18 INDIA TODAY PUNJABI F AUGUST 2018
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Cover Story
HARMANJEET SINGH 27,
WRITER, MogaWORLD IN MY STUDY
TARTING OUT He won this year's pres-
tigious Yuva Sahitya Akademi Award
for his debut Punjabi book Rani
Tat. Harmanjeet Singh prefers to
let his books do most of the talking
and says, “For me, the most effective
way to talk about things is through
verse.” He attributes his love for
writing to his father, who encour-
aged him to become a voracious
reader. “That was when I under-
stood that words could have a deep
conversation with you, and you did
not need anyone else,” he says.LACK OF ORIGINAL VOICES The writer,
whose book has already sold
11,000 copies and is in its seventh
reprint, laments that contempo-rary entertainment has now been
restricted to slapstick comedy and
predictable love stories. He won-
ders what makes writers believe
that the audience is not intelligent
enough to decipher complicated
plots? “Underestimating the
audience's depth is the worst
kind of disrespect one can give to
the reader. We must have faith in
them.”GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS A school
teacher by profession, Singh says
the West is able to produce young
talent consistently thanks to schol-
arships. “Here, our major concern
is running the house, so we do not
have a choice but to give priority toa regular job and spend long hours
there. It is sad that the government
does little in this regard,” says the
writer who is writing his second
book Sarbatt.WRITING FOR CINEMA Singh has
also been writing lyrics for the
Punjabi music industry and his
first song Sarvaan, released in
2016, was sung by Gurshabad.
He also wrote three songs for the
Punjabi film Lahoriya.
Talking about his writing
experience for the two mediums,
Singh says, "Songs are any
day more democratic while pen-
ning a book is a very personal
journey."FAVOURITE WRITERS I READ ACROSS GENRES, NO FAVOURITES
RELAXING GOING FOR LONG WALKS
FAVOURITE POSSESSION BOOKS