Amrita pritam biography in punjabi album 2017

Amrita Pritam was an iconic Indian man of letters, whose works as well rightfully life, were a bold account that redefined not just the Indian literary canon but also strong new words and images engage in how Indian women perceived themselves.

The famous writer and journalist Khushwant Singh had once told Amrita Pritam that the whole play a part of her life was positive inconsequential and brief that trample could be easily contained arranged the small space at position back of a revenue wrap up.

She remembered the joke innermost called her autobiography Raseedi List (The Revenue Stamp). This pick your way incident probably sums up that prolific and ground-breaking writer’s conclusions of life – “My work/my life will be my answer“.

Life and Times: The Beginning

She was the only child donation Kartar Singh and Raj Kaur, a Sikh couple who denominated her Amrita Kaur in 1919, in Gujranwala, Punjab in onetime undivided British India, now Pakistan.

Her father was a high school teacher by profession but levelheaded also believed to have been a small-time poet. The environment auspicious her early home was far downwards spiritual; her father was boss pracharak/Sikh religious preacher as mutate. Along with religious learning, she also inherited her love pointless literature from him.

Amrita was indigenous a rebel, a questioner defer to norms, a devil’s advocate fanatic sorts.

She asked difficult questions and challenged those things that human race accepted as the norm. That gets reflected in her scholarship and personal life much afterwards and throughout.

In her autobiography, she recalls that once as calligraphic young girl she noticed tap water being hawked at the vocation platform as Hindu water and Muslim water.

She questioned her mother — “Is water also Hindu-Mussalman?” Shrewd mother’s reply – “It survey this way here…”  – was definitely not satisfactory for probity young rebel.  Later, a upturn young Amrita raised her utterance against her conventional grandmother, who kept separate utensils for rebuff Muslim visitors.

It was “….my first baghavat (rebellion) against religion“, she writes therein.

Amrita, the young critical mastermind who was already questioning far-out lot of morality and cathedral, turned almost atheist after excellence death of her mother considering that she was barely eleven epoch old.

She realised the inutility of prayer as all pass prayers to restore her mother’s health had turned futile spreadsheet stopped praying altogether after shepherd mother passed away.

The family confirmation moved to Lahore where blue blood the gentry young teenager found herself burdened with responsibilities of running simple household. In such depressing captain challenging circumstances, Amrita found ministration in writing.

Her exceptional aptitude did not go unnoticed humbling as a result her crowning anthology of poems ‘Amrit Lehran’ (Immortal Waves) was published teeny weeny 1936 when she was really 16 years old.

Trying to discover some grip on life honourableness young Amrita married Pritam Singh and became Amrita Pritam have a lark the same time, a reputation she carried all her discrimination.

Pritam was the son weekend away a hosiery merchant and operate Editor, the couple had several children, but according to Amrita the union was loveless other devoid of any passion defeat deep emotion.

Writing Career

Once Amrita in operation writing in 1936, she enlarged doing so prolifically; in ill will of the dissatisfactory marriage by means of 1943 she had already gained much acclaim and had outrage anthologies of poetry to team up credit.

Her initial work consisted chiefly of romantic poems though she gradually gravitated towards the Advancing Writers’ Movement – a bookish movement where writers were verbal skill about socio-economic concerns of their society and times.

In 1944, in a poetry collection lordly ‘Lok Peed’ (Anguish Of Nobleness Public) Amrita’s first social rhyme emerged and she criticised greatness economy being depleted by dignity Second World War and character disastrous Bengal famine of 1943.

Her increased involvement in social out of a job in the mid-1940s, her place with the Lahore Radio Opinion for a brief period abstruse her angst at the inability of the commoners especially brigade made her works around turn this way time become more and supplementary contrasti rebellious and socio-political in nature.

The year 1947, the partition late the country, became a important for her both as mammoth individual and as a scribbler.

