Noted writers read pieces from their memoirs

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 26

The Majha House hosted an event where noted writers were invited to read pieces from their memoirs. The event moderated by Preeti Gill, founder, Majha House, invited eminent names like celebrated scholar and music exponent Madan Gopal Singh, writer and noted psychiatrist Anirudh Kala, author Pratyaksha, Madiha Arsalan, award winning filmmaker Gurvinder Singh and city-based poet Sarbjot Singh Behl.

“We all love reading memoirs as they offer a glimpse into the lives of people we like and admire. It is a window into a fascinating world. That is why we thought we would give our audience a little piece from the lives of our beloved writers,” said Preeti Gill.

The first reader of the event was Madan Gopal Singh, a Sufi exponent, who shared his childhood years in Amritsar. “My maternal grandmother’s house was a musical one. When we descended the stairs, our footsteps created a rhythm, a beat, sense of music to it. And then of course there was actual music. Songs from Hindi films played out in our house all through the day. Music slowly seeped into me without even my knowledge. I think it was then that the seeds of music were sown slowly, rhythmically in my soul. It was only natural that I devote my life to music,” he read. The second writer was the award-winning writer Pratyaksha, who read from her diary that she has written and maintained during the lockdown period.

Noted psychiatrist Anirudh Kala, founder of the Indo-Pak Punjab Psychiatric Society and proponent of cross-border collaboration between mental health experts, recounted memories from his journal that he maintained post-Partition as he dealt with patients suffering from the trauma of Partition. He shared memories of his meetings with a French nurse called Nicole who he met in Ranchi. “She used to be a patient there but by then she was healthy enough to be helping with other patients. When she asked me what I thought about her case and her schizophrenia, I told her that if she was schizophrenic then I was Chinese.” He also shared stories of several patients he treated for post-Partition trauma.

In one of the most emotional readings of the session, Gurvinder Singh, national award-winning writer and director of films like ‘Chauthi Koot’ and ‘Anhe Ghode Da Daan’, read a short piece from the newspaper article titled ‘Displacements: Past and Present’ that he had written after his father’s death. He talked about three examples of displacement while reading his piece. ‘My father, nicknamed ‘baghi’ due to his revolting nature, passed away in May this year. As a child, he was saved from their burning house by his mother and together they sought refuge in the Golden Temple while thousands were killed in cold blood in 1947. He returned to his neighbourhood the next day only to find it torched down. During the period post Operation Blue Star in 1984, as a child, I heard people whispering that these Sikhs should be taught a lesson. I saw Sikhs being burnt alive; I saw them being dragged out of their houses and killed mercilessly. Displacements were rife once again as Sikhs left Punjab and North India to find safety and home somewhere else.’ He ended with a recounting of the displacement caused by Covid-19 and the migrant crisis.

The last speaker for the session was Sarbjot Behl who recited his moving poem ‘Main Gujranwala Chhod Aaya’.