To some, history and literary culture are strange bedfellows. This book on
Bhagat Singh is written from the viewpoint of vernacular Punjabi culture and
tries to tread on the marginalized path of vernacular culture as a methodology
of a historian's craft. The book seeks to understand the manner in which
Punjabis constructed the image of Bhagat Singh in their literature.
Bhagat Singh's revolutionary life, culminating in his martyrdom, had an enormous
impact on the Punjabis, who in their diverse genres of folklore, catch-songs,
marriage songs, couplets and proverbs eulogized him in multiple contexts.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Bhagat Singh caught the imagination of
contemporary poets