Socio-cultural concerns in ajmer singh aulakh's sat begane and gurdial singh night of the half moon

Abstract

Ajmer Singh Aulakh and Gurdial Singh are two prominent Punjabi writers who belong to the Malwa region of Punjab. Both the writers portray the everyday realities of marginalised people especially small or landless farmers. Commercialisation of agriculture under the Green Revolution has changed the socio-cultural environment of Punjab considerably, and these changes get reflected in vernacular literature also. In this study, comparative analysis of writings of these two writers has been done so as to analyse various socio-cultural concerns present in their texts. Both the writers belong to a relatively backward area of Punjab, and have focused on small farmers. These texts show complexities of rural agricultural life where land is both the main source of all livelihood and is also cause of many disputes. Due to its power to make or break the future of a family, hold over land becomes an issue of life and death. This over-reliance over land distorts the personal and familial life, in which women are the main sufferers. This socio-economic situation gets compounded with the addition of feelings of revenge, honour etc. which draw their strength from the cultural milieu. Sat Begane and Night of the Half Moon under study portray this complex reality of Punjabi farming community. The focus of this study is on the complex socio-cultural factors and economic transformation of the region that has deeply affected the human relationships and value system during this period.