"Chattu" (The Wooden Grinder) is a partition story of a family's leaving home, finding footing, and putting down roots in an unfamiliar land. The humble Chattu remains their companion through and through until...

Listen on to follow the trajectory of the family which is fairly representative of the settlement of almost all families forced to leave home and find sanctuary among strangers.

The author, Sukhwant Kaur Mann (1937-2016) and her family experienced this displacement first hand before they put their roots in Eastern Punjab. Mann's themes, her primary concerns, and her craft is fairly different from other women writers of fiction in Punjabi. She is primarily focussed on rural Punjabi life and all the historical dislocations it went through. Her fiction chronicles the Partition, the Green Revolution, the Naxalite movement, the turbulent 80s, and the change brought about during urbanisation of Punjab.

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Surjit Singh Virdi's short story "Sapp'an Wali Raat" (Night of the Serpents) leads the reader on to a precipice and then leaves them hanging - did Taari, or didn't he? What were, after all, the dimensions of the tension/s between Paal and Taari? The story is unlike any other in Punjabi Literature in terms of lyrical quality and imagery.

Surjit Virdi was born in village Shankar, Nakodar in 1935, and he passed away in 1972 in London, England. He published two collections of short stories in Punjabi - Insan Bhukha hai ਇਨਸਾਨ ਭੁੱਖਾ ਹੈ (1963) and Cancer te Phull ਕੈਂਸਰ ਤੇ ਫੁੱਲ (1972). His writing was influenced by Dostoyevsky, Camus and Beckett. Surjit Hans, writer and literary critic, wrote about him: "Virdi's writing art challenged traditional story-telling rules, and sought new rules which we do not have. Our response to his stories, therefore, is of bewilderment. Only time will decide whether he was a genius, but with his untimely death the Punjabi tradition of master story teller has ended." - Nilgiri-13

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'Gadariya' (1955) is a multi-themed masterpiece about the inclusive

Ashfaq Ahmad (1925 Muktsar-2004 Lahore) was a writer, broadcaster and playwright.

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A story of faith, of supreme sacrifice, of selflessness told from a child narrator's point-of-view. "Karamaat" (The Miracle) happens to be among Duggal’s finest works and is often counted among one of the top ten Punjabi short stories.

A prolific writer, Kartar Singh Duggal wrote in almost every genre of literature including poetry, drama, short story and novel. He penned 24 collections of short stories and ten novels touching various aspects of Punjabi life from Partition to complex human relationships in recent times.

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What happens when a Punjabi tourist gets mugged in the dark streets of Grenada? Listen on to know !

Sukirat’s story "Uh, te Uh" (He, and He) – is a reflection on the loss of self and identity in the process of migration.

Sukirat Singh Anand (better known as Sukirat) is a short story writer, journalist and translator. He was born in 1956 in an illustrious literary and political family of the Punjab: his maternal grandfather (nana) being Gurbaksh Singh of Preet Lari and his father Jagjit Singh Anand, a communist leader, and editor of Nawan Zamana. His mother Urmila was a prose writer in her own right. He spent 24 years in Moscow from the early 1970s till late 1990s and witnessed the transformation in Russia. He wrote a book My years in Russia; A Time to Remember" and recorded his memoirs.

Sukirat has published eight books of short fiction and prose in Punjabi.

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Two sisters could not be more unlike than - Haldi Bai and Sundh. They both go to their nanka-village. What happens on the way to and from the nanka-pind? Find out after listening to this Rajasthani folktale.

Vijaydaan Detha (1926-2013) was a Sahitya Akademi Award winner. He was also the recipient of the Padma Shri.

Known as Bijji, Detha has more than 800 short stories to his credit, which have been translated into English and other languages. With Komal Kothari, he founded Rupayan Sansthan, an institute that documents Rajasthani folklore, art, and music. His literary works include Bataan ri Phulwari (Garden of Tales), a 14-volume collection of stories that draws on folklore in the spoken dialects of Rajasthan.

Detha's stories have been adapted into various films and dramas. In 1973, renowned filmmaker Mani Kaul directed Duvidha, based on Detha's story of the same name. The film, much of which was shot in Detha's village Borunda, received worldwide acclaim. Later, Amol Palekar directed Paheli based on the same story, starring Shah Rukh Khan. Paheli was also India's official entry to the Academy Awards. Prakah Jha made Parinati, a film based on Detha's story. Habib Tanvir adapted his story into one of his most acclaimed plays Charandas Chor, which was later adapted into a film by Shyam Benegal. Later director Pushpendra Singh made a feature film The Honour Keeper on his short story "Lajwanti" and in the year 2020 Writer-Director Dedipya Joshii has made the Hindi-Rajasthani film Kaanchli Life in a Slough & Director Pushpendra Singh also made the Gojri film Laila aur Satt Geet on his famous story 'Kenchuli'. (Source: Wikipedia)

In 1950–52, Detha read and was inspired by 19th-century Russian literature. That is when he thought to himself: "If you do not want to be a mediocre writer, you should return to your village and write in Rajasthani." By that time, he had already written 1300 poems and 300 short stories.

Detha was inspired by Shah Govradhan Lal Kabra to write in Rajasthani "till date I have not written in any other language", he said regarding his love for the language. He portrayed the sufferings of the poor in his writings and was also tipped for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2011 which ultimately went to Tomas Tranströmer. Vijay Dan Detha is survived by four sons and a daughter.

