Surjit Singh Sethi (1928-1995) was an Indian playwright, novelist, short story writer and lyricist who wrote in Punjabi. He was also a film maker and theatre personality.

Biography

Surjit Singh Sethi was born at Gujarkhan,

Punjab Province Punjab Province may refer to: * Punjab Province (British India), a former province of British India from 1849 to 1947 In Pakistan * Punjab, Pakistan, a province in Pakistan from 1970 onward * West Punjab, a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 195 ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

in 1928. He did his M.A. in English and submitted his thesis on Ibsenism (Dramatics) for Ph.D. He worked at

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

for some time as a producer. He was the founder of Speech, Drama and Music Department at

Punjabi University Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew University of Israel. ...

which was later turned into the Theatre and Television Department. He groomed a number of students into stage, TV and film celebrities, and was influenced by modern trends of Western theatre. Sethi died in 1995.

Dramas

* ''Parde Pichhon'' (Behind the Curtain), One Act Plays, 1946 * ''Chalde Phirde But'' (The Loitering Figures), One Act Plays * ''Kandhi Ute Rukhda'' (A Tree on the Embankment), 1957 * ''Coffee House'', 1958 * ''Kaccha Ghada'' (The Earthen Pitcher), 1960 * ''Kadaryar'', 1960 * ''Bhareya Bhareya Sakhna Sakhna'', 1964 * ''King, Mirza Te Sapera'', 1965 * ''Gurbin Ghor Andhar'' (Pitch Dark Without the Guru), 1969 * ''Safar Baqi, Talash Baqi'' (The Journey Remains, The Quest Remains) * ''Nangi Sarak Raat Da Ohla'' (The Naked Road and The Reflection of The Night), 1971
''Abara Kadabara''
1972 * ''Mard Mard Nahi Tiwin Tiwin Nahi'' (Man is Not a Man and Woman is Not a Woman) * ''Eh Zindagi Hai Dosto'' * ''Mera Murshid Mod Liao'' (Bring Back My Messiah), 1975 * ''Pebble Beach Te Laung Guacha''

Novels

* ''Ret Da Pahad'' (Mound of Sand), 1954 * ''Ik Shahr Di Gal'' (The Story of a City), 1955 * ''Kandhi Ute Rukhda'' (A Tree on The Embankment), 1957
Ik Khali Pyala
(An Empty Bowl), 1960
Kal vi suraj nahin chadhega
(The Sun Shall Not Rise Tomorrow Again), 1967 * ''Abra ki Adabra'', 1972 * ''Dubde Suraj Nun Salam'', 1976

Short stories

* ''Angrez Angrez San'' (So Were The English) * ''Men Kahani Da Safar'' (Journey of My Stories), 1972

Other books

* ''Kavi Chatrik'' (Chatrik, The Poet) Criticism, 1955
''Natak Kala''
1974 * ''Langh Gaye Darya'' (Biography), 1976
''Shot in 12 days: The Making of Mughlani Begum''

Films

* '' Mughlani Begum'' * ''Sandli''

Awards and honours

* Honoured with Prof. Piara Singh Gill & Karam Singh Sandhu Memorial Antar-Rashtari Shiromani Sahitkaar/Kalakaar Award, by the International Association of Punjabi Authors and Artists (IAPAA) in 1984.

Notes

* Primarily a playwright, he wrote short stories and novels also. * His first full-length play, Coffee house is a portrayal of 'hollow men'. * ''Kaccha Ghada'' and ''Kadaryar'' give new dimensions to the well-recognised figures of romances. * ''King, Mirza Re Sapera'' and ''Mard Mard Nahin, Tivin Tivin Nahin'' are his experiments in absurd drama. * His anthologies of one-act plays, ''Parde Pichhon'' and ''Chalde Phirde'' make a good reading. * His early novels are ''Ik Shahr Di Gal'', ''Ret Da Pahad'' and ''Kandhi Ute Rukhda'', but he acquired his special place in this genre with ''Ik Khali Piala'' and ''Kal Vi Suraj Nahin Chadhega''. In these works he employed the

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First L ...

and flashback techniques.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sethi, Surjit Singh 1928 births 1995 deaths Dramatists and playwrights from Punjab, India Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Punjabi University faculty 20th-century Indian male writers People from Gujar Khan