Two poets, Sukhinder Singh who lives in Toronto (Canada) belongs to Ambala Cantt (Haryana) Indian Punjab and Saleem Pasha of Pakistan's Gujrat released a book, 'Lahoo da Rung' recently . The book has been written in both Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi script and Barnalabased publishers are all set for publication. This is the first time a book has been co-authored by writers from India and Pakistan.
“It is probably for the first time that two poets from both sides have come together to pen a book in both scripts. Politicians have always promoted hatred, but writers in both the Punjabs have been promoting love between people.The fine arts, literary works, music, paintings, photography and others are modes through we reach out,“ said former Punjabi Sahit Akademi president Gurbhajan Singh Gill.
Sukhinder and Saleem met in Toronto. Saleem is not a permanent resident in Toronto but frequently visited Sukhinder over the last few years. “We got to know each other through social networking sites, where I read a few poems written by Saleem Pasha. I asked him to join us in our magazine, `Samwad' and we became good friends. Now, we have launched a book in both scripts.In Gurmukhi script, one can read from left to right whereas the book can be read in Shahmukhi script from right to left. Punjabis on both the sides share the same culture and language“, said Sukhinder Singh from Toronto.
“We penned our poems separately but shared them. I belong to Gujrat of Pakistan whereas Sukhinder hails from Amritsar district of Indian Punjab,“ said Saleem. Writers on both sides have been sharing literature for years.“We are only trying to promote Punjabi language, literature, and culture among Punjabis in Paki stan and India. We transliterate literary works of authors from both sides.
The literary work written in Gurmukhi script is transliterated into Shahmukhi for readers in Pakistan while the literary work done in Shahmukhi is transliterated into Gurmukhi script. We have been sharing this on our websites.A few others are also involved in such activities to check hatred spread by politicians,“ said author Asif Raza from Pakistan.
“It is probably for the first time that two poets from both sides have come together to pen a book in both scripts. Politicians have always promoted hatred, but writers in both the Punjabs have been promoting love between people.The fine arts, literary works, music, paintings, photography and others are modes through we reach out,“ said former Punjabi Sahit Akademi president Gurbhajan Singh Gill.