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A lower-middle class father is unable to treat his 5-year old son to a simple Kulfi - the traditional Indian ice-cream. What happens when the kid takes things in his own hand? Listen to find out.

Principal Sujan Singh (b 1909, Dera Baba Nanak – d 1993, Amritsar)

Short Fictioner, Teacher

Sujan Singh spent his early childhood in Calcutta. He did his BA from Khalsa College in Amritsar. He did his Giani (a diploma course in Punjabi) and MA in Punjabi through correspondence. Before partition, he taught Punjabi in a school in Quetta and retired as Principal of Mata Gujri College Fatehgarh Sahib. In the early 1940s, he was the headmaster of Desh Bhagat Kanya Pathshala in Bhakna village near Amritsar. The school was started by Baba Sohan Singh - the founder of Ghadar party - for educating the children of freedom fighters.

Although Sujan Singh is known for his stories, he wrote some essays too. His first essay, Tawiãn Da Waaja, was published in a magazine, Likhari edited by SS Amol. He published two collections of essays, Khumban Da Shikãr (1973) and Jammu Ji Tusi Barhe Rã (1979). His story collections include Dukh Sukh (1939), Dukh Sukh Ton Pichhon (1944), Nawãn Rung (1954), Manukh te Pashu (1954) and Kalgi Diãn Maniãn (1969) and Shehar te Garãn.He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award in 1987. He was also awarded the Best story writer of Punjabi by the Language Department of East Punjab in 1972.

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"Shaheed" (Martyrs) is supposed to be based on true oral history oft

repeated across villages in India and the then newly made Pakistan.

Religion based killings were the norm of the day, and centuries-old

brotherhood was forgotten quickly. This short story revolves around the

Sikh-Muslim equation in 1947. The short story is set in Hoshiarpur

District of Eastern Punjab.

Gulzar Singh Sandhu (b. 27 February 1935 - Kotla Badla in Ludhiana

Distt) is a prominent Punjabi language writer. He won the prestigious

Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection, Amar Katha in

1982. Among other awards he was also the recipient of International

Association of Authors, Playwrights and Artists of Canada in 1992 and

Shiromani Punjabi Sahityakar Puruskar from the Education Department of Punjab in 2001. (Wikipedia)

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"Bedian" (Shackles) is the story of a maverick thief who would steal big game just for the fun of it. He who would escape undetected with his moolah suddenly found himself bound and shackled. Who got the big catch? Listen to this short story to find out.

Muhammad Afzal Ahsan Randhawa ( محمد افضل احسن رندھاوا‎, 1 September 1937 – 18 September 2017) was a Pakistani Punjabi language writer, poet, translator, playwright and a politician. He authored several short stories and novels in the Punjabi language including "Sooraj Grehan" and "Doaba." He was born in Amritsar, Punjab but had to move to the newly minted Pakistan after 1947. He begun writing when he was in school.

Randhawa was a left leaning politician and a lawyer. He was vocal against Indian Military’s Blue Star Operation in 1984 on Harmandar Sahib, the central seat of Sikhs. He wote a poem – "Nawan Ghallughara" (New Holocaust) to express himself.

In Punjabi, Randhawa wrote four novels, four collections of short stories, six collections of poetry, one collection of TV and radio dramas and three translated versions of an African novel, one collection of African poetry and one translation of interviews of world leaders. He also wrote a collection of Urdu poetry.

In 1965, he published a collection of poetry "Sheesha Aik Lashkaray Dou"; followed by a collection of short stories "Runn, Talwar Tay Ghora" published in 1973. Other short story collections, include "Randhawa Dian Kahanian" in 1988, "Munna Koh Lahore" in 1989 and "Illahi Mohar" in 2013. Randhawa's further five poetry collections, include "Raat Daay Char Safar" in 1975; "Punjab Di Var" in 1979; "Mitti Di Mehek" in 1983; "Piyali Wich Aasmaan" in 1983; and "Chhewaan Darya" in 1997.

He translated Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" as "Tutt Bhaj" (1986) and Gabriel García Márquez's "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" as "Maut Da Roznamcha" (1993) into Punjabi. In 2011, his collection of short stories "Elahi Mohr Tey Doojian Kahanian" was published.[Wikipedia]

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"Baaghi Di Dhee" (Daughter of the Rebel), a tale of a rebel couple that was arrested during India's freedom struggle, following which their ailing daughter was left behind, is considered a classic. (The Tribune)

Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir (15 January 1899 – 18 January 1976) was an Indian politician and Punjabi language writer. He was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 1 November 1966 to 8 March 1967.

He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in Punjabi in 1978 for his short story collection, Urvar Par and was posthumously decorated with Padma Vibhushan, the second highest Indian civilian award given by Government of India. [Wikipedia]

Poet and politician Gurmukh Singh Musafir. wore several hats - of a freedom fighter, Jathedar of Akal Takht, Member of Parliament, Chief Minister and Sahitya Akademi Award winner. One is not sure about Musafir’s place as a politician in history, but he lives on even decades after his death as a poet and short story writer. When he was serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab, he would proudly say that he was not a politician but a writer, and it were his circumstances that made him a politician. He entered the Punjabi literary world just after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre — he would weave poems around the Akali resistance to liberate gurdwaras. (The Tribune)

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