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Colossus of intellect, Harinder
Singh Mehboob, is no more
WSN Bureau
 In the sleepy,
almost time warped nook in Sangrur, Harinder Singh Mehboob engaged
with some of the most complex issues, some of these having to do
with matters of life and death and others with problems related to
Sikhism. Neither did his mind ever stop functioning, nor did his
pen stop writing till the very last breath. Finally, as Mehboob
departed from this world in his own village, the debt that he has
left for his contemporaries and future generations will be
substantial as they wrestle with his legacy and find that works of
several lifetimes were accomplished by this great man in just one
incarnation.
Mehboob was
considered among one of the most learned contemporary writers in
Punjab. He was suffering from bone cancer that was detected some
time last year and had been undergoing his treatment at Jalandhar.
He died on February 15.
With Sehje
Rachiyo Khalsa and Jhana Di Raat, Mehboob had shown that
he could straddle the world of letters and ideas like a colossus.
“He was a great
poet and there were several finer nuances in his poems which have
become a treasure for not only the Sikh and Punjabi literature but
for the mankind. While evaluation and understanding of his highly
intellectual, philosophical and intuitive works would continue those
who have delved deep into his works along with what is being written
across the world can understand that he can be arraigned among the
best contemporary poets in the world,” said Gurtej Singh, Professor
of Sikhism, while returning from his cremation at village Jhoonda in
district Sangrur.
“There have been
very-very few writers who wrote in Punjabi but had encyclopedic
knowledge and deepest understanding of intellectual and literary
works in other parts of the world also,” he added.
Prominent
Punjabi writer Jaswant Deed, himself a Sahitya Akademi Award winner,
who had interviewed Mehboob for Doordarshan Jalandhar argued that
even the preface of award wining poetry collection by Mehboob –
Jhannan Di Raat – was one of the most brilliant pieces on history of
Punjabi poetry and should be translated in other languages to make
others understand about Punjabi literature. “His is the biggest loss
in the contemporary intellectual field,” Deed said.
 Mehboob was born
in that part of Punjab which is today in Pakistan. He studied at
Mohindra College, Patiala and later taught at Garhdiwala.
“One could find
the references towards original Sanskrit and Arabic literary texts
with their depth intact in his works. One could feel the poetic
flights even in his work of prose. Extra ordinarily wide
perspectives and intellectual depth can be clearly felt when one
reads Mehboob,” said Prof Avtar Singh of Sikh Articulators.
Mehboob taught
English literature at Khalsa College Garhdiwal but opted to enrich
Punjabi. While his first book was Sehje Rachio Khalsa and
then came Jhanna Di Raat, for around two decades he was
working on an epic about the life of ten Sikh masters – while
interweaving the philosophy and history together and expanding the
meanings in poetical form.
He had written
first and fourth volume of the epic “Illahi Nadar De Pende”,
a distinct mark in poetry due to its blending of several finer
nuances at a time, he was working on the second volume and had
written 100 pages when fell sick.
Even in his
hospital bed, he was yearning to complete it. When the World Sikh
News last met him at Jalandhar at the ICU, he looked pale and down
but not without a sparkle in his eyes as he talked about his epic
work.
““I started
working on the epic in 1991 when I visited Bhubneshwar and Jagannath
Puri to see the temples there. As soon as I am well I will start
work on it,” he said. Alas, that was never to be.
“The first thing
that came to my mind when I heard of his death was a saying from the
holy Koran that says the death of a great scholar is like the
passing away of an era,” said renowned Sikhism scholar Ajmer Singh
who has actively engaged with Mehboob’s works and is known as
someone who perhaps understood his socio-political-religious
location better than most. Ajmer Singh said the fact that Mehboob
could accomplish all that he did was something the Sikh community
should be proud of.
“Perhaps he had
an intuition that he would be facing big hurdles in completing his
work as in the second volume he added a prayer for accomplishing the
uphill task,” said his daughter Prof. Satwant Kaur who looked after
him throughout. Satwant teaches Punjabi in Khalsa College Garhdiwala
where Mehboob taught English literature.
Scholar Karamjit
Singh said in the passing away of Mehboob, the Sikh intellectual
world has suffered a huge loss.
17
February 2010
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