What lies in future for Punjabi magazine “Akhar”?

Neha Saini

Tribune News service

Amritsar, June 1

Two months after the sudden demise of Punjabi poet Parminderjit, his most cherished accomplishment and one of Punjab’s few left Punjabi magazines “Akhar” is taking a hard hit. The bi-monthly magazine that featured poetry, short stories and social commentary by prominent writers and literary figures published its last edition for March-April after the poet’s death, The May edition was not published.

Surinderjit, wife of late poet Parminderjit, has taken over the magazine’s publishing and editing responsibilities. In a recent meeting with Akhar Sahit Manch, the creative team of Akhar, she said, “Akhar faces tough challenges ahead.” She refrained from saying that the magazine would be discontinued. She said “Akhar” was my husband’s child, which he nurtured and took care of with his creative finesse. “We do face some issues regarding the creative content and publishing costs of the magazine as everybody has to chip in now for the functioning of the magazine,” she added.

For someone, who confesses to be a person from a non-literary background, Surinderjit, says that she does not want to publish the magazine just for the sake of it. She said, “It has a legacy behind it. The magazine has a history of four decades behind it and so we want to maintain the creative standards. We are trying to find good content for the magazine’s first edition after my husband’s demise. The March-April issue was edited by him and we have contacted all the contributors of Akhar for the same.”

The 42-page magazine’s first print came out in 1975 and was discontinued for publication during the emergency period in Punjab. It struggled through some financial constraints during the late eighties and was restarted in 1992. “Akhar” is one of the few left Punjabi magazines published today, after Preetlari (a newsletter published from Preet Nagar) and Kahani Punjab (published from Barnala). The magazine has contributors spread across the globe. Over 30 Punjabi literary personalities, including Punjabi poet Karnail Singh from UK, Paramjit Singh, Surjit Patar, Swarajbir and many others are regularly featured in Akhar. It also published reader’s contributions and the editor’s note had Parminderjit taking up one social issue at a time. It enjoyed a good readership in US, Canada, UK and Australia.

Surinderjit said, “Renowned writers Swarajbir from Delhi, Parambir Sodhi from Japan and Sandeep Singh from Jallandhar will be heading its editing committee and several others will see the creative content. I hope we will be able to bring out the next issue soon in a fresh avtar.”

Dr Vikramjit, poet and member of Akhar Sahit Manch, too agrees that the magazine had to struggle financially and creatively before it was published again. He said, “We have released the March-April issue and are trying our best to gather all our resources to bring out the next issue, which will be dedicated to Parminderjit ji. We have asked all our contributors and close literary friends of Parminderjit to send in their dedications. It might take some time, but the legacy will definitely continue.”