Sant Singh Sekhon (1908-97) was a genius par excellence. To call him a multi-faceted genius is in fact to state the obvious. With MA in Economics and English, he started his literary career as a poet. In the thirties and early forties, his poems written in English, were published along with those of W H Auden and Stephen Spender. But then he shifted to writing in Punjabi.
It was with his collections, Samachar (tidings) and Chhe Ghar (six abodes), that short story and one-act play had their beginnings in the native language. Unity in diversity marking rural life of Punjab in the colonial era was best portrayed in his novel, Lahu Mitti (blood and earth). He wrote eleven full-length plays on mythological, historical and social subjects, always with the intent to draw meanings of contemporary relevance and future value.
So far as literary criticism goes, he was its founder in Punjabi. His Sahityarth (theory of literature) ranks as the best even after fifty years of its publication. His evaluation of Punjabi literature, in literary as well as historical perspective, holds good in spite of the proliferation of so many theories and points of view. His Punjabi Boli da Ithas (history of Punjabi Language) is the only full-length study of the subject. He was an excellent translator of texts from Punjabi into English and vice versa. His representative writings of all genres are available in Sant Singh Sekhon: Selected Writings, recently brought out by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
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