SINGH CHATRATH, BALWANT (D. 1959)

Singh Chatrath, Balwant (d. 1959), was an eminent short story writer, who died in 1959. He has profusely used this form of literature and has written as many as five (Dasmesh Kahanian, RanJit Kahanian, Pushp Patari, Sardarni, Navi Lih) collections of short stories. He has been propagating certain reforms in social as well as religious fields. All the stories in his collection Navi Lih deal with many social problems.

To achieve his goal of eradicating evils as have crept into out society, he has tried to reinterpret with a clear motive, some of the life-incidents connected with Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Guru Gobind Singh in Ranjit Kahanian and Dasmesh Kahanian respectively. From the view point of technique, his stories are not of a very high standard; they are not properly constructed and their plots remain loose. The stories in Ranjit Kahanian give an impression more of history than of literature.

References :

1. Amarjit Singh, Punjabi sahit da itihas ”Qissa kal, Amritsar, 1981.
2. Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, 6 Vols., Delhi, 1995.
3. Ramdev, Jaginder Singh (ed.), Punjabi Likhari Kosh, Jullundur, 1964.
4. Sekhon, S.S. and K.S. Duggal, A History of Punjabi Literature, Delhi, 1992.