Hundal, poet of social change

THE world for a poet, asserted Harbhajan Singh Hundal, is not a cosy perch of repose but a “war zone” of sorts where he fights his battle, armed with the arsenal of words, symbols and metaphors. The poet is a 24×7 fighter with no respite whatsoever.

Hundal, who passed away on July 9, was a Punjabi writer wedded to the left democratic ethos. He was born at Chakk No. 64, Nihaloana in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, Pakistan) in 1934. When Partition took place, he was only 13 and his family migrated to their old village Bandala near Jandiala Guru in Amritsar. From there, the family finally settled at Fattu Chakk village in Kapurthala district. Hundal was a committed poet dedicated to leftism and a radical transformation of society. Poetry for him was not a source of entertainment but an instrument of social change.

Hundal used his pen as a weapon of social change in the vein of revolutionary Punjabi poets such as Pash, Lal Singh Dil, Sant Ram Udasi or Santokh Singh Dhir. As a teacher-activist, Hundal always taught his students to fight for people’s rights and to never compromise with evil, whatever the circumstances.

His collections of poems, such as ‘Kale Din’, ‘Jail Andar Jail’, ‘Chanan da Sirnama’, ‘Agg da Boota’, ‘Meri Ghazal’, ‘Jangnama Punjab’, ‘Kavita di Talash’, ‘Nazarbandi de Din’, ‘Ghadari Babean di Vaar’ and others, are a testimony to his commitment to social justice and a more equitable socio-economic order.

In addition to this, he wrote ‘Sitarian di Satth’, ‘Mere Samkali Kavi’ and a long poem ‘Dostinama’, besides a travelogue ‘Kandh Ohle Pardesh’ (his Pakistan itinerary) and an autobiography. He also wove a very readable narrative of his early life in his village which now is in Pakistan. This book ‘Pichhla Pind’ is, in fact, a veritable history of the socio-cultural life in the “Baar region” (the canal colonies) of joint Punjab before Partition.

Some Punjabi poems of Hundal were introduced to the English readers by OP Grewal, a professor of English at Kurukshetra University. Hundal himself had translated some poems of famous poets like Pablo Neruda (Chile), Nazim Hikmet (Turkey) and Mahmoud Darwish (Palestine) into Punjabi. He had also transliterated Pakistani poet Baba Najmi’s poems into Gurmukhi.

Hundal’s quarterly magazine ‘Chiragh’, which started in 1992, would publish Punjabi translation of writings of many progressive world writers, along with those from Pakistan Punjab as well. He also wrote about a famous dancer of early 20th century, Isadora Duncan, whom he presented as Lokan di Nartaki (the people’s dancer). Hundal was a conscious scholar of world literature and was eager to publicise through his journal famous writers committed to the concerns of the common people.

Hundal was a graceful person who remained aloof from politics in the Punjabi literary space. Till his last days, he was steadfast in his ideals without making any unethical compromises and stuck to the ideals bequeathed to him by his predecessors. It is only writers like Harbhajan Singh Hundal who have used their pen to uphold the eternal values cherished by mankind through the ages. His writings will stand the test of times, to be cherished by readers of the coming generations who are committed to the people’s cause.

— The writer is a Chandigarh-based author