Punjabi poet Mahinder Sathi dies of Covid
CHANDIGARH: Punjabi writers across two generations bemoaned the death of people’s poet Manhinder Sathi (85) who succumbed to the coronavirus disease at a Nurpur Bedi hospital on Sunday.
An iron factory labourer all his life, he enriched Punjabi literature with his poems and most famous is his poem ‘Mashalan Baal ke chalna jadon tak raat baaki hai’ (Walk on with torches aflame to the end of the night).
Well-known theatre actor-director Kewal Dhaliwal of Amritsar, paying tribute to Sathi’s commitment and courage, said, “I started my journey on stage with legendary street theatre-activist Gursharan Singh and the first action song that I performed on stage was ‘Mashalan baal ke chalna.”
Anthem of protest
This was to become the anthem of protest across languages in the country, he added.
Jalandhar based activistwriter Amolak Singh said, “I knew him for some four decades and he was a true activist and a true poet. In these times we need more Sathis.”
Moga-based fiction writer Gurmeet Karyalvi said: “Sathi also belonged to Moga and he was a source of inspiration to younger writers like us and I salute the writer who did not bend in spite of hardship.”