The famous novelist, poet and essayist Amrita Pritam was born this day ( August 31) in 1919. She was the leading 20th century poetess of the Punjabi language, loved in both India and Pakistan. She authored over 100 books of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, and a collection of Punjabi folk songs in a career spanning over six decades.
Her works included Pinjar, Doctor Dev, Kore Kagaj Unchas Din (novels), Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah nu (poem) and Kagaj te Canvas (poetry anthology). Her novel Pinjar (The Skeleton) narrates the story of partition riots along with the crisis of women who suffered during the times. It was also made into an award-winning Hindi movie.
Notable awards included the Sahitya Akademi Award (1956), Padma Shri (1969), Bharatiya Jnanpith Award (1982) and Padma Vibhushan (2004). She was also nominated as a member of Rajya Sabha (Parliament) (1986-92). She was also awarded by Pakistan's Punjabi Academy.
While I've previously shared a few of her poems, her personal life and love story held just as much fascination as her literary creations. Let's delve into this facet.
Amrita Pritam was born as Amrit Kaur in 1919 in Gujranwala, Punjab. She was the only child of Raj Bibi, a school teacher, and Kartar Singh Hitkari, a poet and preacher of the Sikh faith.
After losing her mother at the tender age of 11, Amrita abandoned her belief in religion and embarked on an early journey into writing. A mere 16 years old, she saw her debut collection of poems, titled "Amrit Lehran" ("Eternal Ripples"), come to life in 1936.
She wedded Pritam Singh, an editor and the son of a hosiery merchant from Lahore, to whom she had been engaged since early childhood. Following their marriage, she adopted the name Amrita Pritam. They were blessed with a son and a daughter.
Following her divorce in 1960, her artistic output took on a more feminist perspective, influenced by the distressing ordeal of her marriage. However, she subsequently nurtured an unrequited love for poet Sahir Ludhianvi. Their love story started in 1944 when they met for the first time during a Mushairah. They both admired each other's creativity and felt a strong connection between themselves.
In fact they were so much in love that they used to write poems for each other. Delving into her verses reveals the profound emotions she held for him.
They would spend hours gazing into each other's eyes without saying much. He would smoke endlessly, and stub every cigarette when it was only half-smoked. After his leaving, she would smoke the leftovers and felt like she was still around him.
"I would keep these remaining cigarettes carefully in the cupboard after he left. I would only light them while sitting alone by myself. When I would hold one of these cigarettes between my fingers, I would feel as if I was touching his hands… This is how I took to smoking. Smoking gave me the feeling that he was close to me. He appeared, each time, like a genie in the smoke emanating from the cigarette," she wrote in her autobiography, Rasidi Ticket (Revenue Stamp).
But they couldn't express their love for each other openly. They were in and out of each other's life, yet a deep fondness for each other persisted. However, the entry of another woman, the singer Sudha Malhotra, into Sahir's life, left Amrita isolated.
Next, the artist and writer Inderjeet Imroz became a part of her journey. Imroz didn't push for marriage due to her previous unhappy marriage. Her children became "ours" to him. Imroz was also fully cognizant of her intense affection for Sahir.
She found solace in his companionship. They remained in live-in relationship, a taboo of her time. She spent the last forty years of her life with Imroz, who also designed most of her book covers and made her the subject of his several paintings. A book, "Amrita Imroz: A Love Story," delves into their shared journey.
She died in her sleep on October 31, 2005 at the age of 86 in Delhi after a long illness, but Imroz was there at her bedside even then.
Now I'm sharing English translations of two famous poems written by Amrita Pritam.
1. "Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu"
(I ask Waris Shah Today)
She expressed her anguish in this poem, "Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu" (I ask Waris Shah Today), the most poignant reminder of the horrors of Partition. The poem is addressed to the Sufi poet Waris Shah, author of the tragic saga of Heer and Ranjha:
Today, I call out to you, Waris Shah,
to speak from inside the grave,
Rise today and open
a new affectionate page
of the immortal book of love...
Once, one daughter of Punjab cried,
and you wrote a wailing saga
today, a million daughters
are crying to you, Waris Shah...
Rise! O' beloved of the aggrieved,
rise! just look at your Punjab
today, corpses haunt the woods,
the Chenab overflows with blood...
Someone has mixed poison
in the five rivers of Punjab,
Their deadly water is, now,
irrigating our lands galore...
Lost is the flute, which once,
blew sounds of the hearts
Ranjha's brothers, today,
no longer know this art...
Blood rained on our shrines,
drenching them to the core,
damsels of amour, today,
sit crying at their doors...
Today, I call out to you, Waris Shah,
to speak from inside the grave,
Rise today and open
a new affectionate page
of the immortal book of love...
2. "Mai Tenu Fir Milangi"
(I'll meet you yet again)
This poem is said to be her last one, and dedicated to Imroz, her lover and painter:
I'll meet you yet again,
how and where? I know not,
perhaps I could become
a figment of your imagination
or maybe I will draw myself
as a mysterious line
on your canvas
and quietly,
I'll keep gazing at you,
And will meet you again...
When the body perishes,
all perish
but the threads of memory
are woven of enduring atoms
I'll pick those tiny particles
and weave the threads
And then.. I'll meet you again...
--Kaushal Kishore
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