Amrita Pritam | |
|---|---|
_%2c_in_1948.jpg) Pritamc. 1948 | |
| Born | Amrit Kaur (1919-08-31)31 August 1919 |
| Died | 31 October 2005(2005-10-31) (aged 86) |
| Occupation | Novelist, poet, essayist |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Period | 1936–2005 |
| Genre | Poetry, prose, autobiography |
| Subject | Partition of India, women, dreams |
| Literary movement | Romantic-Progressivism |
| Notable works | Pinjar (novel) Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah nu (poem) Suneray (poem) |
| Notable awards | Sahitya Akademi Award(1956) Padma Shri(1969) Bharatiya Jnanpith(1981) Shatabdi Samman(2000) Padma Vibhushan(2004) |
| Spouse | Pritam Singh |
| Partner | Imroz |
| Children | 2 |
| Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 12 May 1986 – 11 May 1992 | |
| Constituency | Nominated |
Amrita Pritam ([əm.mɾɪt̪ɑːpɾiːt̪əm]ⓘ; 31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote inPunjabi andHindi.[1] A prominent figure inPunjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of work comprised over 100 books of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi folk songs and an autobiography that were all translated into severalIndian and foreign languages.[2][3]
Pritam is best remembered for her poignant poem,Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah nu (Today I invoke Waris Shah – "Ode to Waris Shah"), anelegy to the18th-century Punjabi poet, and an expression of her anguish over massacres during thepartition of British India. As a novelist, her most noted work wasPinjar ("The Skeleton", 1950), in which she created her memorable character,Puro, anepitome of violence against women, loss of humanity and ultimate surrender toexistential fate; the novel was made into an award-winning film,Pinjar (2003).[4][5]
WhenBritish India was partitioned into the independent states of India and Pakistan in 1947, she migrated fromLahore to India, though she remained equally popular in Pakistan throughout her life, as compared to her contemporaries likeMohan Singh andShiv Kumar Batalvi.
Pritam'smagnum opus, the long poemSunehade, won her the 1956Sahitya Akademi Award, making her the first and the only woman to have been given the award for a work in Punjabi.[6] She received theJnanpith Award, one of India's highest literary awards, in 1982 forKagaz Te Canvas ("The Paper and the Canvas"). She was awarded thePadma Shri in 1969, and thePadma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, in 2004. In that same year she was honoured with India's highest literary award given by theSahitya Akademi (India's Academy of Letters), theSahitya Akademi Fellowship, awarded to the"immortals of literature" for lifetime achievement.[7]
Amrita Pritam was born as Amrit Kaur in 1919 inGujranwala,Punjab, inBritish India into aSikh family.[2][8] She was the only child of Raj Bibi, a school teacher, and Kartar Singh Hitkari, a poet and a scholar of theBraj Bhasha language, and the editor of a literary journal.[9][10] Besides this, he was apracharak – a preacher of the Sikh faith.[11] Amrita's mother died when she was eleven. Soon after, she and her father moved toLahore, where she lived till her migration to India in 1947. Confronting adult responsibilities and besieged by loneliness following her mother's death, she began to write at an early age. Her first anthology of poems,Amrit Lehran ("Immortal Waves") was published in 1936, at age sixteen, the year she married Pritam Singh, an editor to whom she was engaged in early childhood and changed her name from Amrit Kaur to Amrita Pritam.[12] Half a dozen collections of poems followed between 1936 and 1943.[citation needed]
Though she began her journey as a romantic poet, she soon shifted gears,[6] and became part of theProgressive Writers' Movement. The effect was seen in her collection,Lok Peed ("People's Anguish", 1944), which openly criticised the war-torn economy after theBengal famine of 1943. She was also involved in social work to a certain extent, and participated in such activities wholeheartedly after Independence, when social activistGuru Radha Kishan took the initiative to bring the firstJanta Library in Delhi. This was inaugurated byBalraj Sahni andAruna Asaf Ali, and she contributed to the occasion. This study centre cum library is still running at Clock Tower, Delhi. She also worked at a radio station inLahore for a while, before the partition of India.[13]
M. S. Sathyu, the director of the partition movieGaram Hava (1973), paid a theatrical tribute to her through his performance 'Ek Thee Amrita'.[citation needed]
One million people,Hindus,Sikhs andMuslims died from communal violence that followed the partition of India in 1947, and left Amrita Pritam a Punjabi refugee at age 28, when she leftLahore and moved to New Delhi. Subsequently, in 1947, while she was pregnant with her son, and traveling fromDehradun toDelhi, she expressed anguish on a piece of paper[14] like the poem, "Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu" (I ask Waris Shah Today); this poem was to later immortalize her and become the most poignant reminder of the horrors of Partition. The poem was addressed to the Sufi poetWaris Shah, author of the tragic saga ofHeer and Ranjah and with whom she shares her birthplace.[15]
