patar hails from village pattar (ਪੱਤੜ) kalan in jalandhar district from where he got his surname. he did his graduation from randhir college, kapurthala and then went on to do master's degree from punjabi university, patiala and then a phd in literature on "transformation of folklore in guru nanak vani" from guru nanak dev university, amritsar. he then joined the academic profession and retired as professor of punjabi from punjab agricultural university, ludhiana. he started writing poetry in mid-sixties. among his works of poetry are ""hawa vich likhe harf"" (words written in the air), "birkh arz kare" (thus spake the tree), "hanere vich sulagdi varnmala" (words smouldering in the dark), "lafzaan di dargah" (shrine of words), "patjhar di pazeb" (anklet of autumn) and "surzameen" (music land).