Shiv Kumar (born July 23, 1936[1] in Bara Pind Lohtian, Shakargarh Tehsil, Punjab [now Pakistan], died May 7, 1973 in Kir Mangyal (Pathankot), Punjab in India) was a Punjabi poet.Shiv Kumar Batalvi, a young man of barely 20 years of age, appeared on the scene of Punjabi poetry in East Punjab. By living a brief and intense life that was devoted to writing deeply profound, passionate and enchantingly lyrical poetic expressions of the pathos of his time, and dying young at the age of 36, a fate that he had predicted and romanticized throughout his poetry, he attained the charisma of a modern day saint and a fallen-hero in the eyes of many of his admirers.
Biography
Shiv Kumar was born on July 23, 1936, village Bara Pind Lohtian, Shakargarh Tehsil, (now in Punjab province, Pakistan), to Pandit Krishan Gopal, village tehsildar in the in the revenue department, and Savita Devi, a housewife. His family moved to Batala Gurdaspur district after partition of India, where his father continued his work as a patwari and young Shiv received his primary education [6].
He completed his matriculation in 1953, from Punjab University, and enrolled in the F.Sc. program at Baring Union Christian College, Batala, though before completing his degree he moved to S.N. College, Qadian, where he joined the Arts program more suited to his persona, though he left that too in the second year. Thereafter he joined a school at Baijnath, Himachal Pradesh to do a diploma in Civil Engineering, here again he left it in the middle [7]. Next he studied for sometime at Govt. Ripudaman College, Nabha. He remained unlucky in love, and bereavement for love loss reflected intensely in his poetry.
Later in life, his father got a job as patwari at Qadian, it was during this period, that he produced some of his best work. His first anthology of poems was published in 1960, titled Piran da Paraga (The Scarf of Sorrows), which became an instant success. In 1965, he became the youngest recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967, for his magnum opus, a verse play Loona (1965)[8]. His poetry recitations, and singing his own verse, made him and his work even more popular amongst the masses.
In early 1967, he got married, and in 1968, he shifted to Chandigarh, where he joined the State Bank of India, as a PRO. In the following years, bad health plagued him, though he continued to write prolifically. His writings has always been open about his pronounced death wish [9], and on May 7, 1973, he died at his residence of father-in-law, at Kir Mangyal, Pathankot, all of 36 years.
Personal life
On Feb 5, 1967 he married, Arun [10] , a Brahmin girl, from Kir Mangyal, Gurdaspur district, and later the couple had two children, Meharbaan (1968) and Puja (1969).
[edit] Works
* Piran da Paraga (The Scarf of Sorrows) (1960)
* Mainu Vida Karo (Bid Me Farewell) (1961)
* Gazlan Te Geet
* Aarti (Prayer) (1971)
* Lajwanti (Touch Me Not)(1961)
* Atte Dian Chirian (The Sparrows of Flour) (1962).
* Loona (1965)
* Main Te Main (I and Me) (1970)
* Dardmandan Dian Aahin
* Sog
* Alvida (Farewell) (1974)
* Shiv Kumar: Sampuran Kav Sangreh (Complete Works); Lahore Book Shop, Ludhiana.
* Birha da Sultan [11],(A selection from Shiv Kumar Betalvi’s poems), Selected by Amrita Pritam, Sahitya Akademi, 1993. ISBN 81-7201-417-1.
* Luna (English), tr. by B.M. Bhatta, Sahitya Akademi, 2005, ISBN 81-260-1873-9.
Legacy
One of his anthology, Alvida (Farewell) was published posthumously in 1974, by the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. ‘Shiv Kumar Batalvi Award’ for Best Writer, is given each year [12][13].
In Media
Singers, Jagjit Singh-Chitra Singh, and Surinder Kaur, have sung many of his poems [14], the recent album, Rabbi (2004), by Rabbi Shergill features, his poem, “Ishtihar”. Punjabi folk singer, Hans Raj Hans also did a popular album, ‘Gham’, on the poetry of Shiv Kumar. In 2005, a compliation album was released, titled, Ek Kudi Jida Naa Mohabbat… ‘Shiv Kumar Batalvi, with numbers sung by Mahendra Kapoor, Jagjit Singh and Asa Singh Mastana [15].
In 2004, Punjabi play titled Dardaan Da Darya based on the life of Shiv Kumar was performed at ‘Punjab Kala Bhavan’, Chandigarh [16].
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