Bhai Vir Singh (1872-1957) was an icon on Sikh history, and rekindled in the
minds of people a love for Punjabi poetry and literature. A mentor to many, he
was brought up in an environment dedicated to Sikh history and tradition and
was successful in revitalizing a faith that had been challenged for many years by
ongoing persecution and neglect. He helped to create a love for the contribution
of Sikh Gurus and Sikh leaders. He instilled an understanding of the unique
essence of Sikh thought, and drew communities closer to their faith through his
lyrics, his stories, his essays and his compilation of language and arts. A
founding member of the Punjab Sind Bank, he set up The Khalsa Tract Society
and the Khalsa Samachar that allowed people easy access to historical material
and interpretations of Sikhism. His writings include, among others, Sundri, said to
be the first novel written in Punjabi, Bijay Singh, Sri Guru Nanak Chamatkar,
Baba Naudh Singh, Rana Surat Singh, Lahiran de Haar, Matak Hulare, and an
annotation of Santokh Singh's Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth. He was the recipient
of the Sahitya Akademi Award (1955) and the Padma Bhushan award (1956).
Professor Puran Singh (1881-1931) was an eminent scientist and the founder of the
chemistry of forest products in India. Dr. H.S. Virk mentions that as an Imperial
Chemist at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Puran Singh published 53
research papers and made an extensive survey of Indian forests from the Himalayas
to the regions of Bengal, Assam and Burma. (Professor Puran Singh: Scientist, Poet
and Philosopher, Tarlochan Publishers, 2008). As a writer, poet and philosopher,
Puran Singh produced over 25 books in Punjabi, English and Hindi. As a young
student at Tokyo University, he mastered the Japanese language and learned
German which was then the medium of instruction in his area of study. He was a
prolific writer, and loved, lived, worshipped and wrote with passionate
abandonment. His early meeting with Swami Rama Tirath paved the path to his later
meeting with Bhai Vir Singh who created in him a love for Sikhism and the
realization that whereas he is one with the cherry blossom and the Peepal tree, he is,
at the same time, a child nurtured by the Sikh Gurus, and dedicated to their simple
and straightforward ideology of modern humanism and the concept of Surt or
conscious awareness.
Looking at the miserable plight of man, the writer, Jaswant Singh 'Khoji', belovedly called 'Bauji', an apostle of love and compassion, has taken pains to analyze and trace the cause of man's degeneration and given him the ambrosial dose, so that he can rise up and fight out with rejuvenated vigour to regain his lost empire.
Bauji has unflinching faith that 'Gurbani' has descended from Divinity and he has taken up the mission of Guru Nanak for the uplift of mankind to the 'Divine Realm' by spreading the message of 'Nanak Love' to entire humanity.
Some of his works can be found on this website http://www.brahmbungadodra.org/
Dr. Khudadad (d. 1954), a friend and fellow chemist, remained a pillar of strength
for Professor Puran Singh and his family. He was admired for his courage and for his
dedication to the family. His friend Sir Jogendra Singh writes of him:
“[Puran Singh] and Dr. Khudadad, both trained chemists dreamed great
dreams of economic development and worked for their realization and
merely faced the agony and experience of mundane activities refreshed for
the fragrance of the flower of their friendship which knew no fading. They
marched together through good times and bad times as they did in the spring
tide of their youth. All my heart goes to Khudadad in his loneliness. Puran
had great ideas of economic development but he had no love of money, and
money does not stay with those who wish to use it. The higher values
spurred him on to action and he launched upon experiments which often
landed him in difficulties, but his work even in physical domain lives. The
lemon grass oil from his farm is now in the market and during the war their
little laboratory supplied the world with Thymol. The deep unchanging
Puran-Khudadad friendship may serve as a beacon light for communal
understanding and its spiritual riches may invade the country and fill it with
wealth which remains with us for all times as the heritage of the soul.”
http://profpuransingh.blogspot.ca/2012/05/puran-singh- studies.html
Basant Kumari Singh, in her Reminiscences of Puran Singh (Punjabi University, 1980)
writes: “Khudadad’s devoted friendship was one of the greatest sobering influences
in Puran’s life (he would call him ‘Bhapa Da’ad, meaning “my brother, the
Giver’). Although there did crop up differences and disruptions, yet, he
remained loyal and devoted to his friends, and to his friend’s family, right up
to the very end......Before he left us, he knew the end was coming. He was
calm and serene. There was not a tremor of emotion in his voice. It was as
strong and magnificent as ever. He had no regrets or worries.....on the last
day his strength failed him. He tried but could not walk. Then very softly and
gently, eight loving arms carried him up like a child, and laid him on a bed in
the verandah....About half a mile from our house in Doiwala is a tiny
graveyard surrounded by green fields and wild bushes. Here they laid him to
rest.....When they went there on the third day, they were filled with wonder
to see something that had not been there before. They found freshly-made
grave, a child’s grave, nestling close to his.”