Punjabi poetess Bhupinder Kaur Preet wins National Sahitya Akademi Award

Kulwinder Sandhu

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Tribune News Service

Moga, December 22

Renowned poetess-translator-critic, Bhupinder Kaur Preet, has been nominated for the National Sahitya Akademi Award for for her book ‘Nagare Vaang Vajde Shabad’, which is a translation of collection of poems, originally written in Santali (Santhali) language ‘Nagare Ki Tarah Bajti Shabd’ by a renowned woman poetess Nirmala Putul living at Kurwa village in the tribal belt of Dumka in Jharkhand.

On winning the award, Bhupinder Kaur Preet, while talking to The Tribune said, “Translating the collection of poems in Punjabi language was bliss for her, though, giving an emotional touch to the verses of poems was a little tedious task”.

“I am delighted that this collection of poems- a lively anthology of tribal literature has won the Sahitya Akademi award”, she said.

Born on February 18, 1964 Bhupinder Kaur Preet started her career as an educationist- a lecturer of Punjabi language in a College, but she left the job to give more time to her passion for writing. However, later, she joined as a member in the district consumer forums at Moga and Taran Taran districts and worked for about 15 years in this position. Presently, she is a member judge in the permanent Lok Adalat at Muktsar. Previously, she has also been a member of the Punjab Sahitya Academy.

She has written many collections of poems in Punjabi language- ‘Saleeb Te Atke Haraf’, ‘Me Shabdan Nu Keha’, ‘Barse Megh Sakhi’, ‘Aheraan’ and a few others. Her latest anthology of poems in Punjabi ‘Tandaan’ is under publication.

Bhupinder Kaur Preet has also translated many books, some of them include ‘Aurtaan Ne Keha’, ‘Bhaarti Bhashavan Di Kavita’, ‘Gulzaar Vartak’ and a few others including the ‘Nagare Ki Tarah Bajti Shabd’, which was translated and published in the year 2017.

On the other hand, the tribal woman writer, Nirmala Putul, after passing matriculation from a government school, she got a diploma in nursing and worked as a nurse in Dumka for two years. During this time, she came into contact with many victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking.  Later, she passed her B.A. in distance mode from IGNOU, New Delhi, and worked for four years in the NGO, Badlao Foundation. She started writing poetry in Santali (Santhali) in the 1990s but shot into literary fame after her poetry was first translated in English by Ashok Singh and published in two collections: Apne Ghar Ki Talash Mein (In Search of One’s Own House, 2004) and Nagare Ki Tarah Bajti Shabd (A Voice like the Thundering of Drums, 2005).  Her third book of poetry, Beghar Sapne (Homeless Dreams, 2014) has been originally written in Hindi. Her poems have been translated into Hindi, English, Marathi, Urdu, Russian and Korean languages.