Book ‘Chaali Din’ shows author Dr Gurpreet Singh Dhugga’s linguistic ability: Critics

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Amritsar, December 5

The Punjabi Department of Khalsa College organised a panel discussion on the acclaimed book ‘Chaali Din’ by renowned Punjabi writer Dr Gurpreet Singh Dhugga. Dr Atam Singh Randhawa, head of Punjabi Department, Khalsa College, said the book breaks many established boundaries and creates new paradigms in terms of life on foreign shores. He said the book has a message of simplicity as compared to the fast-paced life of the West. Dr Vishal Kumar, editor of Akhar magazine and a Punjabi poet, while introducing the book, said that Dr Dhugga has painstakingly created the book, which guides the young generation and sought its inclusion in the curriculum being taught in Punjabi courses.

Literary critics and scholars Dr Kulwant Singh Sandhu and Balbir Parwana said that Dr Dhugga, a doctor by profession, has come up with a work that serves the cause of Punjabi literature and Punjabi society. Dr Raminder Kaur, former Head and Professor, Punjabi Department, Guru Nanak Dev University, said that the characters of the book, Kesar and Fakir, as well as the name of the book ‘Chaali Din’ are symbolic. “The meanings of these symbols are found in our culture. Forty days is the time for a person to change from within,” she said. Punjabi authors of the current generation, Jass Mand and Sukirat, who arrived as special guests, said the vocabulary of the book shows the writer’s linguistic ability.

Principal Dr Mehal Singh said in his presidential speech that Dr Dhugga had taken time out from his busy schedule to create a writing style of his own. ”When we read the book, we get to know the real values of life…folk stories in our cultural history in a new framework and in a new form,” said Dr Mehal Singh.