Surjit Patar is an Indian Punjabi language

Punjabi language

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...

 poet who debuted in 1960s

Biography

Dr Surjit Patar is a renowned Punjabi

Punjabi language

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...

 poet. He obtained a Masters degree from Punjabi University

Punjabi University

Punjabi University, located at Patiala, is one of the premier institutions of higher education in Punjab, India. Panjabi University teaches and researches in science, engineering and technology, humanities, social sciences, performing arts and sports....

, Patiala and then a Ph.D in Literature on "Transformation of Folklore in Guru Nanak Vani" from Guru Nanak Dev University

Guru Nanak Dev University

Guru Nanak Dev University was established at Amritsar, India on November 24, 1969 to commemorate Guru Nanak Dev's birth quincentenary celebrations. Guru Nanak Dev University campus is spread over 500 acres near village of Kot Khalsa, nearly 8 km west of the Amritsar City on Amritsar - Lahore...

, Amritsar

Amritsar

Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...

. He then joined the academic profession and retired as Professor of Punjabi from Punjab Agricultural University

Punjab Agricultural University

The Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, Punjab is one of the State Agricultural Universities in India. It was established in 1962 and is the nation's oldest agricultural university in India, after Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar. It has an...

, Ludhiana. He started writing poetry in mid-sixties. Among his works of poetry are "Hawa Vich Likhe Harf" (Words written in the Air), "Birkh Arz Kare" (Thus Spake the Tree), "Hanere Vich Sulagdi Varnmala" (Words Smouldering in the Dark), "Lafzaan Di Dargah" (Shrine of Words), "Patjhar Di Pazeb" (Anklet of Autumn) and Surzameen (Music Land )

He has translated into Punjabi the three tragedies of Federico García Lorca

Federico García Lorca

Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...

, the play Nag Mandala of Girish Karnad

Girish Karnad

Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...

, and poems of Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...

 and Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....

. He has also adapted plays from Jean Giradoux, Euripides

Euripides

Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...

 and Racine

Jean Racine

Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...

. He has written tele-scripts on Punjabi poets from Sheikh Farid to Shiv Kumar Batalvi

Shiv Kumar Batalvi

Shiv Kumar 'Batalvi was a noted Punjabi language poet, who was most known for his romantic poetry, noted for its heightened passion, pathos, separation and lover's agony...

.

He has held the office of the President, Punjabi Sahit Akademi, Ludhiana.

Well known poems

Poems

Candles	Hanere vich sulagdi Varanmala	Aiya Nand Kishore
Light these candles. Rise, light these candles. There will remain, These quarrelsome winds, But you should light these candles. May darkness not think the moon scared. May night not think the sun dead. Light these lamps to honor life. Rise, light these candles. Granted, the night's reign may be stubborn, But rays of light still survive. On dark pages, verses revealing life. Rise, light these candles. These cruel whirlwinds will remain, The fall will shake away the leaves, But this does not mean that new leaves will not grow. Rise, light these candles. Unafraid of the poison that spreads daily in the wind, Nature continues to do its duty, Of transforming poison into nectar. Rise, light these candles. Girls, do not cry, this is the time of Rahiras Rehras The rehras sahib is the evening prayer of the Sikhs. It is recited at the end of a working day. Its purpose is to add energy to one's being and living environments... . Do not linger on death, reflect upon the passage of time. These difficulties will pass away. Rise, light these candles.	When do I say don't ask for justice? Or, for your rights, do not fight? But recoginze the enemy And don't sever your own limbs Do not dishonor your wings In this unnecessary flight Against sorrows we have to fight Against poverty we have to fight Those who exploit with the pretext of protection, We have to fight against them I offer my life on the edge of your sword Who can refuse its importance? Take care of it, keep it well burnished Keeps its edge well honed In the darkness writing light Keep it like a blaze for fire There are times when The sword alone is a scribe Yet why walk the distance already walked The road ahead is sufficiently heavy?	My language is one the verge of death Each word, each sentence gasps for breath. In such a hopeless situation Only God may save my language! Of my language, How can even God be the savior? Deserted by hungry generation, God, Himself, gasps for breath, Under His benign protection Lies my language, gasping, dying, By God! On the verge of death lies my language. It may happen otherwise, Face to face with suicidal situations, Reckoning with homicidal challenges, More deserving of life, More living may fare my language.

Filmography

Surjit Patar has written the dialogues of the Punjabi

Punjabi language

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...

 movie Shaheed Uddham Singh: Alais Ram Mohammad Singh Azad

Shaheed Uddham Singh (2000 film)

Shaheed Uddham Singh: Alais Ram Mohammad Singh Azad was a 2000 Indian film, based on the life of Shaheed Udham Singh. The film starred Raj Babbar as Singh.-External links:...

, the movie which is made on the life of Udham Singh

Udham Singh

Udham Singh was an Indian independence activist, best known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer in March 1940 in what has been described as an avenging of the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre....

. He also wrote dialogues for Punjabi version of Deepa Mehta's movie Heaven on Earth.

Awards

• 1993: Sahitya Akademi Award
  Sahitya Akademi Award
  Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languagesAssamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,...
  
   for Hanere vich Sulghdi Varnmala
• 1999: Panchnad Puruskar by Bhartiya Bhasha Parishad ,Kolkata
• 2009: Saraswati Samman (India's highest literary award ) by K.K.Birla foundation for "Lafzan Di Dargah"

External links