>Titodutta at 13:56, 8 September 2021

2021-09-08T13:56:31Z

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{{Infobox writer 
| name = Gurdas Ram Alam
| image = Gurdas Ram Alam.jpg
| caption = Alam at Derby England 1972
| birth_date = {{birth year|1912}}
| birth_place = [[Bundala]], [[Jalandhar]], [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]], British India
| death_date = {{death year and age|1989|1912}}
| death_place =
| occupation = Poet, Bhatta Mazdoor
| nationality = Indian Punjabi
| period = 1937–1973
| genre =
| subject = Inequality, Revolution, Social Change
| movement = Progressive [[poetry]]
| notableworks = ''Alam Kav'' (1965)
| signature =
| website =
| imagesize =
}}

'''Gurdas Ram Alam''' (1912–1989), was a [[Punjabi language]] poet born in [[Bundala]] village of [[Jalandhar]], [[Punjab]]. He was a progressive poet and an activist poet from a [[marginalized]] part of the society known as [[Dalit]]s, and he is known as the first Punjabi [[Dalit]] poet.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTorDwAAQBAJ&q=gurdas+ram+alam&pg=PA66|title=Cultural Studies in India|last=Nayar|first=Rana|date=2017-07-05|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351570374|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3085:rich-heritage-of-punjabi-dalit-literature-and-its-exclusion-from-histories-12022&catid=124&Itemid=140&tmpl=component&type=raw|title=Heritage of Punjabi Dalit Literature and its Exclusion from Histories|website=roundtableindia.co.in|access-date=2019-04-25}}</ref> He was from a working-class family and lived in small [[Mud House|mud house]] in village.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://dokumen.tips/documents/paash-gurdas-ram-alam.html|title=Paash Gurdas Ram Alam|website=dokumen.tips|access-date=2019-04-29}}</ref> Alam did not go to school, he learned reading and writing [[Gurmukhi]] from his friends. Being a [[Working class|working-class]] child he started working at a very young age, and he also started writing poems from his childhood. His first source of inspiration for getting into writing was oppression by the rich on the poor people that he experienced while working as child labor.<ref name=":0" /> Despite being illiterate, he emerged as a popular name in Punjabi folk poetry before the [[partition of India]]. Alam is recognised as a Dalit activist poet<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.goethe.de/ins/in/lp/prj/ptp/mag/en15726510.htm|title=Poets translating Poets – Essays – Goethe-Institut|website=www.goethe.de|access-date=2019-04-30}}{{failed verification|date=August 2019}}</ref> and the voice of deprived, oppressed [[caste]]s and communities.

==Life and work==
Gurdas Ram Alam was born in Bundala village of Jalandhar, Punjab. His mother's name was Jioni and father's name, Shri Ram. Alam worked as bhatta majdoor and construction worker from a very young age. His work as a child labourer became his inspiration for writing poems which became his way of expression of how he felt being a working-class boy.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://fountainink.in/essay/histories-that-make-the-heart-quake|title=Histories that make the heart quake|website=fountainink.in|access-date=2019-04-30}}{{failed verification|date=August 2019}}</ref> He remained uneducated because his family could not support sending him to school.

==Writing==
===Style and Influence===
He was contemporary of [[Shiv Kumar Batalvi]], [[Pash|Avtar Singh Paash]], [[Amrita Pritam]] and [[Mohan Singh (poet)|Prof. Mohan Singh]]. He had one friend from the village, the [[Marxism|Marxist]] leader [[Harkishan Singh Surjeet]], and became influenced by [[Marxism]] and [[Naxalite|Naxalite Movement]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lbZUDwAAQBAJ&q=gurdas+ram+alam&pg=PT49|title=Legacies of the Homeland: 100 Must Read Books by Punjabi Authors|last=Singh|first=Paramjeet|date=2018-04-07|publisher=Notion Press|isbn=9781642494242|language=en}}{{failed verification|date=August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/spectrum/books/folk-culture-of-doaba-revisited/256853.html|title=Folk culture of Doaba revisited|last=Alam|first=Gurdas Ram|date=Jun 26, 2016|work=Tribune India|access-date=Jun 26, 2016}}{{failed verification|date=August 2019}}</ref> He had been jailed a few times. People called him a [[Communism|communist]] because his poetry was direct Punjabi expression of marxist philoshopy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://upkaar.com/essays/Ramesh%20Chander/2012/21-Gurdas-Ram-Alam-30102012.htm|title=GURDASS RAM ALAM|website=upkaar.com|access-date=2019-05-10}}</ref> Later [[Sant Ram Udasi]] and [[Lal Singh Dil]] followed the same creed and emerged as descendants Alam, their work served as inspiration for Naxalite movement of Punjab in 1960's.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> He was very close to some old Punjabi poets like [[Nand Lal Noorpuri]], Vidhata Singh Teer and Firoz Din Sharaf.

As a poet of Dalit-consciousness he was also inspired by the thought and philosophy of [[B. R. Ambedkar]]. He wrote a poem "''Bada shor painda gareeban de vehre''" which recited in Ambedkar's presence during a public meeting in 1959 at Bootan Mandi [[Jalandhar]], Punjab.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cityairnews.com/content/126th-birth-anniversary-baba-sahib-dr-br-ambedkar-celebrated|title=126th Birth Anniversary of Baba Sahib Dr. B.R. Ambedkar celebrated {{!}} City Air News|website=cityairnews.com|access-date=2019-04-30}}{{failed verification|date=August 2019}}</ref>

== References ==

<references />

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[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian lyricists]]
[[Category:Punjabi-language poets]]
[[Category:Punjabi-language writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]

Gurdas Ram Alam - Revision history

>Titodutta at 13:56, 8 September 2021