Amrita Pritam was an Indian author and poet and is famous as the first Punjabi female writer, novelist and poet of the 20th century. In her career which spanned over six decades, she authored more than a hundred pieces, varying from poetry to novels, essays, biographies, etc. Her achievements were honoured with ‘Sahitya Akademi,’ ‘Bharatiya Jnanpith,’ and ‘Padma Vibhushan. Even her famous novel, ‘Pinjar,’ was adapted into a film bearing the same name. Scroll down and read the biography of Amrita Pritam in this blog.
Doctor Dev, Dharti, Sagar aur Seepian, Dilli ki Galiyan, Yaatri
Story Collections
Kahaniyan jo Kahaniyan Nahi, Stench of Kerosene, etc
Autobiography
Black Rose, Rasidi Ticket and Shadows of Words
children
Navraj Kwatra, Kandla
Awards and Honours
‘Sahitya Akademi Award’, ‘Gyanpeeth Award’, ‘Padma Shri’ and ‘Doctor of Literature’ etc.
Death
31 October 2005, Delhi
Amrita Pritam Biography
Amrita was born as Amrit Kaur on August 31, 1919, in Gujranwala, Punjab,
Hailing from a Sikh family, her parents, Raj Bibi was a teacher at a nearby school, and Kartar Singh Hitkari was the editor of a literary magazine.
Despite being raised in a traditional Sikh household, Amrita lost her faith in God at the tender age of 11 following her mother’s death.
In the aftermath of her mother’s death, Amrita found comfort in writing and began to pen down her thoughts at a very young age.
She achieved recognition as a published author at the age of 17, with her first anthology of poetry, ‘Amrit Lehran’ (Immortal Waves), released in 1936. From then on, she published at least six more collections of poetry from 1936 to 1943. The loss of her mother transformed her into a resilient and independent woman, who boldly expressed her views through her writing.
It was no surprise that she became a part of the ‘Progressive Writers’ Movement’, aiming to inspire others through her literary contributions.
This movement, initiated in pre-partition British India, was predominantly left-leaning and opposed to imperialism.
Following the publication of her collection ‘Lok Peed’ (People’s Anguish) in 1944, which critiqued the British Raj for the ‘Bengal famine of 1943’ and the country’s war-ravaged economy, she also dedicated her time to various non-profit organisations focused on charity.
In addition to her literary endeavours, Amrita sought to directly engage with the public by working at the ‘Lahore Radio Station’ before the partition of India in 1947.
In 1947, as India and Pakistan split, Amrita Pritam moved from Lahore to Dehradun. Her initial years were spent in Dehradun, and later she relocated to Delhi. Upon her arrival in Delhi, she became a part of the All India Radio Delhi Center. The partition deeply affected her, as she witnessed the suffering of forced migration, violence, killings, and sexual assaults during this period. This traumatic experience inspired her to write the poem “Ajj Akkhan Waris Shah Noon,” which vividly portrays the agony of the people affected by the division. This poem catapulted Amrita Pritam to fame in both India and Pakistan.
Amrita Pritam says in one of her interviews, “Once my friend came from Pakistan and kept some bananas in front of me, and said that these bananas are for you. He narrated the saying – a banana seller came running towards me and asked are you going to Delhi? So I said yes. Then he asked will you meet Amrita? To that, I replied “Yes”.
The banana seller said that the bananas were a gift for the one who had penned the poem “ Waris Shah Noon”. Give these bananas to her on my behalf, this is all I can give, I will consider that half of my Hajj will be done after this.”
Amrita was married to Pritam Singh, a rich businessman’s son, in 1935 when she was about 15 years of age.
She later wrote in her autobiographies that her marriage was unhappy.
In 1944, she crossed paths with Sahir Ludhianvi, another poet who would later become a well-known scriptwriter for films. Even though she was already wedded to Pritam Singh, Amrita found herself deeply drawn to Sahir, a feeling she later documented in her memoir ‘Rasidi Ticket.’
By 1960, her infatuation with Sahir had escalated to the point where she decided to leave her first husband.
Amrita found happiness again with Imroz. Although they never tied the knot, they spent over four decades together.
Imroz became the muse for several of Amrita’s artworks, and he would also create the cover art for all her books and novels. Their romantic life was captured in a book called ‘Amrita Imroz: A Love Story.’
