Shiv Kumar Batalvi

Shiv Kumar Batalvi (23 July 1936 – 6 May 1973) was a Punjabi language poet, who was known for his romantic poetry, noted for passion, pathos and lover's agony.

He was the youngest recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967, given by India's National Academy of Letters, for his epic verse play based on the ancient legend of Puran Bhagat, Loona (1965), considered a masterpiece in modern Punjabi literature, and which also created a new genre, of modern Punjabi kissa. Today, his poetry stands in equal footing, amongst that by stalwarts of modern Punjabi poetry, like Mohan Singh (poet) and Amrita Pritam, all of whom are popular on both sides of Indo-Pakistan border.

Love Life

He met a girl named Mina at a fair. When he went back to look for her in her hometown, he heard the news of her death and wrote his elegy Maina. This episode was to prefigure numerous other partings that would serve as material to distil into poems. Perhaps the most celebrated such episode is his fascination for Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari's daughter who left for the US and married someone else. When he heard of the birth of her first child, Shiv wrote 'Main ek shikra yaar banaya', perhaps his most famous love poem. It's said that when she had her second child, someone asked Shiv whether he would write another poem. Shiv replied "Have I become responsible for her? Am I to write a poem on her every time she gives birth to a child?" That lady love is still alive (as in 2017) and leading a sad and melancholy life far away from India. During a recent visit to India she confided in a close friend that Shiv holds a special place in her heart and she also finds the image of Shiv in some distant stars. She doesn't wish to open the old chapters due to sensitivites of two families involved in it.

He started being drunk and late nights at friends. Shiv Kumar Batalvi's health deteriorated in Kiri Mangial during the early morning hours of 6 May 1973 whereupon he was brought to PGI Hospital, Chandigarh. Shiv Kumar Batalvi died in the 36th year of his life on 7 May 1973 in PGI Hospital, CHANDIGARH. Shiv did not die in the hospital. He died in his inlaws house in Kirit Mangayal where he went to meet his wife and kids. He never moved there. He moved from Chandigarh to Batala only.

Ref- Wiki

For more follow @navdeep.droid