Kewal Vig Award, 2019 – In Honour of Literary Personalities

Kewal Vig Award, 2019 – In Honour of Literary Personalities

Kewal Vig Award is a prestigious award instituted in 1994 in the sweet memory of renowned journalist Kewal Vig, founder editor of an esteemed periodical being published from Jalandhar  – Janta Sansar – a News and Views Magazine -for the last more than 50 years. Kewal Vig Awards, hosted by the worthy son of Kewal Vig and the current Editor of Janta Sansar Jatinder Mohan Vig, are conferred on the prominent personalities in the field of journalism and literature every year successively on December 4 on the death

anniversary of Kewal Vig. A long list of 55 awardees till 2018 reads like a “Who’s Who” in the intellectual and literary circles of the region and beyond. It is not a small feat. Jatinder Mohan and his associates deserve to be thanked and congratulated for adding meaningfully to the cultural, literary and social calendar of Jalandhar – a city of media and educational excellence.

The Awards for the year 2019 were conferred on two known literary intellectuals – Sardar Harphool Singh, a poet and gazal writer and Advocate Mohan Lal Phillauria, a story writer and a community activist. An excellent choice.

The first part of the award function on December 4, 2019 held at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall concluded with the recital of Guruwani with prayers for peace and harmony as a tribute to Kewal Vig. In the second half, famous gazal singers, Surinder Gulson, Pammi Hanspal, among others regaled the attentive and enlightened audience with the gazals written by a sauve personality Sardar Harphool Singh, one of the awardees, proudly sitting on the dias. I was fully impressed by the beautifully worded and sung compositions. It was a betting tribute to Kewal Vig.

I have had the pleasure to participate in the function as one of the Special Guests of Honour along with distinguished personalities like ADC Kulwant Singh, Director Enforcement B.K. Virdi, Retired Director of Languages Chetan Singh and Punjabi Poet Rachhpal Singh Pal. The awards were conferred by the esteemed

Chief Guest at the function DGP Inder Preet Singh Sahota. Being a faceless diplomat for long years, it was a good opportunity to meet and know the cream of the civil society in and around Jalandhar. I must thank Jatinder Mohan and Shiv Kanwar Singh Sandhu for inviting me to the well arranged and nicely conducted event. As a gesture of thanks, I presented a copy of my recently released book "The Bits and Pieces - Reminiscences and Reflections of a Novice" to Editor Jatinder Mohan Vig.The anchor Gagandeep Sondhi did an excellent job in making the function a lively and relaxed evening as the Master of Ceremonies.