Bawa Balwant was born in 1915 in the village of Neshta, district Amritsar, to Hakim Thakur Dina Nath and Mata Gyan Devi. His great-grandfather, Lala Mishr, was among the royal physicians during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Due to the poor economic condition of his family, he was only able to receive basic education. He learned Persian, Urdu, and Hindi from his father at home. At a young age, he was put to work as a clerk (Munshi). From childhood to the final moments of his life, he struggled with poverty. This life of hardship and labor became the foundation of his progressive consciousness.
In his childhood, he kept long, matted hair (jatas), for which he was given the nickname “Bawa,” which eventually became his lifelong identity.
During the 1930s, he joined the Progressive Writers’ Association, and centered his poetry around social realism. In the same period, he published his first Urdu poetry collection titled "Sher-e-Hind", which was later confiscated by the British authorities. He also became actively involved in the freedom movement. After the Gandhi-Irwin Pact in March 1931, warrants were issued for Bawa Balwant’s arrest.
After that, Bawa Balwant began writing in Punjabi. In 1941, his Punjabi poetry collection "Mahanach" was published. This was followed by works like "Amargeet," "Jwala Mukhi," "Bandargah," "Kavi Sagar" (Selected Poems), and "Sugandh Sameer." His complete poetic and prose works were compiled and edited by Dr. Jaswinder Singh under the title "Bawa Rachanavali." His book "Sugandh Sameer" received the Best Poetry Book Award from the Language Department of Punjab.
Bawa Balwant is considered one of the finest poets of the progressive literary movement. His works portray powerful images of the struggles of farmers and laborers, poverty, and social injustices. His poetry clearly reflects socialist awareness, the awakening of the working class, rebellion against imperialism and feudalism, and the vision for a better human society.
Bawa Balwant’s life was marked by simplicity and struggle. He lived in the streets of Amritsar and Delhi. He spent his last days in a small attic in Krishna Nagar, Delhi, where he remained absorbed in his literary creations. He passed away in 1972, but his writings continue to live on and remain immortal in Punjabi literature.