Amrita Pritam

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Amrita Pritam
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Amrita Pritam (1919 � 2005) , in 1948.jpg
Born Amrit Kaur
31 August 1919
Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan
Died 31 October 2005 (aged 86)
Delhi, India
Occupation Novelist, poet, essayist
Nationality Indian
Period 1936�2006
Genre poetry, prose, autobiography
Subject Partition of India, Women, Dream
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 Gyanpith (1982)
Shatabdi Samman (2000)
Padma Vibhushan (2004)
Spouse Pritam Singh
Partner Imroz
Children 2
Amrita Pritam (Gurmukhi: ???????? ??????) (Urdu: ????? ?????) About this
soundlisten (help�info) (31 August 1919 � 31 October 2005) was a Punjabi novelist,
essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi.[1] She is considered the first
prominent female Punjabi poet, novelist, essayist and the leading 20th-century poet
of the Punjabi language, who is equally loved on both sides of the India�Pakistan
border. With a career spanning over six decades, she produced over 100 books of
poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi folk songs and an
autobiography that were all translated into several Indian and foreign languages.
[2][3]

She is best remembered for her poignant poem, Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah nu (Today I
invoke Waris Shah � "Ode to Waris Shah"), an elegy to the 18th-century Punjabi
poet, an expression of her anguish over massacres during the partition of India. As
a novelist, her most noted work was Pinjar (The Skeleton) (1950), in which she
created her memorable character, Puro, an epitome of violence against women, loss
of humanity and ultimate surrender to existential fate; the novel was made into an
award-winning film, Pinjar in 2003.[4][5]

When India was partitioned into the independent states of India and Pakistan in
1947, she migrated from Lahore, to India, though she remained equally popular in
Pakistan throughout her life, as compared to her contemporaries like Mohan Singh
and Shiv Kumar Batalvi.

Known as the most important voice for the women in Punjabi literature, in 1966, she
became the first woman to win the Sahitya Akademi Award for her magnum opus, a long
poem, Sunehade (Messages),[6] later she received the Bharatiya Jnanpith, one of
India's highest literary awards, in 1982 for Kagaz Te Canvas (The Paper and the
Canvas). The Padma Shri came her way in 1969 and finally, Padma Vibhushan, India's
second highest civilian award, in 2004, and in the same year she was honoured with
India's highest literary award, given by the Sahitya Akademi (India's Academy of
Letters), the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship given to the "immortals of literature" for
lifetime achievement.[7]

Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Background
1.2 Partition of India
1.3 Acclaim
2 Personal life
3 Legacy
4 Bibliography
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
Biography
Background
Amrita Pritam was born as Amrit Kaur in 1919 in Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab, in
present-day Pakistan,[2] the only child of Raj Bibi, who was a school teacher and
Kartar Singh Hitkari, who was a poet, a scholar of the Braj Bhasha language, and
the editor of a literary journal.[8][9] Besides this, he was a pracharak � a
preacher of the Sikh faith.[10] Amrita's mother died when she was eleven. Soon
after, she and her father moved to Lahore, 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.[11] Half a
dozen collections of poems were to follow between 1936 and 1943.

Though she began her journey as a romantic poet, soon she shifted gears,[6] and
became part of the Progressive Writers' Movement and its effect was seen in her
collection, Lok Peed (People's Anguish) (1944), which openly criticised the war-
torn economy, after the Bengal famine of 1943. She was also involved in social work
to a certain extent and participated in such activities wholeheartedly, after
Independence when social activist Guru Radha Kishan took the initiative to bring
the first Janta Library in Delhi, which was inaugurated by Balraj Sahni and Aruna
Asaf Ali and contributed to the occasion accordingly. This study centre cum library
is still running at Clock Tower, Delhi. She also worked at Lahore Radio Station for
a while, before the partition of India.[12]

M. S. Sathyu, renowned as the director of the immortal partition movie Garam Hava,
paid a theatrical tribute to her through his rare theatrical performance 'Ek Thee
Amrita'.

Partition of India
One million people, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs died from communal violence that
followed the partition of India in 1947, and left Amrita Pritam a Punjabi refugee
at age 28, when she left Lahore and moved to New Delhi. Subsequently, in 1948,
while she was pregnant with her son, and travelling from Dehradun to Delhi, she
expressed anguish on a piece of paper[13] 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.[14] The poem addressed to the
Sufi poet Waris Shah, author of the tragic saga of Heer and Ranjah and with whom
she shares her birthplace.[15]

Amrita Pritam worked until 1961 in the Punjabi service of All 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 from Punjabi and Urdu, including her autobiographical works Black Rose
and Rasidi Ticket (Revenue Stamp).

The first of Amrita Pritam's books to be filmed was Dharti Sagar te Sippiyan, as
�Kadambari� (1965), followed by �Unah Di Kahani�, as Daaku (Dacoit, 1976), directed
by Basu Bhattacharya.[16] Her novel Pinjar (The Skeleton, 1970) narrates the story
of partition riots along with the crisis of women who suffered during the times. It
was made into an award-winning Hindi movie by Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, because of
its humanism: "Amritaji has portrayed the suffering of people of both the
countries." Pinjar was shot in a border region of Rajasthan and Punjab.

