Kalwant Nadeem Parmar

Born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, in Pakistan), Kalwant Nadeem Parmar migrated with his familiy to Indian Punjab after Partition when he was 11 years old. His writing journey started in 1948 when he first wrote a poem after Gandhi’s assassination. He initially wrote ghazals in Urdu before shifting to his mother tongue Punjabi in 1990. A prolific writer, some of his published novels in Punjabi include: Chitti Maut, Inderjal, Pesh, Rape, Chup, Sponsorship, Napata Rukh and Paldi, Mohenjodaro in Canada. After moving to the UK to work as a teacher in 1968, he became a permanent resident in Canada in 1973, and settled here in support of his ailing wife. In this interview, Mr. Parmar talks about the partition of 1947, his novels, shifting from Urdu to Punjabi, the Punjabi Writer’s Forum/Punjabi Lekhak Munch and working on the Komagata Maru memorial. His newest novel is Māpe Vakkhrī Tarāṅ de, or A different kind of parents, published by Chetna Parkashan in Ludhiana in 2021, and his short stories were collected by Dr. Babneet Kaur in a volume entitled ਮੀ! that was published in 2022 by Gracious Books in Patiala.

Short promotional video 1

How was your experience working on the Komagata Maru memorial? ਤੁਹਾਡਾ ਕਾਮਾਗਾਟਾ ਮਾਰੂ ਯਾਦਗਾਰ ਦਾ ਕੰਮ ਕਰਨ ਦਾ ਤਜਰਬਾ ਕਿਹੋ ਜਿਹਾ ਸੀ? تہاڈا کاماگاٹا مارو یادگار دا کم کرن دا تجربہ کہو جہا سی؟

Short promotional video 2

Why did you switch from Urdu to Punjabi in your writing? ਤੁਸੀਂ ਆਪਣੀ ਲਿਖਾਈ ਵਿੱਚ ਊਰਦੁ ਦੀ ਥਾਂ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਕਿਉਂ ਵਰਤਣ ਲਗੇ? تسیں اپنی لکھای وچ اردو دی تھاں پنجابی کیوں ورتن لگے؟