End of an era as Shiromani Kavi passes away

Neha Saini

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 24

The Punjabi literary community was shocked this morning to learn about the sudden demise of noted Punjabi poet Parminderjit, who took his last breath last night in the city.

The celebrated poet and writer passed away in his sleep after suffering a heart attack. He is survived by two sons and a wife.

The Shiromani Kavi awardee was considered one of the prominent and celebrated literary figures, who published a bi-monthly Punjabi magazine ‘Akhar’ from his office at Virsa Vihar.

He addressed a commemoration ceremony on the 84th martyrdom anniversary of Bhagat Singh on last morning, urging the youth to follow the ideology of the great revolutionary.

“We are still in a state of shock as a day ago, he was sitting among us and reciting some of his poems and today he is no more. His death has marked the end of an era,” said Kewal Dhaliwal, theatre person and director of Virsa Vihar.

Parminderjit’s literary career started with the publication of his first book of poetry ‘Likhtum Parminderjit’. He was the patron of a few Punjabi magazines but ‘Akhar’ was his most cherished accomplishment.

After conceiving the idea of the magazine in 1972, Parminderjit gathered some of his friends and fellow writers to begin a bi-monthly publication that featured poetry, short stories and the first print came out in 1975.

The publication of ‘Akhar’ was stopped for some years due to financial constraints, but it was restarted in 1992.

“My association with Parminderjit dates back to 1978 and in 1992, I invited him to open Akhar’s office in Virsa Vihar, to which he agreed immediately,” said Kewal Dhaliwal.

Some of his noted literary works include ‘College Kitab’, ‘Meri Marfat’, ‘Bachpan, Ghar Te Main’, ‘Mere Kujh Hasil’, ‘Chowmukhiya’ and the latest one being ‘Supninday’, published last year.

His book ‘Meri Marfat’ remained part of MA (Punjabi), part-II curriculum of Guru Nanak Dev University for three years. He also edited another Punjabi magazine ‘Lau’ for 10 years, when ‘Akhar’ was not in publication.

Besides, his other notable works were the translations of ‘Kalma Ke Rishte’ (1970), comprising of poetry of Indian and Pakistani poets, ‘Bedian te Badban’ (1973), which he edited in collaboration with Shaheryar, ‘Kavita Punjab’, ‘Shairiy 92’ (1992), ‘Dastak te Sarnave’.

“Language never dies instead, it is killed,” he had said during an interview with The Tribune.