Punjabi & Folk Literature — PPSC previous year questions

The Naked Triangle (1979) is the frank English autobiography of Balwant Gargi (1916–2003). He was a Punjabi playwright and theatre director. His plays include Loha Kut, Kanak di Balli and Dhuni di Agg. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award (1962) and the Padma Shri (1972). Balraj Sahni's autobiography is Meri Filmi Aatmakatha. Kartar Singh Duggal wrote Kis Peh Kholon Ganthdi. Jaswant Singh Kanwal is the novelist of Purnamashi and Lahu di Lo.

Saave Pattar (1936) is Mohan Singh's first collection. Hawa Vich Likhe Harf (1979) is by Surjit Patar. Lajwanti (1961) is by Shiv Kumar Batalvi. Amrit Lehran (1936) was Amrita Pritam's first published collection. So the pairing is 1-(iii), 2-(i), 3-(ii), 4-(iv).

Bhai Kahan Singh Nabha compiled the Gurshabad Ratnakar Mahankosh, the great Sikh encyclopaedia, published in 1930. He also wrote 'Ham Hindu Nahin'. Sainapat wrote 'Gur Sobha' and Giani Ditt Singh was a Singh Sabha writer.

Amrita Pritam was the first Punjabi writer to receive the Jnanpith Award, in 1981, for her poetry collection Kagaz te Canvas. Gurdial Singh followed in 1999 (shared with Nirmal Verma) for his novels, and Surjit Patar has not received the Jnanpith. Khushwant Singh wrote in English.

Kagaz te Canvas is the poetry collection of Amrita Pritam, for which she received the Jnanpith Award in 1981, the first Punjabi writer to win it. She is better remembered for the poem Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu and the novel Pinjar. Shiv Kumar Batalvi wrote Loona and Prof. Mohan Singh wrote Saave Patar.

Gurdial Singh was the first Punjabi novelist to receive the Jnanpith Award. He shared the 1999 award with the Hindi writer Nirmal Verma. His best-known novel is 'Marhi Da Deeva' (1964), followed by 'Anhe Ghore Da Daan' and 'Parsa'. Amrita Pritam was the first Punjabi writer overall to win the Jnanpith, in 1981, for the poetry collection 'Kagaz Te Canvas'. But she was honoured as a poet. Nanak Singh, the 'father of the Punjabi novel', never received the Jnanpith. The two Duggal names are distractors.

'The Wonder That Was India' (1954) was written by the British Indologist A.L. Basham, not Khushwant Singh. Khushwant Singh wrote 'A History of the Sikhs' (two volumes, 1963-66). He also wrote 'The Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab' (1962) and 'Women and Men in My Life' (1995). His other works include the novel 'Train to Pakistan' (1956) and his autobiography 'Truth, Love and a Little Malice'.

Sunehade is Amrita Pritam's poetry collection that won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1956 (4), Dil Tarang is a poetry collection by Bhai Vir Singh (3), Loona is Shiv Kumar Batalvi's verse play that won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967 (2), and Kafian are the Sufi verses of Bulleh Shah (1). Code: 4, 3, 2, 1.

Train to Pakistan (Khushwant Singh, 1956), Pinjar (Amrita Pritam, 1950) and Tamas (Bhisham Sahni, 1974) are all set in the 1947 Partition of Punjab. Lahu di Lo (ਲਹੂ ਦੀ ਲੋਅ, 1975) by Jaswant Singh Kanwal is about the Naxalite movement in rural Punjab, not Partition.

Bhai Vir Singh wrote the novels Sundari (1898) and Satwant Kaur, and in 1899 he started the Punjabi weekly Khalsa Samachar, so all three are his. He is known as the father of modern Punjabi literature.