Padma Shri and Jnanpith awardee Punjabi writer Gurdial Singh breathed his last on Tuesday after a prolonged illness at a private hospital in Bathinda.
The 83-year-old prominent Punjabi writer, who was the only living Punjabi writer who was given Jnanpith Award, passed away at his residence in Jaitu town of Fardikot district.
He had been on ventilator support since August 13 after he had reportedly fell unconscious at his residence.
A family friend, who was also accompanying Singh’s family at hospital, said that the ventilator support was removed on Tuesday morning after his body had stopped showing any signs of recovery.
According to family members, Singh had cardiac arrest early this year and then complained of paralyses in other parts of body.
He was one of the most celebrated Punjabi writers who focused on economically and socially marginalized people in rural Punjab in his short stories and novels. Remaining rooted in his hometown, Singh did not move beyond Bathinda where he taught in the Regional Centre of Punjabi University.
An award-winning Punjabi film, ‘Anne Ghore Da Daan’ (Alms of the Blind Horse), was also based on Gurdial Singh’s Punjabi novel with the same title, written in 1976.
He started his literary career in 1957 with a short story ‘Bhaganwale’ which was published in ‘Panj Darya’.
He rose to popularity with the publication of his classic novel ‘Marhi Da Deeva’ (The last Flicker) which was adapted into a Punjabi film starring Deepti Naval, Raj Babbar and Parikshit Sahni in 1989. The widely-acclaimed film went on win a National Award. Marhi da Deeva had a Dalit sharecropper as the protagonist for the first time.
He also received Sahitya Akademi Award in 1975, followed by the Soviet land Nehru Award in 1986, Shiromani Sahitkar award in 1992, Paash Award in 1995, Padma Shri in 1998 and Jnanpith literary Award (shared with Hindi writer Nirmal Verma) in 2000 among many others.
An author of many memorable novels in which he exploited his local Malwai dialect to full advantage, his 1976 novel ‘Anhe Ghore Da Daan’ was made into a feature film by Gurvinder Singh. It won four national awards, besides the Golden Peacock Award at the International Film Festival of India and the Black Pearl Trophy at the Abu Dhabi film festival.
His novels were translated in several Indian languages and also in English. ‘Anhoe’, ‘Parsa’ are among his top works.
Eminent playwrights, including Ajmer Aulakh, staged plays based on Gurdial Singh’s literary works.
Earlier this year, Sahitya Akademi announced fellowship for him. The fellowship is the highest honour of the Akademi.