SINGH, SUBA (1919-1982)

Singh, Suba was born at village Udho Nangal, District Amritsar. He is an eminent humorous writer in Punjabi. In the pre-Independence days, he was an activist in the I.N.A. that later on prompted him to write Topan de parchavein thalion (From underneath the shadow of guns, 1974). Starting his literary career as a journalist, he edited Punjabi Patrika and Parkash in Punjabi and Rafaqat in Urdu.

This provided him the focus to write Punjabi patarkari da ithas (History of Punjabi journalism, 1974). During government service, he was editor of Panchayati Raj. Dharti te manukh (Earth and man, 1960), Alop ho prahe chetak (Vanishing amusements, 1967), Galtian (Blunders, 1971) and Hase te hadse (Joys and accidents, 1976) are his notable collections of humorous essays. As an essayist, his forte lies in delineating the odd and eccentric aspects of human behaviour.

In Hir Suba Singh (Hir of Suba Singh, 1976), he brings narration to the low mimetic mode from the high mimetic mode at which it is immortalised in Hir by Waris Shah. In Sarmadian rubaiyan (Rubaiyat of Sarmad, 1975), he employs the \’bait\’ form, thereby implementing an element of humour in the otherwise sober content of these writings. His sense of humour is sophisticated and gentle. This distinguishes him from earlier humorous writers like Bawa Budh Singh and Charan Singh Shahid.

References :

1. Amarjit Singh, Punjabi sahit da itihas ”Qissa kal, Amritsar, 1981.
2. Encyclopaedia, of Indian Literature, 6 Vos., Delhi, 1995.
3. Sekhon, S.S. and K.S. Duggal, A History of Punjabi Literature, Delhi, 1992.
4. Singh, N.K., Encyclopaedia of Indian Biography, Delhi, 2000.