L I T E R A T U R E

A Requiem for a Lost Genre
Dr. Jaspal Singh

ONCE upon a time letter writing was a great art. Most of the literate had not written anything in their lifetime except a few letters. So much so the first novel of the world naming Pamela by Richardson was written in the letter form in 1740. Quite few other novels were also written in the same form. Even until a couple of decades ago letter writing was still in vogue and people relished penning their intimate thoughts and feelings in the letters to their dear ones.

Then suddenly IT revolution overwhelmed the world. The last decade of twentieth century changed everything. No globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation were possible without this revolution. Almost every house hold that could read and write got access to telecommunication. Apart from the cell phones the middle class also added a computer to their family appliances. Things have come to such pass that every member of a middle class family has an individual cell phone to flaunt and in most cases there gadgets have became an obsession with their owners.

Consequently orality took over literacy. Sending and receiving of messages have become a matter of world of mouth. It seems the world had relapsed to the primitive times when most of the languages had not evolved their orthographies. Letter writing, a cherished mode of communication was lost in the din of the phone calls. One’s letter box does receive the letters of the sorts but they are all junk mail coming from various financial companies to entice the clients.

In this famine of personal letters when one reads a hefty collection of letters by celebrated woman Punjabi writer, the entire gamut unfolds like soothing narrative. Prabhjot Kaur one of the earliest woman Punjabi writers has collected hundreds of letters exchanged between herself and her husband Col. Narinderpal Singh, himself a well known Punjabi writer. This exercise begins from 1947 when the couple was not yet married. Narinderpal (Nindi of the letters) had just joined the Army. Prabhjot (Jogti) had completed her university though she had already become a writer. Her first collection of poems (Lat Lat Jot Jage) appeared in 1943 followed by Palkan Ohle in 1944 and Kujh Hor and Azal Ton in 1946. With the publication of Kafle in 1947, Prabhjot had five collections of poems to her credit before marriage, remarkable feat indeed.

Those were the times when very few girls went to schools. It was not less than a miracle for – woman to become a writer. This precisely was the time when writer Amrita Pritam another well known Punjabi writer started writing. She became more popular than Prabhjot since she worked on the Lahore radio station as well Prabhjot generally led a traditional life living worth her husband and soon they were blessed with two sensitive daughters, one of whom now is the wife of General J. J. Singh, Chief of the Army staff. Amrita Pritam being more audacious and even iconoclastic became a rage with the upcoming poets. Prabhjot led a private life, more dedicated to the family. Even her creative process became a family affair since her husband too was an established writer.

The letters collected in Bolan di nahin Ja We Arhia are extremely personnel in nature. Both the lovers express their intimate feelings for each other in a very sensitive and affectionate manner. Their fears and phobias, suffering and anxieties are presented in colourful details. Even the grief and misery faced by the author’s elder daughter in her family life are depicted without any reservation. Both Prabhjot and Narinderpal have been very candid and explicit in delineating their innermost feelings for each other.

There are quite a few letters that shed light on the socio-political life of the times. But most of the letters are focused on the inner life of the authors. When Prabhjot was editing these letters she knew that a lot of people take keen interest in their personnel life. The writer is usually discovered from his intimate personnel relations. So these letters carry us to innermost recesses of two renowned writers of Punjabi. Prabhjot has traveled far and wide. As a poet she has been to all the continents of the world. Many national and international organisations have bestowed on her coveteous awards and decorations. Her husband passed away in May 2003. Now in mid eighties she is still active as a writer, collecting and arranging her memories so that she could share them with her readers. The present collection is a welcome addition to the dying art of letter writing.

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