Sahitya Akademi Award to Khalid Hussain brings cheer in Punjabi circles

Recognition comes to Hussain, who survived Partition violence and loss of seven male elders, after 50 years of consistent writing in Punjabi

CHANDIGARH: “I have been writing for the past 50 years and my stories have been widely read and translated but this recognition, even if it took a long time to come, has brought me happiness,” Khalid Hussain, 77, told HT on the phone from Jammu.

Khalid Hussain.

As the news of the award spread on Thursday, the Punjabi literati warmed up sharing joy over this well-deserved award that took away the December chill. He has been given the award for his collection of stories: “Sullan da Saalan”, which takes its title from a “kafi” by the Sufi poet Shah Husain.

Hailing the genre of Hussain, poet and prose writer Manmohan, who wrote the introduction to the award-winning book, says: “He is a rare writer who can travel with ease from the realistic to the surrealistic. His understanding of the undivided Punjab before Partition is unparalleled. Each story in this book is a work of art.”

Leading Punjabi short fiction writer Gurmeet Karyalvi says: “It is heart-warming that the Punjabi writing from Jammu and Kashmir has been given recognition by the Sahitya Akademi. Hussain has been translating the travails of the people of Jammu and Kashmir into Punjabi language with great finesse.”

Hussain has borne the trial of communal politics on his body and soul. Born in 1944 in Ramnagar, a Dogri speaking area of Udhampur, he fled with his mother and father’s sister in the communal carnage in which seven male members of the family, including his grandfather, father, uncles two older brothers, were killed. The next seven years were spent in refugee camps in Jammu and Srinagar where his mother made meagre earning tailoring clothes like so many other widows of Partition.

When asked why he chose to write in Punjabi and not Dogri, Hussain says: “We settled in the Ustad Mohalla in old Jammu city living among petty artisans who were all Punjabi speaking. I took my characters and the language from my surroundings although later I also wrote in Urdu.”

An author of six collections of short stories, besides an autobiography, a satisfying moment came for him when celebrated poet late Ali Sardar Jafri translated his story “Baide di Lanka”, on the theme of the great divide, into Urdu and published it in the magazine “Guftagu”.

Famous author Khushwant Singh read it and translated it into English and it was published in the prestigious magazine, The Illustrated Weekly of India.

Starting as a mason and then promoted as a clerk, Hussain studied constantly to upgrade his skills and support his family, retiring as an officer in secretary rank, besides wielding his pen constantly. He has also penned his autograph and writes in Urdu as well. He is equally popular in India and Pakistan.