is totally undisputed - is that he was a Chamar - ‘an untouchable caste, whose vocations included the hauling away of the carcasses of dead cattle, skinning and tanning their hides and making leather objects as shoes etc.’

The verses of Ravi Dass contain respectful references to Namdev (C. 1270-1350 AD), Kabir (circa 1398-1518 AD), Trilochan (b. C. 1267), Sadhna (?) and Sen (b. C. 1290 AD) indicating his spiritual fraternity with them. Acharya Prithvi Singh Azad, himself a Ravidasia scholar with background Arya Samaj, has even opined that a meeting took place between Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Ravi Dass Ji around 1555 Bikrami - 1498 AD. There are ample references to Princess Meera Bai (C. 1503-1556 AD) paying homage to Ravi Dass Ji as her Guru. There are ample references that Ramanand (C. 1400-1476 AD) was the spiritual mentor of Shri Ravi Dass. HW McLeod and other Western scholars clearly reject this suggestion that 'it would be early enough to be his disciple’. It is also mentioned that Sikandar Lodhi (C. 1489-1517 AD) was the ruler in Delhi during the life of Ravi Dass. There are six different sets of dates - between 1376 to 1444 AD - all contested by scholars - to be the year of birth of Shri Ravi Dass. Most recently of all, in 1984, Dr Jasbir Singh Saabar, in his painstakingly researched book, has concluded that Ravi Dass would have been born around AD 1376 to 1414 and that he might have died around AD 1517. There are many references and accounts of passing away of Ravi Dass Ji in a very ripe old age, even suggesting at the age of 120 years. It is safe to assume - for our frame of reference and analysis - that Ravi Dass ji’s earthly sojourn was during 15th/16th centuries. According to the two meticulous scholars - WM Callewaert and PG Fridlander, 'his floruit was at some time between C. 1450-1520 AD’. To quote them further, "…common core to the hagiography of Raidas has been embedded within a Brahmanical contextualization…about (his) rebirth and final revelation of his Brahman status… they allow even high caste devotees to accept Raidas into their own pantheons of saints… the story of Raidas’s essentially ‘Brahman’ nature must have been accepted in the Dadupanth by the early seventeenth century.” They add further, “In contrast to this, the life story of Ravidas in Punjabi Pothipremabodh does not allow such Brahmanical contextualization, containing no references to Ramanand or Ravidas’s ‘Brahmin’ origins. Instead, the Sikhs contextualized the figure of Ravidas by assimilating him into the company of Bhagats who were the precursors of Nanak.”

Apart from the authentically revered Vani in the Adi Granth, the traditional centers of Ravidas scholarships as well as the modern universities have identified eleven credible manuscript sources for the Vani of the saint poet including the Fatehpur manuscripts (AD 1582; 5 pads) representing a nonsectarian tradition and the ten Dadu Panthi tradition - Panchvani - and other sources available in Rajasthan and Punjab. In sum, the songs - Pads - of Ravidas had begun, perhaps during his life time and certainly soon after, to spread beyond Benares. By the mid-sixteenth century distinct oral recessions of his Vaani had developed in Rajasthan and the Punjab. The popular Poets and musicians recited his verses, adding songs or lines of their own or even changing the lines according their own inclinations and genius. It must be appreciated that the verses of Ravi Dass were primarily intended to be sung at gatherings of pious devotees and could be considered as ‘texts’ in the sense as far as the oral performances could be texts- ‘Each Pad being a glimpse into Raidas’s thoughts, experiences, and beliefs.’ 

Adopting the criteria that the Pad appearing in at least 7 out of the 10 select Rajasthani manuscripts or in any other Rajasthani manuscript as well as the Adi Granth should be graded genuine has resulted in 72 Pads, leaving out 39 others occurring in different sources. It is important to note how these Pads composed in several genres invoke the typical ideas as per the ‘inherent rhetoric’ of the genre: in case of Ravi Dass, scholars have noticed ‘Warnings - Chitavani’; ‘Entreaty - Vinaya/Binati’; ‘Love-in Separation - Virah’; ’Destruction of illusion/Error - Bharam Vidhashan'; 'Glory of Name / God - Bhajan Pratap'; ‘Union with Pure - Sadh Milap'; ‘Devotion - Bhakti'; ’Recognition of Beloved - Pia Pehchan’ and ‘Enlightening Experience - Anubhuti’. The Sant tradition - Nirguni Prampra - identifying God as ‘ineffable, without shape or form, and immanent in creation’ is sought to be distinguished from the Sagun Bhaktas who ‘conceived of God as having incarnated, in the form of Avatars.’ To quote HW McLeod, "the Sants were monotheists, but the God whom they addressed and with whom they sought union was in no sense to be understood in anthropomorphic terms. His manifestation was by His immanence in His creation and, in particular, by His indwelling within human soul.”

We are indeed witness in the 21st century to the new era interpretations, interrogations and re-envisioning of the religious and spiritual inheritance of the civilization of India. The broad vision traditions of the movements like the Bhakti and the Sufism are certainly more in tune with the spirit and ethos of the globalization. Guru Ravi Dass has been increasingly visualized and identified with the recovery of the truest dimensions of piety and spirituality; he emerges as the spokesperson of the underprivileged and oppressed - no wonder to Ravi Dass 'God is up lifter of the lowly, purifier of the defiled and deliverer of the poor.' The Vani of Ravi Dass represents his quest for emancipation in a society based on human dignity and freedom. What could be more eloquently clear than the ringing verse of Guru Ravi Dass in Raga Gauri - SGGS Page 345:-

Begampur (Sorrow-less City) is the name of that place,
Without suffering or distress,
Without anxiety, taxes or property,
Without fear of failure or fear of loss.
I have found a good home in my own land,
O my brother, there is ever lasting well- being there.
Its everlasting sovereignty is firm and stable
There none is third or second, all are one.
Flourishing and ever famous,
The wealthy dwell in that town.
They wander around wherever they please,
They stroll through palaces unchallenged,
Say, Ravidas the liberated Chamar,
Whoever is my fellow citizen, is my friend.

In the context of the above quoted masterly composition of the ‘Indian Socialist Manifesto’ by Guru Ravi Dass in the medieval times, it would come as no surprise that Dr BR Ambedkar - the titanic scholar, a rare constitutionalist and the presiding deity over India’s march to modern social renaissance - “inscribed (On Jan.1, 1948) to the memory of Nandnar, Ravi Dass and Chokhamela - the three renowned saints who were born among the untouchables and who by their piety and virtue won the esteem of all” - his magnum ovum, 'The Untouchables, who were they and why they became Untouchables?’