Educationist, biographer, essayist, critic, lexicographer and interpreter par excellence of Sikh thought, Principal Teja Singh (1504-1958) has had a sustaining influence on Punjabi writers and scholars for over half a century. His writings continue to this day to provide inspiration and direction to scholars who seek to enhance their understanding of the intellectual traditions of Punjab.
An erudite scholar and a versatile writer, Teja Singh was equally fluent in Punjabi and English. His prose writings are characterised by freshness and elegance, and reflect an underlying concern for human and religious values. As Sant Singh Sekhon remarks, his prose is "slim, slender, like a girl in her teens, or like a soldier on march or like a monk undergoing chastisement of the body."
His contributions to criticism are similarly free of bondage to any one school of criticism or methodology. With unfailingly discerning critical flair, he enters into the heart of a literary work to give it an interpretation that is both original and full of insight.
As a lexicographer, Teja Singh went beyond defining the overt meanings of words, to interpreting their significance within the patterns of language.
His autobiography Arsee is of historical importance and vividly portrays the profile of the Akali Movement of that time; it also includes life-like cameos of leaders of the movement such as Master Tara Singh, Bhai Jodh Singh, Bawa Harkishan Singh and others. Teja Singh's most remarkable work is perhaps The Psalm of Peace, his re-creation in English of Guru Arjan Dev's Sukhmani. Poetic, lyrical and underlaid with a deep concern for the human condition, this work is as profound in translation as it is in the original.
Dr. Kulbir Singh Kaang (b. 1936) is currently teaching at Government College, Faridkot. Author of several books on criticism and prose in Punjabi he has also translated profusely from English and Hindi into Punjabi and edited a number of scholarly works. Dr. Kaang was honoured with the S. Gurbax Singh Award in 1983.
Teja Singh, popularly known as Principal Teja Singh, was a versatile genius and a multifaceted personality who influenced a generation of writers over half a century. He had a deep conviction that God had endowed him with the faculty of writing for the services of his Gurus and his fellow-beings and that he would fail in his pious mission if he did not use it for the benefit of mankind, particularly his own community.
A leading educationist of his times, Teja Singh's method of teaching English drama and prose was considered to be a model in the whole of the Punjab. People came from far and wide only to be taught by him. His lectures held listeners spellbound. After teaching in Khalsa College, Amritsar, for nearly 25 years, he rose to become Principal of Khalsa College, Bombay and later Principal of Mahindra College, Patiala, During this time he was also Director of the Punjabi Department set up by Maharaja Yadvindra Singh, the first chief (Raj-Parmukh) of the Pepsu Government.
His greatest contribution to Punjabi prose is his simple, vivid and delectable style.
Shabdarth (Dictionary of Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib), published in four volumes, speaks volumes of his vast erudition and unique style of lexicography, far superior to the work done in this field heretofore.
Apart from Punjabi, he created a new style of writing in English. His pen flowed like a fountain when he composed in English. A nationalist and a freedom-lover, he dedicated his services to the Gurudwara Reform Movement. His book Gurudwara Movement and the Sikh Awakening is a historical and monumental work for which he was imprisoned twice. During the period of his confinement he wrote a book on the vowel style of Guru Granth Sahib entitled Shabdantik Lagan Matran, a guide to the proper understanding of the Divine Granth.
He was a restless person and never slept for more than three hours a day. His autobiography Arsee is still considered to be the best autobiographical work in Punjabi till date.
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