She edited "Nagmani", a monthly literary magazine in Punjabi for several years,
which she ran together with Imroz, for 33 years; though after Partition she wrote
prolifically in Hindi as well.[1][17] Later in life, she turned to Osho and wrote
introductions for several books of Osho, including Ek Onkar Satnam,[18] and also
started writing on spiritual themes and dreams, producing works like Kaal Chetna
(Time Consciousness) and Agyat Ka Nimantran (Call of the Unknown).[19] She had also
published autobiographies, titled, Kala Gulab (Black Rose) (1968), Rasidi Ticket
(The Revenue Stamp) (1976), and Aksharon kay Saayee (Shadows of Words).[8][20]

Acclaim
Amrita is the first recipient of Punjab Rattan Award conferred upon her by Punjab
Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh. She is first woman recipient of the Sahitya
Akademi Award in 1956 for Sunehadey (poetic diminutive of the word sunehe
i,e.Messages), Amrita Pritam received the Bhartiya Jnanpith Award, India's highest
literary award, in 1982 for Kagaj te Canvas (Paper and Canvas).[21] She received
the Padma Shri (1969) and Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award,
and Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, India's highest literary award, also in 2004. She
received D.Litt. honorary degrees, from many universities including, Delhi
University (1973), Jabalpur University (1973) and Vishwa Bharati (1987).[22]

She also received the international Vaptsarov Award from the Republic of Bulgaria
(1979) and Degree of Officer dens, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Officier) by the
French Government (1987).[1] She was nominated as a member of Rajya 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 a chaddar, from the tombs of Waris Shah, and fellow Sufi mystic
poets Bulle Shah and Sultan Bahu.[2]

Personal life
In 1935, Amrita married Pritam Singh, son of a leading hosiery merchant of Lahore's
Anarkali bazaar. In 1960, Amrita Pritam left her husband. She is also said to have
had an unrequited affection for poet Sahir Ludhianvi.[23] The story of this love is
depicted in her autobiography, Rasidi Ticket (Revenue Stamp). When another woman,
singer Sudha Malhotra came into Sahir's life, Amrita found solace in the
companionship of the renowned artist and writer 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 his several paintings. Their life together is also the subject
of a book, Amrita Imroz: A Love Story.[24][25]nb,,

She died in her sleep on 31 October 2005 at the age of 86 in New Delhi, after a
long illness.[26] She was survived by her partner Imroz, daughter Kandala, son
Navraj Kwatra, daughter-in-law Alka, and her grandchildren, Taurus, Noor, Aman and
Shilpi. Navraj Kwatra was found murdered in his Borivali apartment in 2012.[27]
Three men were accused of the murder[28] but were acquitted due to lack of
evidence.[29]

Legacy
In 2007, an audio album titled, 'Amrita recited by Gulzar' was released by noted
lyricist Gulzar, with poems of Amrita Pritam recited by him.[30][31] A film on her
life is also in production.[32] On 31st August 2019, Google honoured her by
commemorating her 100th birth anniversary with a Doodle. The accompanying write up
read as, "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."[33][34]

Bibliography
In her career spanning over six decades, she penned 28 novels, 18 anthologies of
prose, five short stories and 16 miscellaneous prose volumes.

Novel
Pinjar
Doctor Dev
Kore Kagaz, Unchas Din
Dharti, Sagar aur Seepian
Rang ka Patta
Dilli ki Galiyan
Terahwan Suraj
Yaatri
Jilavatan (1968)
Hardatt Ka Zindaginama
Autobiography
Black Rose (1968)
Rasidi Ticket (1976)
Shadows of Words (2004)
Short stories

Kahaniyan jo Kahaniyan Nahi

Kahaniyon ke Angan mein
Stench of Kerosene
Poetry anthologies
Amrit Lehran (Immortal Waves)(1936)
Jiunda Jiwan (The Exuberant Life) (1939)
Trel Dhote Phul (1942)
O Gitan Valia (1942)
Badlam De Laali (1943)
Sanjh de laali (1943)
Lok Peera (The People's Anguish) (1944)
Pathar Geetey (The Pebbles) (1946)
Punjab Di Aawaaz (1952)
Sunehade (Messages) (1955) � Sahitya Akademi Award
Ashoka Cheti (1957)
Kasturi (1957)
Nagmani (1964)
Ik Si Anita (1964)
Chak Nambar Chatti (1964)
Uninja Din (49 Days) (1979)
Kagaz Te Kanvas (1981)- Bhartiya Jnanpith
Chuni Huyee Kavitayen
Ek Baat
Literary journal
Nagmani, poetry monthly
References
[35]

