Birth of a Song is a collection of 50 short stories by K S Duggal, one of the leading fiction writers in India today.This is the author’s third collection of short fiction in English. His earlier works were: Come Back My Master (Vikas), and Death of a Song (Arnold Heinemann). K S Duggal’s short story entitled Come Back My Master figures in the World’s Greatest Short Stories.These stories written originally in Punjabi, the author’s mother-tongue, have mostly been translated into English by the author himself. He has over 500 stories in 21 collections in the original. They reflect the prevailing milieu in the resurgent India, torn with internal conflicts and external pressures whether it is Punjab in turmoil or the rest of the country blown off its feet by the severe westerly winds. A master craftsman, every story in the collection has a moment of truth, a moment of aesthetic pleasure. It helps the reader to know the whatness of things before the effect fades away in the quiet. It is a genre close to Mr. Duggal’s heartbeat, ingesting both poetry and drama. The stories reflect an inventive strain that is remarkable.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR K.S. Duggal
Kartar singh (K.S.) Duggal, born in 1917, begin wiriting while still a student. He is an author of repute in Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, and English. His works have been translated into many other languages, and are used in literature classes in a larger number of colleges and universities throughout the world. His published works include twenty-one collections of short stories, seven novels, seven plays, and two collections of poetry. He has received numerous awards and prizes for his writing, including the Ghalib Award for Urdu Dhama (1976), the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1981), the Fellowship of the Punjabi Sahitya Academy (1983), and the Bhartya Bhasha Parishad Award (1985). His short story, “Come Back My Master†is included in the Greatest Short Stories of the World. He was recognized by both the Punjabi government (1962) and the Delhi Administration (1976) as a distinquished man-of-letters and awarded a “Robe of Honour.†His collection of short stories, ik Cbbit Chanam Di, won the Sahita Academi award in 1965. Mr. Duggal also served as Director of the All-India Radio from 1942 to 1966, as Director of the National Book Trust form 1966-1973, and was an Advisor (Information) to the Planning Commission from 1973 to 1976. He has worked to encourage and promote literature and the arts throughout his life. He also served as a columnist for The Indian Express. The Tribune, and The Indian Book Industry, as a commentator or books, author, radio, and television programs and the contemporary publishing scene in India.
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