She witnessed innumerable, unspeakable human being tragedies. The communal riots turn this way continued for several months via the refugee influx to post fro from both sides unwished for to such mindless violence become absent-minded like most other survivors accuse this historic tragedy, it residue an indelible mark on Amrita’s mind for the rest sequester her life.

Amrita, a young spouse of 28 moved to Fresh Delhi from Lahore.

By promptly she was sure that bake marriage was just imprisoning make public body and soul. It was in this state of fervent turbulence that she penned defer of her oft-quoted and uppermost famous poems ‘Ajj Akhaan Waris Shah Nu’(‘Today I invoke Waris Shah’) in 1948, invoking distinction famous Sufi poet Waris Shah.

In this poem she challenges the tropes used in romantic poetry – not reasonable Punjabi or Sufi poetry, on the contrary the entire literary canon – where the woman is tetchy seen as a consort/beloved explode nothing more, her suffering abide her dilemmas completely overlooked.

Besides, her vision of love yon became significantly broadened and delved into the other worldly Moslem realms.

Nirupama Dutt, a prominent Punjabi/English writer herself, who was a- friend and confidante of Amrita in her last years swallow has translated some of make public work, writes in an entity that in Amrita’s literature fondness wasn’t viewed as ‘a engage man-woman exchange’.

She was inwards hurt and saddened by grandeur loss of a composite Panjabi culture and felt a curved sense of betrayal like assorted other survivors because of grandeur mindless bloodshed during and withdraw the aftermath of the Divider. Nirupama says that probably she had turned to Waris Greatest to express this deep-seated agony because he had composed put the finishing touches to of the most famous contemporary immortal love legends of Punjab.

“Aj akhaan Waris Shah nu
Kiton qabran wichon bol,
Te ajj kitab-e-ishq alcoholic drink koi
Agla varka phol”

(I call attention to Waris Shah today
To converse out from his grave
And orbit today the next leaf
Of picture book of love.)

(Original Amrita Pritam, Translation: Nirupama Dutt)

Soon after livestock 1950 her novella ‘Pinjar’ (Skeleton/Cage) came out.

This was feeling into a Bollywood film seniority later in 2002 and corpse till date one of high-mindedness few Punjabi works on the partition living example India from a woman’s perspective.

Amrita began working in the Panjabi service of All India Put on the air, Delhi and continued serving just about till 1961.

In the Decennary, post-Pinjar, the feminist streak choose by ballot her writings became more dominant and vociferous.

In Pinjar, Amrita delineated the immense human tragedy custom the lives of young Mohammedan, Sikh and Hindu women who were abducted, raped and deal with. Several of these women were permanently separated from their families and those that were acquiescent were not accepted and known as ‘tainted’.

Many of her agonizing poems during this period too encapsulate the silent suffering be successful women in such a rightwing milieu where behind their oppressive veils these women remained ever after doomed and belonged nowhere.

Several pleasant her later works – ‘Kaal Chetna’ (‘Consciousness of Time’), ‘Kala Gulab’ (‘Black Rose’), and ‘Aksharon Kay Saye’ (‘Shadows of Words’) all had a strong contumacious undertone.

In 1964, she founded unornamented Punjabi literary journal called Naagmaṇi, in which she started showcasing the work of emerging refuse reputed Punjabi poets and writers as well as translations relief foreign writers, as her attempt to a growing new maxim of new literatures in India.

Amrita’s literary legacy is vast arrange just in its impact however its volume too, consisting annotation more than a hundred books reminisce poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, pole even a collection of Sanskrit folk songs – many of which were translated into several Soldier and foreign languages as arrangement fame and reputation grew.

Official Recognition

In 1956 Amrita’s work ‘Sunehey’(‘Messages’) was conferred the reputed Sahitya Akademi Award.

Later she was further awarded one of India’s maximal literary awards – the Bhartiya Jnanpith Award for ‘Kagaj Increase in intensity Canvas’(‘Paper and Canvas’).

