L I T E R A T U R E

Punjabi writers in Limbo
No easy solutions in sight
Dr. Jaspal Singh

Punjabi writers milling about in the corridors of various Sahit Academies seem to be totally oblivious of the fact that something very serious has gone wrong with their creativity. The problem is, as the ranks of the writers swell, the number of readers decline who now seem to have become an endangered species. This columnist has rarely seen a Punjabi reader buying a book from a shop. A number of Punjabi writers have complained about the diminishing tribe of their readers. As the things stand today almost every Punjabi writer has to shell out a few thousand rupees/dollars in order to see his name in print. The publishers thrive on the writers’ craze though after sometime they leave them in the lunch to fend for themselves to do their on publicity by arranging cocktail parties or Sahit Sabha meetings where other unfortunate retiring writers swarm  instead of any readers worth the name.

Since writing is not a profession in Punjabi, almost all the writers are small time practitioners. Absence of readers does pain the writer but he is not unusually piqued by their disappearance. Economically almost all the writers are doing well. They are comfortably settled down their cozy perches. Some of them have reaped the golden harvest of the recent property boom in Punjab. So what, if the reader does not respond. Anyway the books have never been written keeping the readers in mind otherwise the writers would have worked harder to make them worth reading.

Leaving aside stray examples most of the Punjabi writers hate reading books by well-known writers of other languages. Even if they have to read a book once in a while, it invariably would be a small novel. Punjabi writer never feels the necessity of reading any history book of any other country. Whatever the history of their own region they have read does not go beyond the high school level. Most Punjabi writers have never tried to read any system of philosophy, Indian or Western. As for as mythology, anthropology, psychology and folklore are concerned their knowledge does not go beyond street gossip. How many Punjabi writers have read classics of Indian literature? How many of them have read classics of world literature? A well-known Punjabi writer has honestly confessed that he started reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace but could not go beyond a few pages. He even doubts the wisdom of other writers and readers who rate Tolstoy as one of the greatest literary geniuses.

Every great writing requires a lot of research and exploration. It may take the author to distant places even to museums, archeological sites, libraries or to unfrequented places in search of relevant material so that he/she can lend authenticity to his product. Sometime the people and their cultural mores have to be explored with the help of informants. The basic corpus is as important as the final product. Then there are limits of language which the author is supposed to transcend. Every language is as great as its users. If the language is used only for referring things, objects or basic needs, if may not become a medium for the expression of intricate feelings and profound ruminations. The author has to be an innovator, inventing and conceiving new metaphors, forging new symbols, and going beyond the traditional boundaries of the linguistic usage. Every language is flexible enough to accommodate the communicative needs of the linguistic community. The author has to indulge in experimentation with the literary form, style and diction. To achieve this, one has to get rid of his infatuation with the traditional literary formulas.

The task of the poet is still more difficult. He has to grasp and seize his universe in a limited space with the help of limited number of signs and symbols. Every word for a poet becomes a metaphor, unleashing a chain reaction in mind of the reader. That is why poetry is more of a revelation; animating, inspiring and illuminating the reader.

Now a days many Punjabi writers go on foreign travels. But their destination usually is one or two countries of Europe or North America. Scores of Punjabi writers have given superficial accounts of those jaunts. Central Asia, Africa, Latin America or Southeast Asia seldom forms the part of their itinerary. They always travel by air but not by train or by ferry. As writers they can gather much valuable information through unusual means of travelling. Every foreign jaunt gives birth to a travelogue or a number of insipid columns in newspapers which are loaded with kinship and clannish references taking the reader back to the village graveyards in Punjab. In Britain or America, the author voluntarily opts for his native captivity and keeps on chewing the over chewed cud. In most cases the motive of the foreign visit is to collect pounds and dollar for some dubious cause or charity. To understand the socio-economic-political situation and the alien predicament is rarely on the agenda. Most of the hosts themselves are the prisoners of their conditions. But in their magnanimity, they carry their guests to the usual visiting spots to satisfy their spectrophilic lust. Willy nilly one has to carry the native burden. Back in home the reader has to confront dozens of unsavory columns in the newspapers. But the author like a medieval crusader swaggers up and down the places before flying back to Punjab to add another volume to the shelf load of a few libraries that still keep their doors open despite heavy odds. It is time for the Punjabi writers to introspect and meditate. The literary scene is becoming murkier by the day. John Milton’s words are relevant here, “Wake, rise or be for ever fallen.”

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