Sukhbir (writer)

Sukhbir suffered multiple complications after severe cardiac arrest and died on 22 February 2012.

One of his unique contributions is the brilliant poetic character-sketches of illustrious personalities of Punjab like First Guru of Sikhs Guru Nanak, Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari, writer Nanak Singh, Mohan Singh, Amrita Pritam, Kartar Singh Duggal, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Balraj Sahni, Pyara Singh Sehrai, and Santokh Singh Dheer, which were published in the leading Punjabi monthly Dharti Da Suraj in February–April 2010. These were also published in the poetry collection Lafz te Leekan (Words and Lines) in 1989.

Sukhbir's most acclaimed novel is Sarkaan Te Kamre (Streets and Rooms), dealing with the metropolitan life of Mumbai, which was published in 1964. It depicts the trials and tribulations of ambitious young people in the dream city of Mumbai. The title of the novel is poignantly evocative, telling the sad plight of dwellers of a metropolis who have no homes to live in, but have streets for the day and shabby rooms for the night. The novel was included in the post-graduate curriculum of Punjabi University, Patiala.

Sukhbir is considered the pioneer of stream-of-consciousness writing in Punjabi. His novel Raat da Chehra (The Face of Night) published in 1961 is a stream-of-consciousness novel depicting the story spanned over one night. Even in his short stories, he pioneered the stream-of-consciousness genre of writing. A noted example is the story "Ruki Hoyi Raat (The Suspended Night)" in which the narrator in his reminiscences is recalling his long lost childhood friend who has become a rebel and is evading the repressive authorities.

In the early 1960s, he took up the translation of Russian works, funded by the Russian government. His most acclaimed translation is Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace in Punjabi as Jang te Aman. Other translations include short stories, plays and letters of Maxim Gorky, Mikhail Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don, Askad Mukhtar's Sisters (Bhaina), and Konstantin Paustovsky's The Golden Rose (Sunehra Gulab).

Sukhbir's early schooling was in his native village Beerampur in Punjab. His father being in the Railways, the family was always on the move. When he was in the 6th standard, the family shifted to Mumbai. He did his subsequent schooling in Podar High School, Mumbai. He completed his graduation from Khalsa College, Mumbai, after which he moved to Khalsa College, Amritsar to pursue his master's in Punjabi in 1958, which earned him the rank of university topper and a gold medal. As much as he wanted to, he could not pursue a post-graduate degree in psychology.

Sukhbir's first short story collection Dubda-Charda Suraj (Setting and Rising Sun) was published in 1957. The next year saw his collection of poems in print – Pairhan (The Footprints). His first novel Kach Da Shehar (The Crystal City) was published in 1960. By then, he had already become a renowned name, publishing in leading literary journals like Preet Larhi and Aarsi. His works in Hindi were also published in magazines like Navneet, Kadambari, Parag, Sarika, and Dharamyug. He published regularly in the Times of India and Navbharat Times. In the November 1973 issue of Illustrated Weekly of India, the literary editor Nissim Ezekiel gave him an entire page for his poems – a rare honour at that time for a poet.

Sukhbir (Punjabi: ਸੁਖਬੀਰ, Hindi: सुखबीर; 9 July 1925 – 22 February 2012), alias Balbir Singh, was a Punjabi novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist. He wrote and published for fifty years. He wrote seven novels, 11 short story collections, and five poetry collections, and made many translations of world literature, essays, letters and book reviews.

Sukhbir alias Balbir Singh was born on 9 July 1925 to S. Mansha Singh and Smt. Shiv Kaur in Mumbai, India. He was the eldest of his siblings, who included three brothers and three sisters. He adopted the pen name Sukhbir after partition, when he was arrested during the student unrest in Mumbai in 1950. He had already started publishing in literary magazines and was a known name as a budding writer. While he was in jail in Nasik, one of his editor friends in whose magazine his poems were to be published, changed his name to Sukhbir, to avoid the authorities' attention. Subsequently, Sukhbir chose to retain this as his pen name, as many other writers with the name of Balbir Singh had sprung up by then and were cashing in on his established name.