The novel depicts the trauma of terrorism in Punjab in the background of the holocaust of communal riots during the 1984 Anti-Sikh violence. This novel is a sequel to Singh’s critically-acclaimed novel Jadon Sawer Hoi (When Dawn Happened) as the protagonist in both these period novels is the same. In the former, there is an irony of situation whereas in the latter there is an irony of circumstances. The primary concern of Gawache Arth is the communal divide of the eighties and the triumph of the cohesive forces of love, harmony and mutual understanding. It won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999. Talking about the novel in an interview, Tasneem had said that he tried to write about Operation Bluestar, anti-Sikh pogrom and the lives of Punjabis thereafter in the most emotional and explanatory way possible. He said that he named it ‘Gawache Arth’ because “once came a time when Punjabis lost the meaning of their lives”.

About the Author
Niranjan Singh Tasneem, born in 1929 in Punjab, is a Punjabi novelist. He wrote his first Punjabi novel Parchhawen that appeared in 1996. Earlier, his two Urdu novels, Sogwar (1960) and Mona Lisa (1962), had been acclaimed on both the sides of the border for their unconventional treatment of the man-woman relationship. He was awarded Punjab’s highest literary honour – Punjabi Sahit Rattan – in 2015.

This novel has the unique distinction of being the most controversial novel in the annals of Punjabi fiction and at the same time, it has been extolled as a sensitive, poignant depiction of the existentialist enigma of man, of his sense of inner void and his outer purposelessness. The main scene of the novel opens up at the Kennedy International Airport where thousands of passengers and visitors got stranded due to heavy snow fall that blocked all air and ground traffic. The hero of the novel, Avtar Singh, is one of the trapped persons in the terminal buildings. The author, through Avtar Singh and other characters trapped in the airport, seems to perceive the lop-sidedness of the materialistic civilization. It won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1976, following which the Punjab Government imposed a ban on the novel in 1978 on charges of ‘obscenity and hurting religious feelings’.

About the Author
Narenderpal Singh is one of the leading novelists of the Punjabi language. He was born at Kama Bungalow in District Lyallpur (now in Pakistan). Formerly in Defence Services, he retired as Brigadier in 1972. He is known for depicting Sikh history after Bhai Vir Singh. He has to his credit about twenty novels including Baa Mulahaza Hoshiar which won for him the Sahitya Akademi Award for 1976. Starting from romantic novels like Mallah, Sainapati and Untali varhe, Narenderpal Singh has written historical novels like Khanneo tikhi, Valon nikki, Eti marg jana and Ikk sarkar bajhon.

The novel traces the trajectory of the havoc wrought in the lives of the lower caste protagonist Jagseer and his mother Nandi. His father has an affable bond with Dharam Singh. However, Bhanta Singh, Dharam’s son does not have a friendly relationship with Jagseer. The ill-timed death of Nandi wrought by the oppressive operation of power exercised by Bhanta deteriorates the physical and psychological health of Jagseer. Also, he falls in love with the bride (Bhani) of his newly married friend Nikka. His inability to turn the secret love into a legitimized relationship pushes him down a path of self-pity and his addiction to opium hastens his ill-timed death. It won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1975.

About the Author
Gurdial Singh Rahi was a Punjabi language writer, novelist and Migration Agent from Punjab, India. He started his literary career in 1957 with short stories. He became known as a novelist when he published the novel Marhi Da Deeva in 1964. Singh was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1998 and Jnanpith Award in 1999.

Also read
Anhey Ghore Da Daan (1976)
Translated as Alms in the Name of a Blind Horse by Rana Nayar
It portrays the plight and problems of Punjabi farmers, rural working class, as well as the landlords. The landlord sells his plots to an industry that demolishes the house of one of the villagers who refuses to vacate it. The focus shifts from family to family, and from character to character as the inner billings of a village on the verge of being gulped by industrialists has begun to take its toll within, despite the inhabitants. The novel won the Jnanpith Award in 1999 and was also adapted for film (2011) by Gurvinder Singh.

A typical rural drama enacted in the heart of Punjab—the novel portrays Dalit life in a simplistic manner. It also asserts how, even in a predominantly patriarchal milieu, strong women can maintain their agency and dignity. The protagonist Lakha Singh, became a big zamindar by cleverly usurping the lands of small farmers under various pretexts. Lakha Singh’s sly and clever acts lead him into marrying his wife’s sister Swarni to obtain a child. After Swarni’s death, Lakha convinces Rajo, another woman, to marry his servant but practically to be kept as his wife.  The 1947 partition in India makes Lakha lose all his property and relatives, only to be left with Rajo and her son, Jarnail Singh whom he has to accept legally to finalise his claims in Refugees Resettlement Department at Jalandhar. The novel won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1974.

