A poet of defiance and hope, of tenderness and rebellion, of resistance and faith in humanity

By Harsh Thakor* 

On September 9 we remembered the birth of Avtar Singh Sandhu, better known as Pash, who would have turned seventy-five this year. His poetry continues to resonate as a voice of defiance, courage, and hope, giving him a permanent place among the most cherished poets of the subcontinent. Even in the darkest of times, Pash’s words carried light, lifting despair and awakening resilience.

Few poets of his generation embodied the turbulence of their age the way Pash did. His poems captured the longings of ordinary people and expressed their deepest anxieties and dreams with rare simplicity and clarity. Lucid yet uncompromising, earthy yet profound, his verses echoed like a collective song, becoming inseparable from the heartbeat of those who read or heard them.

Born in 1950 in a farming family in Punjab, Pash began writing poetry in his early teens. He was a voracious reader, building a personal library that spanned literature, science, and philosophy. The Russian writer Maxim Gorky left a deep mark on him, inspiring the pen name “Pash,” derived from the protagonist of Gorky’s novel Mother. He was equally influenced by Bertolt Brecht, whose example emboldened him to question social conventions, authority, and dogma.

By the time he was twenty, Pash had published his first poetry collection, Loh Katha (Tales of Iron), which instantly earned him recognition. This was followed by other collections during the decade, establishing him as a distinctive voice in Punjabi literature. His works reflected both the turbulence of his times and his personal struggles, particularly his experiences of imprisonment as a young writer. His poetry, often smuggled out of prison, spread widely and inspired an entire generation of readers.

Perhaps his most celebrated work is Sab Ton Khatarnak (The Most Dangerous Thing), in which he warns that the gravest danger is not violence or corruption, but the death of human dreams. This poem, like much of his writing, remains timeless because of its universality. It speaks not only of struggle, but also of hope—the refusal to surrender imagination and dignity.

Pash was not only a poet on the page but also an editor of literary magazines and journals, through which he championed new ideas and younger voices. Later in life, he devoted himself to education, running a school in his village, while continuing to write and publish. His words reached far beyond Punjab, translated into several languages and admired even in artistic circles far removed from his own background.

Though his life was tragically cut short in 1988, Pash’s poetry has endured. His verses remain alive in classrooms, in protest gatherings, in whispered readings, and in public recitals. They remind us that poetry can be both a refuge and a weapon, both tenderness and rebellion.

To this day, Pash stands as a poet of resistance and of faith in humanity. His words challenge complacency, ignite imagination, and remind us that the most dangerous thing is to lose the will to dream.

---

*Freelance journalist