Lali Baba’s English translation of Dasam Granth to be published

Gagan K Teja

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Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 2

Five months after the death of renowned academician Prof Hardiljit Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Lali Baba, Dr Harpal Pannu, Professor of Religious Studies at Punjabi University, has managed to get hold of the CD containing Lali’s English translation of the eight books of Sri Dasam Granth. Paramjit Singh, a retired IAS officer, helped Prof Pannu find the digital book that consists of 1,740 pages.

Prof Sidhu, who died at the age of 82 in December 2014, had been working on the English translation of “controversial” Sri Dasam Granth for four years.

Having worked in the Department of Anthropological Linguistics, Punjabi University, from 1973 to 1992, Lali founded “Bhootwada” (a den of ghosts) group that consisted of young Punjab writers in the 1950s. Though he had never authored a book or an article, he was an inspiration for many writers.

Lali’s wife Satwant Kaur said her husband was highly impressed with the holy book. “A man who never bothered to pen down anything translated the complete granth comprising 1,740 pages. He started working on the project in 2004 and with the help of our daughter Anupriya Sidhu and finished it in about four years.”