About the Author
Sohan Singh Seetal is a Punjabi author, poet and lyricist. He entered the field of fiction after 1947 and wrote several novels, some of which deal with the situation of women in Punjabi society. Sheetal gives very vividly authentic description of the life of the people in rural Punjab. Dive di Lo (The Flame of the Earthen Lamp), Mul da Mas (Flesh at a price) and Badla (Revenge) are some of his important works.

Rooted in the socio-cultural ethos of the erstwhile princely state of Patiala, Tiwana’s novels addressed questions of loneliness, rootlessness, cultural alienation and the unrecognized longing for an anchoring in the stability of the past. Her writing on strong feminist themes against the backdrop of different caste and economic backgrounds was a significant development in post-Partition Punjabi writing. In Eho Hamara Jeevna, the protagonist is Bhano, a poor woman belonging to a farmer family in the rural areas of Punjab. In her village, women were treated as commodities and sold for very little money. Bhano’s father married her off to Sarban from Moranwalli village. After her marriage, Sarban’s four unmarried brothers and friends sexually abuse and harass her. After Sarban’s death, Bhano’s life becomes more miserable and her father tries to sell her once again. Bhano tries to escape by committing suicide. A man named Narain saves her and accepts her as his wife. Due to the circumstances and patriarchal setup in her society, Bhano fails to fulfil even her simplest goals in life. The novel won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1971.

About the Author
Named among the few distinguished women litterateurs of contemporary Punjabi literature, Dr. Dalip Kaur Tiwana was a prolific novelist and short-story writer. She has won awards, both regional and national, and is a widely translated author. The first woman lecturer at Punjabi University, Patiala and the first to return the prestigious Padma Shri Award, Tiwana has been described by Kartar Singh Duggal as a writer who was ‘rooted in the soil, her own tradition and folklore, economic exploitation of and the social curbs inflicted upon the other sex in society in the Punjab.’ Some of her distinguished literary works include Peele Patteyan Di Daasta, Nangey Pairan Da Safar, Duni Suhava Bagh and many more.

Also read
Lang Gaye Duniya
Translated into English as Gone are the Rivers by Bhupinder Singh and S.C. Narula
First published in Punjabi in 1990, Lang Gaye Duniya was translated as Gone are the Rivers by Bhupinder Singh and S.C. Narula. Interweaving social history and ethnography and fiction from a feminine perspective, the novel deals with an offbeat subject that is spontaneous, lyrical and compressed to the point of being a marvel of economy and elegance. It narrates the story of the Royal Counsellor to the Maharajah of Patiala and his family—used to the trappings of court in a feudal society and unquestioning subservience to ‘family honour’—and how overwhelmed by changes in the newly-independent nation, they eventually meet with tragic consequences.

The historical novel is set in Haranpur village, now in West Pakistan. The story revolves around the revolutionary movement of 1914-1915 which attracts Sudarshan and Biri, children of Baba Sukhdev Singh Sodhi, a resident of the village. The influence of literature written by revolutionaries on the young minds and the attraction that Biri feels towards Kartar Singh Sarabha, one among the many revolutionaries, navigates the plot of the novel further. Sarabha’s death, the failed revolution and the revenge taken by Biri ties the end of the novel. The unusual relationship between Biri and Sarabha charged by political spirit and revenge stands out. It won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961 and has been hailed as an outstanding contribution to Punjabi literature for the depth of treatment and realistic characterisation.

About the Author
Widely regarded as the father of modern Punjabi novel, Nanak Singh wrote an astounding fifty-nine books, which included thirty-eight novels and an assortment of plays, short stories, poems, essays and even a set of translations. He gave a new turn to Punjabi short story, investing it with pace and finesse. Romantic love and social criticism are the recurring themes in his writings. Gandhian idealism pervaded Singh’s fiction and reflected his strong support for India’s independence movement which also led the British to arrest him.

Also read
Adh Kidhiya Phool
Translated as A Life Incomplete by Navdeep Suri
All that sustains Kuldeep Singh through his dark days in jail, where he is serving a term for participating in anti-British agitations, are thoughts of his beautiful wife and the dream of going home. But he returns to find that his wife has died, leaving behind their infant child. As his world collapses around him, he negotiates the divergent pulls exerted by people around him: a holy man who advocates renunciation; his childhood friend Saroj, who has always loved him; and the tempestuous Prakash who hides an unsavoury past. Sahitya Akademi Award-winning author Nanak Singh draws on personal experiences to create this compelling portrait of Punjab in the 1920s. Originally published in Punjabi in 1940, Adh Kidhiya Phool is an intense meditation on the choices people make and the consequences these may have. Singh’s engagement with social issues like superstition and blind faith, religious bigotry, casteism and the emancipation of women seems as fresh and relevant today as it did when he wrote this book.