Dr SS Bhatti (83) is India's most versatile professional, nicknamed Chandigarh's Mr Versatility by Chandigarh Newsline of The India Express. He pursues an amazing range of disciplines: Architecture; Art; Poetry; Criticism; Aesthetics; Engineering; Vocal Music; Musicology; Comparative Religion; Mysticism; Geography; Philosophy; Sociology; Mythology; Planning; Creative Writing; and so forth.He holds three PhDs: first one titled: CHANDIGARH and the Context of Le Corbusier's 'Statute of the Land': A Study of Plan, Action, and Reality [1991]; the second on CREATIVE MYSTICISM: A Study of Guru Nanak Bani with special reference to Japuji [2000]; and the third on SRI HARMANDAR SAHIB: A Study of Architecture, Engineering, and Aesthetics [2008]. He won the Fifth JIIA [Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects] National Award for Excellence in Architecture [Research Category] for the first PhD in 1993. The second one was honoured by Guru Har Krishan Educational Society, Chandigarh, as the Best Doctorate done in 2000 at the Department of Guru Nanak Sikh Studies, Panjab University.He inherited from his father Sardar Balwant Singh Bhatti the family's creative versatility and the pursuit of excellence besides love for Gurbani and understanding of the great Indian art and cultural tradition. His father designed Gurdwara Panja Sahib Hassan Abdal [now in Pakistan] and Takht Shri Kesgarh Anandpur Sahib, and was a past master in Sikh Architecture [his article on this subject can be seen on the Internet], painting, sculpture, wood-carving, Indian classical music, and Greco-Indian style of wrestling.Dr Bhatti has striven to extend the family tradition of versatile creativity to become India's foremost protagonist of Holistic Humanism. He has made enormous contribution to many different fields which fact is widely acknowledged by eminent professionals working in them. He has to his credit three thousand works of Art, and written more than 5,000 poems in English, Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi. Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi has conferred on him Best Book of the Year Award for 2019 for his anthology of quatrains titled Shu'oor-i-Bekhudi in Urdu Poetry Category.
