Nanak Singh’s family has made continuous efforts for the past many years to obtain at least one copy of the banned book of the poem ‘Khooni Vaisakhi’. Eventually their efforts bore fruit recently, when one library in England provided a copy to the family.
Now Nanak Singh’s family is arranging to release this book for the first ever time during the centenary of Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 2019.
Navdeep Suri an Indian diplomat and nephew of Nanak Singh has translated this book titled Khooni Vaisakhi into English which will be published and released at the same to mark the centenary of the massacre.
‘As a father, Nanak Singh was very cool, calm and a big supporter of all members of our extended family. We were five brothers and a sister. I am the youngest of them all’, says Kulbir Singh Suri, the son of the famed Punjabi novelist, who visited Australia recently.
Famous Punjabi Novelist Source: Pinterest
‘If one of the family members wronged another, our father had an innovative way to resolve the matter. He would write a small note of advice and asked us to read it in private and reply appropriately the same way. He never ever shamed anyone with harsh words at any time’.
Nanak Singh, was born as Hans Raj in Jhelam district (now in Pakistan) on 4th July 1897. He never attained any formal education, but still made a name for himself as a great writer and social reformer.
‘My dad Nanak Singh started writing poems at a very early age and then switched over to novels and short stories, some of which have been translated into English and many other languages like Russian. Leo Tolstoy’s granddaughter Natasha Tolstoy translated his Chitta Lahoo in 1969 and published a record 50,000 copies which were all sold in just one month’, Kulbir Suri told SBS Punjabi.
Nanak Singh penned more than 36 novels, hundreds of short stories and poems during his lifetime. A number of hit Bollywood movies have been based on some of his novels, an example of which is Pavittar Paapi.
Awarded by Punjabi Council of Australia at NSW Parliament Source: SBS Punjabi
Kulbir Singh Suri, who himself is a famous writer of children’s books, spent all his life as a publisher in Amritsar. He said, ‘Almost all of our family members have some level of writing instinct and have published a number of books of our own, and translated a good number of our Bau Ji’s books to English as well, thereby keeping our father Nanak Singh’s proud legacy alive’.
Kulbir Singh who completed his PhD a few years back was awarded coveted, Baal Sahit Academy Award by the Indian government in 2014.
Giving a piece of advice to the community, Kulbir Suri said, ‘First and foremost thing is to live like a person with heaps of generosity, keep reading and learning something new on daily basis’.