Credits: Hindustan Times
Amrita Pritam Books
The brilliant work of Amrita is immersed in her writings, here are a name of a few –
“A Letter “ Me—a book in the attic. Maybe some covenant or hymnal. Or a chapter from the Kama Sutra, or a spell for intimate afflictions. But then it seems I am none of these. (If I were, someone would have read me.) Apparently at an assembly of revolutionaries they passed a resolution, and I am a longhand copy of it. It has the police’s stamp on it and was never successfully enforced. It is preserved only for the sake of procedure. And now only some sparrows come, straw in their beaks, and sit on my body and worry about the next generation. (How wonderful to worry about the next generation!) Sparrows have wings on them, but resolutions have no wings (or resolutions have no second generation). Sometimes I think to catch the scent— what lies in my future? Worry makes my binding come off. Whenever I try to smell, just some fumes of bird shit. O my earth, your future! Me—your current state.
– Amrita Pritam
Awards and Honours
Some of the Awards and Honours to credits were –
Punjab Rattan Award conferred by Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh
The Sahitya Akademi Award
1956
Vaptsarov Award from the Republic of Bulgaria
1976
Bhartiya Jnanpith Award
1982
Order des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France
1987
Padma Shri
1969
Padma Vibhushan
2004
Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
2004
D.Litt. Honorary Degrees
Delhi University in 1973, Jabalpur University in 1973, and Visva Bharati in 1987.
On 31 August 2019, Google honoured her by celebrating her 100th birth anniversary with a doodle.
Credits: CNN
She passed away in her sleep on 31 October 2005 at 86 due to illness. Her last touching poem, “Main Tainu Phir Milangi,” was written for Imroz. She chose to have her funeral without a condolence meeting, with her children and Imroz leading the procession. Amrita Pritam left behind her two children, Kandla, and Navraj Kwatra, daughter-in-law Alka, and four grandchildren. Imroz continued to honour Amrita’s memory by writing poems about her deep love for her.
"मैं तेनु फ़िर मिलन गी"
किथे? किस तरह? पता नाई
शायद तेरे तख़ायुल दी चिनाग बन के
तेरे कैनवास ते उतरां गी
या खोवेरे तेरे कैनवास डे उतेय
इक्क रहस्यमयी लेकर बन के
खामोश तेनु तक दी रवाँ गी
मैं आपसे फिर मिलूंगा
कैसे और कहाँ? मुझे नहीं मालूम।
शायद मैं बन जाऊंगा
आपकी कल्पना की उपज
और शायद, खुद को फैलाना
एक रहस्यमयी रेखा में
अपने कैनवास पर,
मैं तुम्हें देखता रहूँगा.
या खोवेरे सूरज दी लू बन के
तेरे रंगां विच घुलां गी
हां रंगां दीयां बहवां विच बैठ के
तेरे कैनवास नया वालान जी
पता नाइ किस तराह? किथे?
पर तेनु जरूर मिलन गी
शायद मैं किरण बन जाऊँगा
धूप का, होना
आपके रंगों से गले लगा लिया गया।
मैं खुद को तुम्हारे कैनवास पर चित्रित करूंगा
मैं नहीं जानता कि कैसे और कहाँ –
लेकिन मैं आपसे अवश्य मिलूंगा.
या खोवरे इक्क चश्मा बानी होवान गी
ते जीवन झरने दा पानी उड़दा
मैं पानी दियां बूंदां
तेरे पिंडे ते मालाआं गी
ते इक्क ठंडक जाही बन के
तेरी चाटी दे नाल लगान गी
मैं होर कुज नै जांदी
पर ऐना जांदी
के वक्त जो सातवीं बार करेंगे
ऐ जनम मैरे नाल तुरे गा
शायद मैं वसंत में बदल जाऊँ,
और झाग को रगड़ें
आपके शरीर पर पानी की बूंदें,
और मेरी शीतलता को विश्राम दो
आपकी जलती हुई छाती.
मैं और कुछ नहीं जानता
लेकिन यह जीवन
मेरे साथ चलेंगे.
ऐ जिस्म मुक्का है
तै सब कुझ मुक जांदा
पर चैत्यं दे धागे
काइनाती काना डे हुंडे
मैं ओन्हान काना नूऊ चुनान गी
धागेयां नुऊ वालां गी
तेय तेनु मैं मेला मिलन गि…
जब शरीर नष्ट हो जाता है,
सब नष्ट हो जाता है;
लेकिन स्मृति के धागे
स्थायी धब्बों से बुने हुए हैं।
मैं इन कणों को चुनूंगा,
धागे बुनें,
और मैं आपसे पुनः मिलूंगा।
FAQs
What is the poem Partition by Amrita Pritam?
“Ajj Akhaan Waris Shah Nu” (“To Waris Shah”)
Who was the first woman to win the Sahitya Akademi Award?
Amrita Pritam
Was Amrita Pritam in love with Imroz?
Yes, Amrita and Imroz lived together as a couple without getting married for 40 years
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