Fighting the odds, word by word

Sanjam Preet Singh

When Poonam Singh opted for Punjabi Elective in her graduation little did she know that one day she would edit one of the popular Punjabi magazines Preetlari. Thirty-five years after she took on the mantle, Poonam (61) has been fighting the odds to carry the legacy forward of a man, who was considered a “literary father” of many a Punjabi writer.

Today, Preetlari is not the magazine which would evince enough interest in budding writers that they would wait eagerly for the postman to bring it. Tell as much to Poonam and she says ultra-Left hit the magazine hard.

She is referring to 1960s and 1970s, when Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari faced opposition from ultra-Left writers and poets, who believed that his writings and Preet Milnis were not in consonance with the times and the need was to go beyond the “soft efforts” to effect a change. Even today, Poonam says, ultra-Left dominates the literary circles. “We are surviving on our own terms. In the face of financial crunch and no government ads, we are working selflessly without expecting anything from anyone,” she says.

Besides this, stating the obvious, she says Gurbaksh Singh’s death was a setback to Preetlari. Initially his son Navtej Singh and grandson Sumeet Singh carried forward his legacy with their own brand of dynamism. Things were looking up. But their death within a span of three years struck a blow to the magazine. The dwindling circulation numbers over the years have added the financial woes. Poonam admits this though she is not forthcoming on the latest figure.

The Preetlari’s blog mentions that more than 19,000 schools of Punjab have subscribed to the magazine. But the blog has not been updated for long and many schools no longer subscribe to the magazine. “We are active on Facebook. Every edition of the Preetlari is uploaded on Facebook. Besides, a website is being developed,” adds Poonam.

Her daughters have started pitching in as well — one of them designs the magazine and the other contributes photos. With her daughters by her side, Poonam marches on, making efforts to keep tugging at heartstrings of Punjabi lovers.