Bhravo Bhaino, ounjh likhna taa Punjabi vich hee chahidaa hai, par such much hai kay Punjabi meri dooji boli hai, tay angrezi payli…mai England daa jampaal haan, is laee English koee koee vari sukhali aundi hai, especially kiokay main apnay aap nu gumukhi sikhai see jad main 30 saalan da see, is laee haalay vee koee na koee shabadi, atay grammar vich galtiaan taa banhaa lainda hai…so bear with me….

Meri koshish hai payla valiati jampal Punjabi likhari banhan, atay Punjabi vich navay idea tay tarkhiay liaun, naalay videshi punjabiaan vich boli atay sahit naal piaar jagoan.

So forgive me if the rest of this is in English…

You can find out more about me by googling Rupinderpal Dhillon

Acha, hunh topic val turdaa…

Do you guys think that Punjabi should only focus on Poetry, or also focus on prose, particularly Novels? And do you think that as readers you are happy with the subjects that the Punjabi novelists deal with? E.g. Shivcharan Jaggi Kussa, or do you think as readers there are new ideas that you would like to read about, and to make Punjabi catch up with Urdu, Hindi and English?

I have found many of the Punjabis willing to learn the language in the west, are then put off by what they call Pindu stories that they can not relate to. Many a times I have had these kids say to me, why don’t they have Punjabi Horror novels, war novels and Science Fiction ( many would like to see things like Star Wars and not Waris Shah). The fact is people in the west are bought up on many American and European themes and ideas of justice, fairness, freedom of speech and things like Harry Potter. These do not seem to be in Punjabi fiction I have read…that is why I have written thinks like Dungha Paani and Kaldaar.

(I did try to have two novels I have written published in India. 2 things went wrong. In the west if a book is good enough, the author never pays for its publication. The Publisher edits and fixes it as well. Well as you can imagine I was charged in Punjab to have my books published, but then they refused to correct them ( I need that service as you have seen , as I am self taught, galtiaan taa hunhiaan hee see), so now I am 50,000 rupees poorer, no book published and manuscripts full of subtle errors that my western mind can not see. The result is I have now moved onto the internet as a possible future market where the writer has control.)

So what are your thoughts on these ideas?

Do you feel that westerners might have something to offer Punjabi Sahit?

What has been your favourite novel and why?

What is your honest view on the subjects and style in Kaldaar and Dungha Paani and Chori da nateja? I ask this because in the west, many of the elite ( ie there are not many kids who take up Punjabi, so they are elite) kids liked these subjects, which were written with them in mind.

http://www.rubru.ca/august2009/punjabifuture.html

http://www.rubru.ca/september2009/chori.html

http://5abi.com/kahani/kahani2008/018-kaldar1-roop-070310.htm

http://www.5abi.com/kahani/kahani2008/016-laash1-roop-070210.htm

below is the view sent to me by e-mail of a Harjot Singh Aujla

Roop:

Your writing is for the intellectuals. Unfortunately most of the newspapers in Punjab cater to a common man's taste, who is not intellectual. The publishers try to exploit the foreigners. They will publish their literature to earn money only. The publishers exploit me too. But the newspapers don't. The newspapers pay me well. Like any American I have a very direct style of writing and the people in Punjab have liked it. At this moment I can't help you, but later on I may.

HARJAP SINGH AUJLA
16 JUNCTION POND LANE
MONMOUTH JUNCTION
NEW JERSEY 08852
USA

E-MAIL    harjapaujla@gmail.com

agree with u ...

punjabi novels are really restricted to local social issues. It would be great to see writers coming up with different ideas in writing. i would love to read that.

yeah, you are right. Well not even you being foreigner, I did all my schooling from Army school, with no Punjabi, studied Punjabi for only one year in Graduate school that too to fill my mark sheets. Even I found those novels very heavy and tough to get into as compared to English novels.