Amrita Pritam, The Black Rose by Vijay Kumar Sunwani, Language in India, Volume 5:
12 December 2005.
Amrita Pritam � Obituary The Guardian, 4 November 2005.
Amrita Pritam: A great wordsmith in Punjab�s literary history Archived 19 June
2006 at the Wayback Machine Daily Times (Pakistan), 14 November 2005.
Always Amrita, Always Pritam Gulzar Singh Sandhu on the Grand Dame of Punjabi
letters, The Tribune, 5 November 2005.
Pinjar on IMDb
Amrita Pritam Modern Indian Literature: an Anthology, by K. M. George, Sahitya
Akademi. 1992, ISBN 81-7201-324-8.945�947.
Sahitya Akademi fellowship for Amrita Pritam, Anantha Murthy The Hindu, 5 October
2004.
Amrita Pritam Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present, by Susie J. Tharu,
Ke Lalita, published by Feminist Press, 1991. ISBN 1-55861-029-4. Page 160-163.
New Panjabi Poetry ( 1935�47) Handbook of Twentieth-century Literatures of India,
by Nalini Natarajan, Emmanuel Sampath Nelson, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996.
ISBN 0-313-28778-3.Page 253-254.
"The Sikh Times - Biographies - Amrita Pritam: Queen of Punjabi Literature".
Sikhtimes.com.
Amrita Pritam � Obituary The Independent, 2 November 2005.
Editorial Archived 13 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine Daily Times (Pakistan),
2 November 2005.
An alternative voice of history Monica Datta, The Hindu, 4 December 2005.
Juggling two lives The Hindu, 13 November 2005.
[1][dead link]
"The Sikh Times - News and Analysis - Amrita Pritam's Novel to Be Rendered on
Film". Sikhtimes.com.
"Amrita Pritam/????? ??????". Pustak.org. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
A tribute to Amrita Pritam by Osho lovers Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback
Machine Sw. Chaitanya Keerti, sannyasworld.com.
Visions of Divinity � Amrita Pritam Archived 27 September 2008 at the Wayback
Machine Life Positive, April 1996.
Amrita Pritam Biography Archived 5 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine Chowk, 15
May 2005.
"Jnanpith Laureates Official listings". Jnanpith Website. Archived from the
original on 13 October 2007.
[2][dead link]
Sahir Biography Upperstall.com.
Amrita Preetam Imroz : A love Story of a Poet and a Painter Archived 8 January
2010 at the Wayback Machine Passionforcinema.com, 8 August 2008.
Nirupama Dutt, "A Love Legend of Our Times" The Tribune, 5 November 2006.
"Indian writer Amrita Pritam dies". BBC News. 31 October 2005. Retrieved 1 August
2012.
"Author Amrita Pritam's son found murdered in his Borivali apartment". Archived
from the original on 19 September 2012.
http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/police-cracks-amrita-pritam-sons-murder-
arrests-female-assistant-boyfriend/1005465 Police cracks Amrita Pritam son's
murder, arrests female assistant, boyfriend/
https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/sessions-court-in-mumbai-acquits-3-in-
2012-murder-case-of-amrita-pritam-s-son/story-vGaIxKfZJoUjGHX6DQ99WJ.html Sessions
court in Mumbai acquits 3 in 2012 murder case of Amrita Pritam�s son
'Amrita recited by Gulzar' Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine,
Gulzaronline.com.
Gulzar recites for Amrita Pritam Times of India, 7 May 2007.
Movie on Amrita Pritam to be shot in Himachal Archived 9 July 2008 at the Wayback
Machine Realbollywood.com.
"Amrita Pritam's 100th Birthday". Google.com. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August
2019.
"Google celebrates 100th birth anniversary of Punjabi poet, author Amrita Pritam
with a doodle". The Times of India. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
 "Google doodle on Amrita Pritam on her 100th birthday!". Devdiscourse.com.
Further reading
Amrita Work in Shahmukhi NAVEEN RUT____Index ACADEMY OF PUNJAB IN NORTH AMERICA
Uma Trilok, Amrita Imroz: A Love Story, Penguin India (2006) ISBN 0-14-310044-0
Indra Gupta, India�s 50 Most Illustrious Women ISBN 81-88086-19-3
Indian Fiction in English Translation � Chapt 4: Comments on Amrita Pritam's Magnum
Opus: The Skeleton (Jagdev Singh), by Shubha Tiwari. Atlantic Publishers &
Distributors, 2005. ISBN 81-269-0450-X. Page 28-35
Studies in Punjabi Poetry. Chapt. 9- Amrita Pritam: The Poetry of Protest, by
Darshan Singh Maini. Vikas Pub., 1979. ISBN 0-7069-0709-4. Page 109.
1st chapter of Revenue Stamp by Amrita Pritam
"The Cellar" by Amrita Pritam
�Sahiban in Exile� by Amrita Pritam
"The Weed" by Amrita Pritam
"Wild Flower" by Amrita Pritam
Main Tenu Phir Milangi, (I will meet you yet again) Translation