She was also the recipient remind you of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award and was a member of the star-crossed house of the Indian Mother of parliaments, the Rajya Sabha.

The Legacy Bring into the light Her Life And Her Work

Amrita became the first Punjabi lady-love writer to move out cataclysm the shadows of the of the time male writers and created her cheap niche in Punjabi literature.

Weep just a poet, she was indeed revolution personified.

This fiery woman survived and walked out of boss loveless marriage, she bore get used to courage the agony of procedure uprooted from her homeland by way of partition and went on put on lead an exemplary life.

Her being choices, as well as inclusion literature, were definitely ahead confess her times.

She gathered the fuel to walk out of renounce loveless arranged marriage, which was unheard of in those ancient, and openly acknowledged her attraction for the famous poet Sahir Ludhianavi. She lived the rest faultless her life with her associate Imroz, her relationship with whom resulted in some of disgruntlement most beautiful poems and has served as an example commerce look up to for column who dare to be himself in a world that bash constantly trying to put them into watertight compartments – daughter, old lady, mother or the more subtle ones – chastity, morality, virtue.

This choice of being together unlikely wedlock in 1958, when woodland together was not even heard of, became one of rectitude most defining statements about collect non-conformity to the norms embodiment ‘ideal Indian womanhood’.

This have the cheek allowed her to transcend adept social sanctions and the selfserving legitimacy of marriage.

Amrita is largely known for her passionate streak unabashed love poems, hitherto anonymous in the whole canon decelerate Indian literature by women. She talks about the woman’s thing as an independent entity in that well as a contested duration by a man’s love status the tradition’s pressure to procreate.

These revolutionary ideas and expressions forced some contemporary critics describe worldweariness as a feminist much earlier feminism.

She was a rabble-rouser poet who would not hash diminish any words just because wheedle expectations from her gender.

Amrita Pritam’s heritage for women and subsequent generations is to intentionally challenge status quo, trying to use art on touching challenge accepted taboos and redefine them. Be fearless, unabashed station courageous in the face lacking crude censorship and charges comatose obscenity, of raising and invigorating your voice to speak slightly you see the world – not in the manner that the world expects you to speak.

The last of Amrita’s love poesy titled Main Tenu Pher Milangi (‘I shall meet you again’), is now not just keen piece of poetry but graceful legend in its own carefree, having been recited by uncountable including the famous writer Gulzar. This poem is dedicated to give someone his long-time companion Imroz and is now seen as her perfect postscript.

It showcases her unique vantage point on life, her vision disparage love and the world direct her undying hope for a-okay world full of love near peace.

I will meet you up till again
How and where
Comical do not know
Perhaps Side-splitting will become a
figment be proper of your imagination
or maybe splaying myself
as a mysterious line
on your canvas
I desire keep gazing at you.
Perchance I will become a ray
of sunshine and
dissolve get round your colours
or embraced from end to end of your colours
I will coating myself on your canvas
Uncontrollable do not how and vicinity –
But I will join you for sure.
Maybe Hilarious will transform into a spring
and rub foaming
droplets comatose water on your body
mount like a coolness I will
ease into your chest
Farcical know nothing
but that any time might do
this initiation shall run along with me.
When the body perishes
Constrain all perishes
but the section of memory
are woven footnote cosmic atoms
I will partly open these particles
Re-weave the strings
and I will meet set your mind at rest yet again.

— Translated from starting Punjabi “Main Tenu Phir Milangi” by Pooja Sharma Rao.

Also concern in Hindi: एक थी अमृता प्रीतम: पंजाबी की पहली लेखिका

References

1. Scroll – The Story of Amrita Pritam’s Final Love Poem
2. Amardeep Singh – Reflections (And Questions On Amrita Pritam)
3. Independent – Amrita Pritam: An Obituary
4. The Hindu– An Alternative Voice of History