ਨਾਲੇ kids ਨੂੰ attract ਕਰਨ layi ਉਹਨਾਂ ਨੂੰ lure ਕਰਨਾ ਪੈਂਦਾ, ਬਚਪਨ ਵਾਲਾ ਦਿਮਾਗ ਕੁਜ ਨਵਾਂ ਲਾਭਦਾ, ਸੋ ਸਾਡੇ ਕੋਲ variation ਹੋਣੀ ਚਾਹੀਦੀ ਹੈ ਉੰਨਾ ਨੂੰ attach  ਰਖਣ ਲਈ. kids ਦੇ ਦਿਮਾਗ ਵਿਚ ਸਾਹਿਤ ਦਾ ਮਤਲਬ ਹੈ bore  ਹੋਣਾ (ਮਾਫ਼ ਕਰਨਾ ਬਹੁਤ rude ਹੈ but  ਇਹ ਸਚ ਹੈ), ਸੋ writers ਆਪਣੀ ਲਿਖਾਈ ਵਿਚ ਨਵਾਪਨ ਲੈ ਕੇ ਆਉਣ. ਕਾਮੇਡੀ, horror , adventure , fictions ਵੀ ਸਾਡੀਆਂ books  ਵਿਚ ਹੋਣ ਤੇ ਹਰ ਰੋਜ਼ ਇਕ ਨਵਾਪਨ ਆਏਗਾ, ਜੋ ਸਾਰਿਆਂ ਨੂ attract  ਕਰੇਗਾ, ਤੇ ਸਾਰਿਆਂ ਦਾ interest  ਬਣਇਆ ਰਹੇਗਾ.

kuljit ji, tuhanu meray links diaah kahani kivay lagiyaa?

you are rite roop veere. punjabi sahit de pasare lai nave ideas di bahut lor hai, but pind'a di zindagi vi sadde sahit da ek anikharva angg hai. horror n star war type stories vi punjabi sahit vich kaamyaab hongiya, basharte ke sannu sahit paran di aadat hove.


i kw lot of punjbai writers are being exploited by publishers. except famous writers like surjit patar ji , dulep kaur tiwana , sukhwinder amrit, no body is being published free of cost.and if u have to pay it form your pocket, than its not called publishing, its printing and its happening everywhere in other languages too. wat happen with you is an sad story. cud u elaborate you experience with publisher so that in near future bakki vi es ton kuj sikh sakan.

Yuvi ji merei kismet idda dee hai kay..well My first attempt was in UK, buy because I chose Punjabi over English I was charged money for Neela Noor ( 60,000 rupees equivalent). Then they only published ( printed as you say) a few hundred books, with no editing at all...

My second experience was going to Chetna in Ludhiana. I was there last October and gave the man the script..he accepted it, too a desposit of 20,000 rupees ( I told him this second novel will need editing and correcting, which he accepted) but after I came back to UK, I was told that they don't edit and fix errors ( which is what editors always do in the west) and that I had to pay a 3rd party 13,000 more rupees to do so ( don't forget I am the pne paying and as all I have given is a deposit, so I still am expected to pay him 18,000 rupees more).

Now my cousin in Dugri, found a teacher willing to fix the manuscript, at a cost of 5,000 rupees, but won't give it back because he forced a verbal agreement on the phone which he feel snow gives him the right to publish it, and ask me for 40,000 rupees...all for 200 copies!

There are no publishers in Punjab...just chor..but I spoke with Jaggi Kussa who told me it is like the mafia, so my best work will never be seen and being a foreigner it is harder for me...so now Chetna can't publish with out the script, so I am left a failed writer..all I can do is publish some small things on the internet, but I don't get paid..

http://www.sikhspectrum.com/072008/punjabi.htm

ਮੇਰੇ ਖਿਹਾਲ

and these guys show that they are doing lot of good for the punjabi language...

they are just into money making only.... bastards...!!

everybody here is like that.... when they come to know the person is a foreigner they will try every possible way to suck more money from the person......

i wish i could suggest you some good publisher..... but we have also had bad experiences..... :(

ਅਨੋਖਵਾਦ

To me this is the word that describes may kind of writing