Eulogizing and singing Punjabi poetic creations of his own and others is the obsession of California-based Pashaura Singh Dhillon, a passionate poet and an architect by profession. In city for an interaction at Randhawa Auditorium, the poet delighted the literary elite with his mellifluous rendition of verses from his latest book Deeva Baleh Samundron Paar and other prominent poets.

Sharing his love for literature and music with Lifestyle Tribune, Pashaura Singh opined that the vision, impulse, voice and command over language are the essential merits of a poet. The poet rendered a classic ghazal by Sukhwinder Amrit. He was at his best as he voiced the anguish of a tormented soul, depicted in poet Sukhbir Sandhu’s ghazal Eh sochda hi sochda kabbe ton mud pya, teri dehleez ton bina sajda karaan ke naa. Because of its felicity of the composition, people often credit this creation to Shiv Batalvi.

The poet asserted that the urge to create is born out of involvement with life in all its manifestations. “During my childhood in Bhasin Dhilwan, near Lahore, our family turned homeless following the Partition and took refuge in the village of great patriot Sohan Singh Bhakna, hero of Gadar movement who was a messiah for us,” he said. “After securing a degree in agriculture, I d started esigning landscapes for City Beautiful. Later I went for Masters in Landscape Architect from London and took up UN assignments in Nigeria, Tanzania, UK, Dubai and finally settled in California,” he added. But the passion for poetic creations and the invariable adulations from the Punjabi lovers abroad kept me rejuvenated,” he further said. “While sculpting poetry I am never lost in the world of fantasy rather its capturing the sordid realities of life with honesty and courage which are reflected in the social and intellectual content of my verses, very close to the pulse and heart beat of a Punjabi” claims the poet.

(Tribune)