Chola Takian Wala (A Garb with Patches) is an autobiography of Dr. Harbhajan Singh—Professor Emeritus and an eminent literature of Punjabi. This autobiography consists of 30 chapters of varying lengths. The title of this piece is a symbolic one. The author has defined his life through a symbol of a garb which has patches. A hidden connotation of spirituality is detectable in this metaphorical expression. Dr. Singh has revealed the very secret of his success in life and has narrated artistically, a few significant episodes directly related to his academic and literary career. In his childhood, the untimely death of his father and then of his mother, made him lonely and isolated.
As a young boy, he led a life of economic hardship and struggles. At this critical juncture of his life, he began writing verses. He attained self-actualisation and contentment by dedicating his life to literature. His poetry is full of satire and inner-irony. He tells us how he has expressed his rebellion without using hard words of aggression; how he has depicted his inner crisis, conflicts and convictions of life in his various literary writings; how he has emerged as a poet of modem Sensibility how he has been influenced and inspired by the works of his contemporary counterparts, etc. To him literature is stylised society and the style itself is a deviation from the norms.
References :
1. Harbhajan Singh, Chola Takian Wala (A Garb with Patches), Navyug Publishers, Delhi, 1994.
