The twin cultural ambassadors of India

My grandfather S. Gurdial Singh (standing right) and his fraternal twin brother, S. Harminder Singh ( second from left) with staff from the Consulat général de France (Embassy of France). Connaught Place, Delhi. 1949

Image and Narrative contributed by Nona Walia, New Delhi

This is photograph is of my grandfather S. Gurdial Singh (standing right) and his fraternal twin brother S Harminder Singh (standing second from left) with people from the Embassy of France in New Delhi in 1949.

The brothers Gurdial and Harminder were born on August 1, 1916 in Wazirabad (now in Pakistan). The family was from a small town in Punjab, Chamkaur Sahib, where Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru’s, sons were sacrificed. The twins’ architect father Bir Singh had helped build government and residential buildings in Lahore (now in Pakistan) and Chamkaur town.

Bir Singh, my great grandfather had two wives, and the first wife had a daughter. The societal pressure for property distribution (the patriarchal line) was immense by his brothers, so he married Balwant Kaur, who gave birth to the twins with the blessing and prediction of a local saint in Punjab, Randhir Singh. The twins it turned out were quite unlike each other. Gurdial Singh was a introvert, and liberal hearted with a tight circle of friends. Harminder Singh was an extrovert, dynamic, social, philosopher who loved meeting the whos who.

The twins were just eight years old when their 34 year old father Bir Singh passed away and they were brought up by their mother, Balwant Kaur. Their spirit made them known for their strength, as Harminder (known as Kirpal Singh then) would daringly go swimming in the Ropar canal (the beginning of Sirhind Canal) and loved playing the banjo. They studied at BASJS Khalsa Sr. Sec .School, Chamkaur Sahib, and then went to do their higher studies at Wazirabad.

Gurdial Singh then developed a serious interest in the French language and began learning the language in Pakistan, he then went to Pondicherry, (former French colonial city in South India), for an year, in 1936, to refine his knowledge. It was in 1940, Gurdial Singh, who by now was an expert on the language, became a professor of French at S.D. College (Sanatana Dharma) in Lahore. Gurdial Singh married Harjit Kaur in Wazirabad and had two sons and a daughter; Harminder Singh married Kanwal Singh had two daughters and a son. Both marriages were arranged by Sant Randhir Singh, who had predicted their birth.

After partition in 1947, the brothers moved to Delhi, and rebuilt their lives from scratch. My grandfather Gurdial worked in Delhi’s Dyal Singh College and went on to become the Vice Principal. He wrote many Grammar books and poetry in French. The big milestone was when he translated the Japji Sahib, the Sikh morning prayer into French. The then prime minister Indira Gandhi unveiled his book. He also translated Bhai Vir Singh‘s poems and Guru Tegh Bahadur‘s hymns into French. Some of his original French poems were broadcast by AIR (All India Radio). One of his other big works written in French and English was the biography of Maharajah Duleep Singh (youngest son of Maharajah Ranjit Singh) who spent the last days of his life in France.

It was in 1966, Prof. Gurdial Singh also participated in a special programme on French Television network in connection with the 300th celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh. He was the founder member of Alliance Francaise, Delhi and member of the Board of Studies in French at the Panjab University, Chandigarh and at the Punjabi University, Patiala.

My grandfather Gurdial came to be known as the literary genius and his friends who would sit with him to hear him tell stories and narrate poems for hours. There were times, I would see him in his study, writing for days. Eventually he translated, for the first time, the entire Guru Granth Sahib into French. There were shabads (hymns) he would write and sing in French. The songs I grew up listening were mostly in my grandfather’s voice in French recorded on a tape recorder by his daughter, Gurdeep Kaur.

His twin my granduncle, Harmandir Singh was in the Indian Foreign Service and served in Cairo, Nairobi, Kinshasa, and finally moved to High Commission of London in 1969. He was given the third Shiromani Award in 1979 for promoting peace and harmony in a multi cultural society. He was part of more than 20 organisations, globally, that worked towards Sikh charity and community work. He was the executive member of World Congress of Faiths and attended the annual conference at Canterbury in July 1976.

The brothers indeed became the cultural ambassadors of their culture around the globe and their literary genius resulted in a creative life well-lived. Gurdial Singh passed away in 1990 and Harminder Singh passed away in 2010. After Partition, they had built a life from scratch with resilience despite losing their home, in what became Pakistan. They found global fame with their literary genius and their never-say-die Sikh spirit opened up their lives that were full of curiosity and zest to understanding, discovering and sharing new and beautiful views of the world.