Amrita Pritam worked until 1961 in the Punjabi service ofAll India Radio, Delhi. After her divorce in 1960, her work became more feminist. Many of her stories and poems drew on the unhappy experience of her marriage. A number of her works have been translated into English, French,Danish, Japanese, Mandarin, and other languages fromPunjabi andUrdu, including her autobiographical worksBlack Rose andRasidi Ticket (Revenue Stamp).[citation needed]
The first of Amrita Pritam's books to be filmed wasDharti Sagar te Sippiyan, asKadambari (1975), followed byUnah Di Kahani, asDaaku (Dacoit, 1976), directed byBasu Bhattacharya.[16] Her novelPinjar (The Skeleton, 1950) narrates the story of partition riots along with the crisis of women who suffered during the times. It was made into anaward-winningHindi movie byChandra Prakash Dwivedi, because of itshumanism: "Amritaji has portrayed the suffering of people of both the countries."Pinjar was shot in a border region ofRajasthan and Punjab.[citation needed]
She editedNagmani, a monthly literary magazine in Punjabi for several years, which she ran together withImroz, for 33 years; though after Partition she wrote prolifically in Hindi as well.[1][17] Later in life, she turned toOsho and wrote introductions for several books of Osho, includingEk Onkar Satnam,[18] and also started writing on spiritual themes and dreams, producing works likeKaal Chetna ("Time Consciousness") andAgyat Ka Nimantran ("Call of the Unknown").[19] She had also published autobiographies, titled,Kala Gulab ("Black Rose", 1968),Rasidi Ticket ("The Revenue Stamp", 1976), andAksharon kay Saayee ("Shadows of Words").[9][20]
Amrita was the first recipient ofPunjab Rattan Award conferred upon her by Punjab Chief Minister Capt.Amarinder Singh. She was the first female recipient of theSahitya Akademi Award in 1956 forSunehadey (poetic diminutive of the Punjabi word "ਸੁਨੇਹੇ" (Sunehe),Messages), Amrita Pritam received theBhartiya Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary award, in 1982 forKagaj te Canvas (Paper and Canvas).[21] She received thePadma Shri (1969) andPadma Vibhushan (2004), India's second highest civilian award, andSahitya Akademi Fellowship, India's highest literary award, also in 2004. She receivedD.Litt. honorary degrees, from many universities including,Delhi University (1973),Jabalpur University (1973) andVishwa Bharati (1987).[22]
She also received the internationalVaptsarov Award from the Republic ofBulgaria (1979) and Degree of Officer dens,Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Officier) by theFrench Government (1987).[1] She was nominated as a member ofRajya Sabha 1986–92. Towards the end of her life, she was awarded by Pakistan's Punjabi Academy, to which she had remarked,Bade dino baad mere maike ko meri yaad aayi.. (My motherland has remembered me after a long time); and also Punjabi poets of Pakistan, sent her achaddar, from the tombs ofWaris Shah, and fellow Sufi mystic poetsBulle Shah andSultan Bahu.[2]
In 1935, Amrita married Pritam Singh, son of a hosiery merchant of Lahore'sAnarkali bazaar. They had two children together, a son and a daughter. She had an unrequited affection for poetSahir Ludhianvi. The story of this love is depicted in her autobiography,Rasidi Ticket (Revenue Stamp). When another woman, singerSudha Malhotra came into Sahir's life, Amrita found solace in the companionship of the artist and writerInderjeet Imroz. 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 several of his paintings. Their life together is also the subject of a book,Amrita Imroz: A Love Story.[23][24]
She died in her sleep on 31 October 2005 at the age of 86 in New Delhi, after battling a long illness.[25] She was survived by her partner Imroz, daughter Kandlla, son Navraj Kwatra, daughter-in-law Alka, and her grandchildren, Kartik, Noor, Aman and Shilpi. Navraj Kwatra was found murdered in his Borivali apartment in 2012.[26] Three men were accused of the murder[27] but were acquitted due to lack of evidence.[28]
In 2007, an audio album titled, 'Amrita recited by Gulzar' was released by noted lyricistGulzar, with poems of Amrita Pritam recited by him.[29][30] A film on her life is also in production.[31]On 31 August 2019,Google honoured her by commemorating her 100th birth anniversary with aDoodle. The accompanying write-up read, "Today’s Doodle celebrates Amrita Pritam, one of history’s foremost female Punjabi writers, who 'dared to live the life she imagines.' Born in Gujranwala, British India, 100 years ago today, Pritam published her first collection of verse at the age of 16."[32][33]
Short stories
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