Gurdial Singh

Gurdial Singh Rahi (Gurdi'āl Sigh; 10 January 1933 – 16 August 2016) was an Indian writer and novelist who wrote in Punjabi. He started his literary career in 1957 with a short story, "Bhaganwale." The novel was later adapted into the Punjabi film Marhi Da Deeva in 1989, directed by Surinder Singh. His novel Anhe Ghore Da Daan was also made into a film of the same name in 2011 by director Gurvinder Singh. By his own admission, Singh worked 16 hours a day when he took on various jobs such as making wheels for bullock carts and metal sheet forming for water tanks. Together, he and his father earned a day from hard labour. The first edition of the translation was published in 1991 by the Sahitya Akademi. A revised edition of The Last Flicker appeared in 2010, published by the National Book Trust.

Singh's other notable works included the novels Anhoe (1966), Addh Chanani Raat (1972), the Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1986,

Death Singh suffered from a heart attack earlier in 2016 after which he was partially paralysed. On 13 August 2016 he fell unconscious at his home in Jaitu and was admitted into a private hospital at Bathinda where he was kept on ventilator support. He died on 16 August 2016, when he was taken off life support systems, after it was determined that Singh had shown no signs of recovery. He is survived by his wife, Balwant Kaur, a son and two daughters.

Works Singh has published various novels, short story collections, plays, children's literature and also an autobiography in two parts.