Mohan Bhandari writer reached out to all with lucid story-telling

Mohan Bhandari writer (1937 to 2021)

Nonika Singh

Of the many interactions one had with distinguished writer of Punjabi literature Mohan Bhandari, one statement of his has stayed permanently etched on one’s mind. “Writing,” he often said, “can’t be a forced exercise. It has to come from within.” And as he professed, he wrote in a natural and organic manner. The ink in his pen began to flow when he was a student of Class IX.

Over the years, it was to mature into a significant and resolute voice of Punjab. Few understood the transformation of society as well as this man who lived in Chandigarh but came from a traditional rural set-up. The Banbhaura village in Sangrur district he left behind lived in his mindscape forever. Noted playwright and theatre personality Dr Atamjit remembers his story ‘Ghotna’ in particular. He shares how effortlessly and poignantly Bhandari would paint the alienation of those severed from their roots. Essentially a short story writer, contemporary events figured in his writings. The cataclysmic events set in the background of communal riots pulsated in his much-acclaimed story ‘Moon Di Akh’, also the name of his Sahitya Akademi Award-winning book. 1984 and its aftermath might go down as a dark chapter in history, but Bhandari saw humanism in these tough and turbulent times.

Former bureaucrat and writer NS Rattan remembers him as ‘yaaran da yaar’ who was friends with indomitable poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi too. Hailing him as the leading light of Punjabi short story writing, Rattan also recalls his inspirational personality who would encourage budding writers. He wrote simply and lucidly without jugglery of words, reaching out to one and all. If delicacy of thought marked his writing style, he was equally a man of conviction. He had the gumption to return the Sahitya Akademi Award in solidarity with the nationwide protest by writers in 2015.

However, he did not suffer from any delusions of grandeur. Nor did he nurse any notions of being a reformer and only considered himself an ever vigilant student of human nature. Whether there is afterlife, whether he will be reborn as a writer as he desired, his words sure have the potency to live forever in more than one story. ‘Til Chauli’, ‘Manukh De Per’, ‘Kath Di Latt’, ‘Pacchan’, ‘Moon Di Akh’, ‘Baraf Latare Rukh’, ‘Tan Pattan’ and ‘Katha Varta’ are some of his memorable stories. While Punjabi literature stands richer with his sterling writing, it will sorely miss his ebullient persona.