Amrita Pritam was an Indian novelist and poetess known for writing Punjabi and Hindi poetry and novels. His most famous poem was ‘Aj Aakhan Waris Shah Nu’ which was dedicated to the 18th century Punjabi poet Waris Shah. He wrote various poems and novels to express his pain over the massacres that took place during the partition of India. He died due to prolonged illness at his home in Hauz Khaz on 31 October 2005.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Amrita Pritam was born Amrit Kaur on Sunday, 31 August 1919 (age 86 years at death) in Gujranwala, Punjab, British India. His zodiac sign was Scorpio. She was born in Punjab, but moved to Lahore with her father after her mother’s death.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 5″
Hair Color: Gray
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
Amrita’s father’s name is Kartar Singh Hitkari, who was a poet. His father knew the Braj language, and was a preacher – a preacher of Sikhism. His mother’s name is Raj Bibi, who was a teacher.
husband and children
Amrita married editor Pritam Singh in 1936 when she was sixteen. She was attached to him since childhood. Amrita got divorced in 1960. They had a son, Navraj Kwatra, and a daughter, Kandla. His son was murdered in Elysee Colony, Borivali, Mumbai.
Amrita Pritam’s son
After the divorce, she started expressing in her poems how unhappy she was with her marriage. In an interview, she became more productive after her divorce and said,
It is true that I was married when I was very young. After marriage, I did not get the environment that a writer needs to flourish his creativity. So I decided to create my own environment and sow my own creative seeds (she left her husband on amicable terms with their two children, he himself encouraged her to leave to pursue her life as a writer ). To gain something, you have to be willing to lose something. You have to be willing to make sacrifices to nurture your passion. It also requires immense conviction in your actions. I wanted to be able to write at all costs and I did.”
relationships/affairs
In the 1960s, she fell in love with poet Sahir Ludhianvi. She loved him so much that many of her poems were about him.
Amrita Pritam with Sahir Ludhianvi
Sahir left her for singer Sudha Malhotra. His sadness and loneliness after the breakup can be seen in his poems. Amrita had expressed her love for Sahir in her autobiography Raseedi Ticket. In the book she told that when they were together, she could not take her eyes off Sahir. In the book, he has also mentioned Sahir smoking a half-left cigarette. In the interview he further said,
After he leaves, I will keep these remaining cigarettes safely in the cupboard. I will burn them sitting alone. When I held one of these cigarettes between my fingers, I felt as if I was touching his hands…that’s how I started smoking. Smoking made me feel that he was close to me. He looked like a genie in the smoke coming out of the cigarette every time.”
Cover of ‘Receipt Ticket’ book
After a long period of loneliness, she started dating writer Indrajit Imroz. They were together for four decades before his death. They were in a live-in relationship in a house in Hauz Khaz, Delhi.
Amrita Pritam with Indrajit Imroz
Imroz was so madly in love with her that he took care of Amrita’s ex-husband Pritam when she fell ill and would even drop Amrita’s children to school on his scooter. Imroz helped Amrita design the covers of her books and was the subject of many of her paintings. Their love story has been written in a book titled Amrita Imroz: A Love Story. Before dying, Amrita had expressed her love for Imroz in the poem ‘Main Tainu Pher Milangi’. While talking about his love for Amrita in an interview, Imroz said,
I had a bicycle at that time and started saving money and soon bought a scooter. I met him and said that now we will go on scooter to Akashvani Bhavan. He looked at me and asked, ‘Why did you meet me so late?’ I said, maybe, I became a late adult and the money also came late.
Amrita Pritam’s last poem for Imroz
religious viewpoint
According to Amrita, she became an atheist after her mother’s death. In an interview, he talked about how he lost faith in God after his mother’s death and said,
I was very young and crying at my mother’s bedside as she was taking her last breaths. A friend of mine came and said to me – Amrita, get up. do not Cry. God always listens to children. Go! Pray to God for your mother’s life. I got up and prayed fervently for my mother’s life, but perhaps her time was over and she passed away. God did not accept my prayer. This incident left an indelible impression on my mind.”
CASTEISMAND
Amrita was born in a Sikh family.
