This book is not intended to provide a list of the 100 "best" books ever written and published by Punjabi authors. Given the sheer range of books written by Punjabi authors and the unpredictability of individual taste, any such definitive list is quite impossible. Secondly, the choice has been restricted to books that were written by them either in Punjabi, Hindi or Urdu but have been translated into English. Thus, personal choice restricted by availability has dictated this selection. The choice of books includes autobiographies, novels, short stories, poems, and plays. Research books, religious books, and books written originally in English have not been included.
Mr. Singh's effort is commendable as he is making available some of the rarest of of Punjabi literature to the non-Punjabi readers. I congratulate Mr. Singh on putting gems together this selection and hope that non-Punjabi readers of this book would find new horizons of cultural experience opening up before them. Of course, for Punjabi readers, it may be yet another opportunity to experience a sense of genuine pride in their rich legacy of language, literature and culture.
100 Must-Read Books by Punjabi Authors is a compilation by Paramjeet Singh, who is an IRS by profession, but an avid reader by choice. A self-taught reader, he has, of late, discovered his interest in Punjabi literature and has come up with this collection for other readers, who share his literary tastes and cultural proclivities.
It is certainly not an easy task to compile a collection of this nature. It involves wading through an endless sea of literary works, reading them, sifting them, preparing notes and then documenting them in some discernible order. Of course, this also involves an extremely important process of selection, which though intensely personal and highly individualistic, has to be made in such a way that it appears to be both fair and objective to others as well.
One may question the very notion of 'must read books.' Let us accept that we are living in the times of extreme relativism, where our choices in all spheres of life, including our selection of books and the acts or modes of reading, have become egregiously personal and individualistic. One may even feel offended if someone takes it upon himself to suggest 'Well, these books you must read.' But there is no denying the fact that it is this very age of extreme relativism that demands from us a certain commitment to the ideals of stability, continuity and rootedness.
This book is not intended to provide a list of the 100 'best' books ever written and published by Punjabi authors. Given the sheer range of books written by Punjabi authors and the unpredictability of individual taste, any such definitive list is quite impossible. Secondly, the choice has been restricted to books that were written by them either in Punjabi, Hindi or Urdu but have been translated into English. Thus, personal choice restricted by availability has dictated this selection. The choice of books includes autobiographies, novels, short stories, poems and plays. Research books, religious books and books written originally in English have not been included. Books written in English by Punjabi authors may be featured in the second edition to this book, if all goes well.
The quest for this book came from a desire to showcase the vast variety of subjects that Punjabis have written about. As author Harish Dhillon writes in the preface to his book Love Stories from Punjab, the purpose of undertaking the project was that he was commissioned by a person who had a special love for Punjab and all things Punjabi, and who was saddened by the fact that a whole generation of English-speaking Punjabis - and, by extension, a whole generation of Indians - had grown up with no knowledge of the beautiful love stories of Punjab. I share the same sentiment; only mine extends to showcase the entire gamut of Punjabi books and not just the love stories that have emerged out of this rich culture.
The books are organized according to genre. Within the genres, the books are arranged alphabetically by the author's name. Short story anthologies are also organized alphabetically by the author's name; however, in the case of anthologies that contain stories by multiple authors, I have used the translator's name in the alphabetical order. They describe the plot of each title, offer some value judgements, and say something brief about the author's place in the history of literature and/or about their other works. Additionally, 'Read on' lists are provided, which are other books by the same author, books on a theme relevant to the main text, and details of films, plays and other adaptations made on the primary text.
Most authors receive only one entry. The original intention was to have 100 authors and 100 books but it soon became clear that this was impractical. How can the richness and variety of authors like Amrita Pritam, Nanak Singh, Gurdial Singh, Ajeet Cour, K.S. Duggal, Krishna Sobti, Yashpal and so many others be represented by merely one book? Yet, if every masterpiece by a dozen or so writers were to be included, there would be room for very few other authors. In the end, I decided (again, more or less arbitrarily) that the most an author could have is two titles.
Finally, because of the anthologies included, more than 100 authors are being introduced. In these cases, the emphasis is laid on the book and not on the author's biography. The attempt is to introduce these wonderful stories written by Punjabi authors. Some of the authors are giants of Punjabi literature, while others are professionals who have also written books. But, ultimately, all of these books are must-reads.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
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