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Mainstream, Vol XLV, No 35

Candid Tale of a Simple-hearted Great Man

by Shiela Gujral

Saturday 18 August 2007

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[(Book Review
)]

Whom to Tell My Tale: An Autobiography by K.S. Duggal; National Book Trust Publication, New Delhi; pages 222; Rs 65.

The opening sentence of the book—“Haye Bhabi, had he not been my brother’s baby, I would have...” and the rest of the sentence “... gone and dumped him on the village dung-hill,” remained etched on her lips—carries the remark made by his Bhua, while meeting for the first time the skin-infected babe. This portrays the candidness of this simple-hearted great man. Going through this book the reader wonders how he could present the huge canvas of his many facets life in so few words. His insights into the changing times, his tender intimate moments of life, the vivid description of his defeats and achievements and deep understanding of national problems are simply presented like a descriptive novel. The catalogue of his writings—grand total 159 containing short stories, novels, plays, poetry and scores of reviews of other books—is uncountable. Getting up at 4am daily, utilising every moment of his waking time, adjusting his time so well that regular prayers, meeting writers and other visitors, attending conferences and seminars, walking, all are included in his regular routine. Somehow in between he finds time for his family too.

K.S. Duggal gives constant encouragement to the budding writers and especially to those writers who join the field of Punjabi literature at a later stage. I consider him as my guru and guide. I could not have found my own little niche in Punjabi writing but for his encouragements. Knowing me as a writer and poet in English and Hindi, the Punjabi literary circle did not take my Punjabi works seriously and it had very limited readership. He liked my Punjabi poems and short stories and took pains to write, “Ma Boli De Bukkal Vich”, commenting on my works and including his favourite poems and stories from my published books.

Born in the Pothoar region of pre-partitioned Punjab and educated at the local college, he starts the book with memories of a rustic life with great gusto. He describes his golden days at the AIR Lahore, Peshawar and Jalandhar. He vividly describes the memories of the literary circles of those days and amusing skeletons tumble out of the cupboard, for example, when he narrates the incident of a Tantrik who overpowered the office of politicians and the Chief Minister including the group of politicians around him. During his tenure in Parliament he strove hard to serve the cause of education, not only by himself but persuaded other MPs from Punjab to join hands with him. Much later, even today, he is fully involved in encouraging reading-habits and spreading education in rural Punjab.

With proper planning and hard-work he achieved success in whatever project he had in hand without showing any concern about his personal problems. Like a shuttle-cock, he was transferred from one State to another because of his famed efficiency.

DUGGAL’S great contributions to the National Book Trust and later to the Planning Commission came from his administrative skill. “Book Trust is Duggal’s babe, he had made it,” was Mrs Indira Gandhi’s observation. Dr Keskar, former Minister of Information and Broadcasting, gave due credit to him saying: “It is Duggal’s achievement. He has put life in a dead horse.” “My tenure in the Trust from 1966-1973 was an exciting period in book publishing in India,” says Duggal. It was during his period that the Government of India decided unequivocally in favour of switching to the Indian language from primary to the highest level of education including post-graduate studies. Duggal tells us in this book: “I look back on this period as the most purposeful years of my service career. I enjoyed every moment of it.” Once this administrative phase was over Duggal could devote more time to creative writing.

Besides numerous other awards, he has received the Sahitya Akademy Award in 1969, a Fellowship by the Punjab Sahitya Academy in 1983, a D’Lit Honour conferred by the Punjab University in 1996. He was nominated as a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) by the President of India in 1997. At the age of 90, when most people lead a retired life, he is as active and hardworking as he was during his youth. There is hardly any good cause with which he is not associated.

The reviewer is a well-known writer and poet; she writes in English, Hindi and Punjabi

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