Ajmer Sidhu is a well-known short story writer. He was born in 1970 in the village Jafarpur in the district of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. He got his higher education from the Punjabi University Patiala. He has already published five collections of short stories. His works have been lauded and awarded. His collection of stories Khusk Akh da Khaab, transliterated by Farhad Dhariwal into Shahmukhi script, has recently been published by Kitab Trinjan, Lahore.

Farhad himself is a serious fiction writer. In the foreword he writes;“His stories debunk religious, social and cultural myths. He also touches political issues. His stories deal specially with situations and problems created by fast-moving changes in our society such as the pervasiveness of new forms of capitalism, capital’s deep penetration into life, unbridled media, and the shenanigans of the corporate sector.”

The book contains eight stories which one may call long short stories but they are highly gripping; their length keeps you in suspense rather than making you lose interest. His strong point is not just the choice of meaningful experiences which have contemporary relevance but also how he arranges and develops them. It seems he uses details as a part of his literary technique which imperceptibly take his narrative forward in a subtle manner enabling us to enter his world which seems somewhat familiar and yet eerily unsettling. His details reflect the richness of life regardless of how unbearable at times it is. The atmosphere thus created unpretentiously explores the objective side of the things as they are as well as affords us glimpses into the inner world of his characters which are pulled in opposite directions by their psycho-social forces. The first story Shayad Rammi Mann Jaae is a hauntingly moving story of a mother who is torn apart by his conflicting desires. She is constantly weighed down by a dilemma; how to get out of miserable poverty and retain her self-image. The way out seems to subtly persuade her girl to join, like the girls of her friend, a performance group who make money by spending nights with the debauched rich. The problem is that the girl is inclined to revolutionary ideas. The crisis, emotional and social, is minutely painted in its multiple dimensions.

The eponymous story Khushk Akh da Khaab is a family saga; a painful story of rich parents who fail in their duty of upbringing their son who turns druggie and violent to the extent that he is ready to kill his parents to have unfettered access to the family’s material assets for his profligate spending.

Ajmer Sidhu can be counted among our leading short story writers who introduces us to a world known which at the same time harbours disturbing secrets that usually remain un-revealed. The book is a highly rewarding read.

Sandhia Sharma’s Punjabi Cookery Book sounds as delectable as what it offers; a long list of dishes and their recipes. The book, transliterated from Gurmukhi script by Dildar Hussain and edited by Maqssod Saqib, has been brought out by Suchet Kitab Ghar, Lahore. It is an impressive catalogues of Punjabi dishes, traditional and contemporary. The first chapter is about non-vegetarian (maasa haari) dishes made of meat and fish. It has a mouth-watering display of meat dishes we Punjabis love. The most delicious is tandoori fish, fish baked in a traditional tandoor. The second chapter, elaborate and long, offers us vegetarian (shaka haari) dishes. Any dish you imagine is there. Next comes rice and rice-based dishes followed by roti and nan, and paratha which is the most popular bread made without yeast and fried with butter oil on a girdle. The list includes ‘poorian’, bhthooray, pooray, kheer, karah (halwa), sherbet, soups, papadom, pickles and sauces, kulfi , ice cream and jam. The recipes given are thorough and in a language which can be accessible to all, men and women. The dishes can please even the most jaded palate.

Gurdev Chauhan says about himself: “I write poetry, creative prose, humour, literary criticism in Punjabi and English. Reading is my passion. I also edit the South Asian Ensemble, a literary quarterly.” His book of poems Achan Chet, transliterated by Farthad Dhariwal into Shahmukhi script and published by Kitab Trinjan, carries no note on the author which simply betrays the publisher’s laziness. It was direly needed because Gurdev Chauhan is not well-known on this side of Punjab.The blurb says about his poetry; “...spontaneity and poise are its defining features. It is free of an ostentatious streak. His poems come up wearing robes of daily chores and domesticity. They make common folks who lag behind as significant and put them on centre stage.” His are prose poems which show a high level of maturity blending feelings and ideas in a way that looks natural. They remind you of genre painting. Thus despite its modern structure his poetic expression fits into our long-standing poetic tradition that invariably treats the ordinary as a source of poetic stuff by delving into its dimensions which are hidden beneath its worn surface.

Gurdev Chauhan has the magic to make the commonplace look unusual, even rare, and the ordinary serendipitous. This can’t be done with some trick or jugglery. He does it because he has critical vision and skills to discover what lies underneath the veneer of things we live surrounded by. He discards what is known as traditional poetics and yet sounds refreshingly poetic if you are not hooked on saccharine songs of romantic poets such as Shiv Kumar and any others of that ilk. Let’s savour one of his poems: “What is fear? /Fear is as old as God / When (you are) in fear the eyes see more / ears hear more / Fear is born in the forehead / its grows up in the body / Fear like a chameleon raises it head and changes its colour / It roams like a disoriented deer / It looks over its shoulder continually / Fear like a tortoise withdrawing its neck into its shell expands and contracts / State of fear is grotesque / it can make a small thing big / Fear invariably conceals some omission / It gets its strength from admonition / my dears, don’t fear the fear / It can take your life at most / It will not eat you alive.” — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2025