Tasneem leaves a literary void

DC Sharma

The year was 1968. I was then a student of BA final. Coming to college on a bicycle during rainy season from a village, 3 km away, was tough. More so when the bicycle got punctured! I reached the college in drenched clothes, and when I asked for the teacher’s permission to enter the class, seven minutes late, I was told: ‘Latecomers not allowed.’ The lecture on Shakespeare’s Othello was on. Finding it so interesting, I could not leave, and sat near the room's threshold, learning the fresh points the professor was making. On the rounds, the principal found me sitting there, but couldn’t dare ask the professor to allow me in. He simply said: ‘Keep learning.’ The professor was Niranjan Singh Tasneem, whose recent death has shaken not only me, but also the entire literary world.

That year, he was the staff Editor-in-Chief of Barjindra, the college magazine published by Government Barjindra College, Faridkot. And when a test for selecting student editors for the English section was given to us, I wrote about the same incident, projecting myself as ‘The Latecomer Lead Learner’. And lo, I was selected! For selecting articles from students, he had advised me: ‘Take the articles that show and not tell. Also, take care of the maximum use of active verbs, as you had done in the test that you wrote!’     

An author of 13 books, Tasneem had won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his wonderful book in Punjabi, Gwaache Arth, in 1999. Absorbing, and with a scintillating lesson, the book has been published in various editions, including the English version, The Lost Meanings. In 2015, this literary gem was awarded the Punjab Sahit Rattan. Other milestones of his literary journey included books like Ik Hor Nvaan Saal, Swer Hon Tak, Kassak, Lekha Jokha and Jugaan Ton Paar.

Though Tasneem would write middles and other articles in The Tribune, his main focus was to write in Punjabi. He once confided in me: ‘I initially began writing in Urdu, but learnt to write in Punjabi from my wife. This grand lady is the inspiration behind my writings!’

Sometime ago, I was invited by a school in Jassowal-Kular, Ludhiana, to provide counselling to the teaching staff. Tasneem, who resided in the city, had asked me to see him before leaving for my home in Kangra. The affection he showered upon me brings tears to my eyes.

Tasneem was a competent professor of English, with a black beard and a curled moustache, all of 6 ft tall. But during my last meeting, I was shocked to see his spirits dampened. A painful fracture he had suffered in an accident had taken a toll. Only his passion to write would inspire him, pushing him to go ahead.