Punjabi writer Prof Kirpal Singh Kasel, who has written as many as 80 Punjabi books, was born at Kasel village. His book ‘Punjabi Sahit di Utpati te Vikas ‘(Growth of Punjabi literature and development) is a must-read book for every student of MA Punjabi. Though Prof Kirpal had ‘Dhillon’ sub-caste, but he preferred to carry ‘Kasel’ as his last name as a mark of respect for his birthplace and the village. Prof Kirpal was born to Ganga Singh and Mohinder Kaur on April 24, 1928, and died on April 14, 2019. He was awarded Punjabi Sahit Rattan in 2015 by the Punjab Government.
Advertisement
As per information given by Prof’s close relative Jaswinder Singh, who remained with Prof Kirpal in Patiala for years together, said the former wrote as many as 80 books. He said that he wrote only 10 books before he met with an accident in which he lost his eyesight in 1964. He was serving at Government College, Ludhiana, then and the remaining 70 books were written after that.
He added that Prof Kirpal’s literature was mostly on the Namdhari sect and Ghadar Movement. Namdhari sect provided him a permanent assistant named Ajit Singh of Gurdaspur to carry on with his movement-related activities without break. Anjali also worked as an assistant with Prof Kirpal. The residents of Kasel village still remember him and quote him as the son of the land.
Prof Kirpal had given donation for the construction of a stage at Gurdwara Bibi Ratniji in the village in the memory of his son Tejibir Singh, who had died at an early age. Some of the relatives of Prof Kirpal still reside in the village. Sarabjit Singh, who used to call Prof Kirpal as ‘tayaji’ (father’s elder brother), said that he had bought the house of Prof Kirpal years back when he was alive.
English (US) ·