Balwant Gargi (4 December 1916 – 22 April 2003) (Punjabi: ਬਲਵੰਤ ਗਾਰਗੀ, Balwant Gārgi, Balwant Gārgi) was a renowned Punjabi language dramatist, theatre director, novelist, and short story writer, and academic.

Biography

Balwant Gargi Born on 4 December 1916 in Neeta Khandan in Bathinda (Punjab). Balwant Gargi was born in a house in the Neeta Mal street, near the 1800-year-old historical Gobind Fort, famous for being the spot where Razia Sultan was imprisoned. The second son in the family of Shiv Chand, a Head Clerk in the Irrigation Department, he would go on create history in the world of Indian and Punjabi literature.

Gargi wrote several plays, including Loha Kutt, Kesro, Kanak Di Balli, Sohni Mahiwal, Sultan Razia, Soukan, Mirza Sahiba and Dhooni di Agg and short stories Mircha Wala Sadh, Pattan di Berhi and Kuari Disi. His plays were translated into 12 languages, and have been performed around the world, including Moscow, London, New Delhi and around the USA.Gargi was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award, the highest Indian literary award, in 1962 for his play Rang Manch. This was followed by the Padma Shri (1972), and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Punjabi Playwriting in 1998.Gargi is one of the few artistic to win both the Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi awards.