ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>NIRAÑJAN SI&#7748GH PROFESSOR (1892-1979)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="NIRAÑJAN,SIDGH,PROFESSOR,Person,Person"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279NIRAÑJAN SI&#7748GH, PROFESSOR (1892-1979), educationist and writer, was born in 1892, the youngest of the five sons of Bh&#257&#299 Gop&#299 Chand and M&#257&#299 M&#363l&#257&#7749 Dev&#299, a Sahijdh&#257r&#299 Sikh couple of the village of Hari&#257l in Gujjar<u>kh</u>&#257n <i>tahs&#299l</i>, R&#257walpi&#7751&#7693&#299 district (now in Pakistan). His father died in 1901 and his brothers, Ga&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh and the one who became famous as Master T&#257r&#257 Singh took charge of him and supported him through school. After his primary classes in the village school, Nirañjan Si&#7749gh came to Amritsar where he matriculated at the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Collegiate School and passed his M.Sc. (chemistry) from the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College in 1916. He won a scholarship and was sent by the university to Agricultural College, Lyallpur, for research. In December 1917 he joined Forman Christian College, Lahore, as a lecturer in chemistry, but shifted to <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar, in April 1918. At the call of Mah&#257tm&#257 G&#257ndh&#299 for non-cooperation with government, Nirañjan Si&#7749gh cast off his western clothes and started wearing <i><u>kh</u>&#257d&#299</i> (fabric of home-spun cotton) which remained his dress throughout the rest of his life. He also took part in the Gurdw&#257r&#257 Reform movement for which he suffered jail in 1924 in the Jaito campaign.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; During the first assembly elections under the Government of India Act, 1935, held in January 1937, Nirañjan Si&#7749gh and a few other professors of the college worked in support of the candidates of the Ak&#257l&#299-Congress coalition against the candidates of the Chief <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, to which the college officially belonged, including its principal spokesman, Sir Sundar Si&#7749gh Maj&#299&#7789h&#299&#257. Sir Sundar Si&#7749gh carried his seat, and became a member of the Punjab Government which was formed at the end of the elections. Five of the college faculty were dismissed from service on 10 August 1937. Nirañjan Si&#7749gh was among them. They, with the help of some of the leading Ak&#257l&#299s set up a new college at Lahore &#8212 the Sikh National College. Nirañjan Si&#7749gh became its Principal and remained at the helm of affairs until the partition of India in 1947.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nirañjan Si&#7749gh then joined the newly established Pañj&#257b University with its headquarters at Solan, and was deputed to run honours classes in chemistry on behalf of the University in Delhi. In 1949 he came to Hoshi&#257rpur as head of the chemistry department at the University College there. In September 1950, he was appointed principal of the Camp College in Delhi from which post he resigned in June 1955. Thereafter he decided to serve in honorary capacity. He worked for a term as principal of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College in Delhi. In June 1958 he established a new college at Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib in memory of the mother of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, M&#257t&#257 Gujar&#299. He raised funds, supervised construction of the buildings, and set up laboratories.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In January 1961, he took over as principal at <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Bombay. The college needed a great deal of attention which Nirañjan Si&#7749gh was able to provide.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In spite of his training as a scientist, Nirañjan Si&#7749gh retained his interest in literature. He published three novels (<i>Prem Ka&#7751&#299, Nav&#257&#7749 Jug</i> and <i>Nav&#257&#7749 Sam&#257j</i>) and a collection of short stories entitled <i>Nau&#7749 Ka&#7751&#299&#257&#7749</i>. After his final farewell to teaching, he settled down to writing full-time. His published works, all in Punjabi, are <i>Shakar Rog d&#299 Kah&#257&#7751&#299</i> (<i>Ap&#7751i Zab&#257n&#299</i>), <i>J&#299van Y&#257tr&#257 Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh</i> (1968), <i>J&#299van Vik&#257s</i> (1970), <i>J&#299van Jugat</i> (1971) and <i>Dharam ate S&#257&#299&#7749s d&#257 Jo&#7771</i> (1976).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nirañjan Si&#7749gh died in Delhi on 8 March 1979.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Nirañjan Si&#7749gh, <i>J&#299van Vik&#257s</i>. Delhi, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"><i>J&#299van Y&#257tr&#257 Master T&#257r&#257 Singh</i>. Delhi 1968<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>