Remembering the legend: Simple living, high thinking

SD Sharma 

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Incarnating the spirit of Punjab, Punjabiat and modern progressive ideological trends in Punjabi literature as also in modern concept of farming, the celebrated son of the soil and Punjabi litterateur Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari had been hailed as a myriad-minded genius whose thoughts being ahead of the times were partially negated but largely appreciated, observed Praveen Paul, daughter in law of the legendary Gurbaksh Preetlari. 

Expressing her views at a seminar organised by Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, to mark the 125th birth anniversary of the legend, she shared many incidents which endorsed his way of simple living and high thinking. Talking to Lifestyle she shared her first ever intimate meeting with when he came to their Saharanpur home. “I was a Masters in Fine Arts student and talked a lot freely with him being blissfully ignorant that his visit was aimed at my matrimonial alliance with his son. I got married in 1965 and lived at Preet Nagar, a place far from the Saharanpur’s hustle bustle and relished the blessed affection of Dar ji, as we called him for twelve years. The courage, moral ethics and sense of uprightness and conviction these 12 years association instilled in me helped me to withstand the misfortunes our family had gone through,” said visibly emotional Praveen Paul.            

Dr Raghubir Singh Sirjna, internationally acclaimed scholar and editor observed that besides being a prolific author GS Preetlari was an epitome of social and cultural life of Punjab as also the pioneer of modern farming in Punjab. Prof Surjit Singh of Punjabi University Patiala, during his impressive interaction hailed GS Preetlari as an institution in himself who had given new dimension to prose writing in Punjabi by transforming the original religion oriented language and delineating the inter relationships — man-woman, man-man and people- people bonds. 

Gurbaksh Preetlari, born on April 26, 1895 at Sialkot, obtained a diploma in Civil engineering from Thomson College, Roorkee before securing an engineering degree from Michigan University. He returned to India to serve the motherland and joined Indian Railways. His landmark achievements included contribution in construction of Gurdwara Panja Saheb in 1935 and establishment of Punjabi literary magazine ‘Preetlari’ as also Preetnagar, a Mecca to progressive thinkers and writers. The celebrated thinkers like Mulak Raj Anand, Balraj Sahni, Shobha Singh, Faiz Ahamed Faiz, Sahir Ludhianavi to name a few either lived or frequented Preet Nagar.