Punjab: Punjab Arts Council in collaboration with Surjit Patar Foundation, Department of Languages, Punjab and Punjabi Lekhak Sabha organised a tribute ceremony to poet Surjit Patar on his first death anniversary at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Sector 16. The event began with the ceremonial lamp lighting, followed by a welcome address by thinker Amarjit Grewal. Swarjit Savi shared the upcoming initiatives of the Arts Council, including a new campaign called ‘Saho Punjab Di’. Eminent scholar Tejwant Gill delivered the Surjit Patar Memorial Lecture, praising his deep insight, poetic prowess and voice for writing with the people in mind. Yojana Rawat of Punjab University presented the Hindi translation of Patar’s poems, which touched upon Punjab, Punjabi language and human relationships.
This was followed by Gurshminder Jagpal presenting the English version of Patar’s poems. The ‘Kavi Darbar’ session was attended by poets including Gurdev Chauhan (Canada), Swarjit Savi, Jaswant Zafar and Jagdeep Sidhu, whose writings were warmly received. The event concluded with a musical tribute by Manraj Patar and Anuj. Anujot Kaur performed Patar’s ghazals such as “Tu? Phulla? Jogi Zameen Rakhi?…” while Manraj performed ghazals such as “Kujh Kiha Ta? Hanera…” and “Ki Khabar Si Jagg Tainu Injh…”. The proceedings were smoothly conducted by Ashwani Chaitly and Yograj Angrish. Notable attendees included Bhupinder Patar, Nirmal Jora, Praveen Kumar and many other fans and litterateurs.
