KHALID HUSSAIN , THE WELL KNOWN PUNJABI WRITER FROM J&K

                                                                                          

                                                     ( Avtar Mota with Khalid Hussain )

Khalid Hussain( born 1945) 

 

Khalid Hussain is one amongst some writers from Jammu region whom I read and respect .He is a well known Punjabi writer of the subcontinent whose stories have wide readership. He books are read in Lahore,Faisalabad, Rawalpindi Amritsar Ludhiana and Jalandhar with equal interest and liking He writes Punjabi in both the scripts; Gurumukhi and Shahmukhi. A Dogra by birth, Khalid Hussain was born in Sailan Talab locality of Udhampur town. He remained a bureaucrat who worked as DC Poonch, additional DC Jammu, Director, Employment J&K Government, Managing Director, SC/ST & Backward Classes, Development Corporation and retired from the post of Special Secretary to Government of J&K.

 

After retirement, he is devoting his time totally to writing. Visited him yesterday at his Dalpatian residence where he lives with the family of his son. As a gift of love, received some books from him. My favourite Noon Chai with coconut cookies and butter laced Telvor( Tchochivor) was a bonus. What a humble person ? What a cultured family ? 

 

Shall start reading his autobiographical work ' Mein Zinda Aadmi Hoon' sometime in first week of January 2022 as I am held up with some other work demanding my time and focussed attention. Khalid Hussain has also written in Urdu and published some books that are quite popular.He is the only writer in Punjabi whose books have come in repeated editions and who is being paid royalty.He doesn't spend a penny to get his books published , a practice that is generally followed by authors these days.

 

A recipient of 'Shrimoni Punjabi Sahityakar Award (2014) with a cash prize of rupees 5 lakh  by Punjab Government, Khalid Hussain has bagged several other awards for his writings.

 

I have read some of his short stories and I find that as writer he is free from the baggage of partition gloom and suffering narrative although he and his family were directly affected by it. On the contrary, there is a human cheerfulness in his work. This cheerfulness is visible in his personality ,communication and behaviour. You are infected with his disarming smile that comes somewhere from the deep recesses of his heart. That makes an instant connect even with strangers .

 

His books are a part of the curriculum in many universities. Many students have obtained M Phil degrees on his work . Some persons have been awarded doctorate degrees after they chose his writings for it. His Punjabi short stories have been translated into Hindi, English, Urdu, Telugu and Malayalam languages.With more than 150 short stories and about 15 published books , Khalid Hussain intends to add more . More power to his pen .

 

 

Na takht o taaj mein

na lashkar o sipaah mein hai

Jo baat mard e qalandhar

ki baargaah mein hai...

 

( Avtar Mota)

 

  

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