Jaswant Singh Neki (27 August 1925 – 11 September 2015) was a leading Indian Sikh scholar, significant neo-metaphysical Punjabi language poet[1] and former Director of PGI Chandigarh and Head of the Psychiatry Department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.
As a poet he is known mostly for his poetry collections, Asle to Ohle Tak (Illusion and Reality, 1955) and autobiographical, Koi Naon Na Jane Mera (2000).
[2][3] His long autobiographical poem Simriti De Kiran Ton Pehlan (Before Shedding Memory) published in 1975, is considered among the masterpieces of Indian literature.
[1][4] His works as a scholar of Sikhism include, Ardaas: Darshan Roop Te Abhiyas, Sada Vigas, Achetan di Leela, Divine Intimations, Prophet of Devotion and Pilgrimage to Hemkunt.
For his graduate course in medicine and surgery, he joined King Edward Medical College, Lahore, where he also received a merit scholarship granted by the Government of Baluchistan.
He passed his DPM exam from All India Institute of Mental Health, Bangalore, and Mysore University, in 1958 with double distinction and setting up a new record.
As a psychiatrist, rising through the ranks, he became Professor & Head of Psychiatry Department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and occupied that chair for about a decade (1968–1978).
He also served as Chairman of the Board of Consultants constituted by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee for setting up of an Institute of Medical Sciences.
He also wrote powerful, inspiring prose as evidenced by his books Achetan di Leela, Meri Sahitak Swaijeevani and Ardas.
The second one, Vishva Ardas, is a collection of over 300 prayers from different religious groups, tribes and communities of different times and places, translated into Punjabi verse.