Signature
Amrita Pritam’s signature
livelihood
When she was in Lahore, she worked at a radio station there. In 1947, after partition, when she came to Delhi, she worked in the Punjabi service of All India Radio, Delhi, until 1961.
Amrita Pritam on All India Radio
Amrita started her career at a very young age. When she was sixteen, she wrote her first poem Amrit Laharen which was published in 1936. In 1950, he wrote the novel Pinjar and the character Puro of the novel gained immense popularity.
Cover of Amrita Pritam’s novel ‘Pinjar’
This novel was based on violence against women. In 2003, his novel was made into a film titled ‘Pinjar’, which was shot in the border region of Rajasthan and Punjab. He wrote more than 100 books including poetry, fiction, biographies and essays. He also composed a collection of Punjabi folk songs and wrote an autobiography which was later translated into several Indian and foreign languages. He wrote the book ‘Lok Ped’ and talked about the economic condition of Bengal after the Bengal famine of 1943. The books he wrote in Punjabi were translated from Punjabi and Urdu into English, French, Danish, Japanese and Mandarin. His book Sippiyan was made into a film named Kadambari (1965) and Una Di Kahani was made into a film named Daku (Daccoit, 1976). After her stay with Imroz, she was in charge of editing Nagmani, a monthly magazine in Punjabi.
Cover of monthly magazine Nagmani by Amrita
He also wrote prefaces to many of Osho’s books including Ek Omkar Satnam. Later, he began writing spiritual works including Kaal Chetna (“Time Consciousness”) and Ajnata Ka Invitation (“Call of the Unknown”). He also wrote autobiographies, including Kala Gulab (“Black Rose”, 1968), Rasidi Tiktok (“The Revenue Stamp”, 1976), and Aksharon Ke Saayi (“Shadows of Words”).
Controversy
Amrita was a controversial writer who wrote about women’s rights and emotions. In 2015, Gurbachan Singh Bhullar, a writer, criticized Amrita for her relationships with various men in his novel. He wrote that Amrita was a selfish woman who used men for her own benefit to gain fame. Later, one of the critics, Amiya Kanwar, rejected the allegation and said,
They were attracted by her beauty and talent yet they were annoyed by her fame. Even when she became the first Punjabi writer to win the Jnanpith Award in 1981, some male Punjabi writers wrote bitter articles about her. This trend has increased after his death because he is not present to counter them. Also, some people are doing this to attract attention.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- 1956: Sahitya Akademi Award for the Punjabi poem Sunehde
- 1969: Padma Shri Award
Amrita Pritam receiving Padmashree award
- 1973: Delhi University awarded D.Litt. Designated with the title of.
- 1973: Jabalpur University awarded the degree of D.Litt.
- 1979: Vaptsarov Award from the Republic of Bulgaria
- 1981: Bharatiya Jnanpith Award for the book Kaagaz Te Canvas
- 1987: Visva Bharati, Santiniketan completed his D.Litt. Awarded the degree.
- 1987: Degree of Officier dans, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Officer) by the French Government
- 2004: Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
Death
Amrita died on 31 October 2005 at her home in Hauz Khaj, Delhi due to prolonged illness.
Facts/General Knowledge
- In 1936, she married Pritam Singh and after marriage with him, her name changed from Amrit Kaur to Amrita.
- She witnessed the partition of 1947 and came to India. She was pregnant with her son while traveling from Dehradun to Delhi.
- After coming to India, she continued working on her poems and gained immense popularity in India as well as in Pakistan.
- In the early days of her career she used to write romantic poems, but later she became a part of the progressive writer movement.
- When she was a child, she used to question any strange activity happening around her. In an interview, he said that he had questioned his grandmother about the use of different utensils for non-Hindu guests. In the interview he further said,
I noticed that there were three glass glasses kept on a shelf in the corner of the kitchen, away from all the other utensils. These were for use only when tea was served to father’s Muslim friends… when they came to meet him… I was adamant; I won’t drink from any other glass but one of those.”
- She was the first and only woman to win the Sahitya Akademi Award for a Punjabi work.
- She was part of the inauguration of the first Janata Library in Delhi. This library is still located at the Clock Tower of Delhi.
- The Revenue Stamp, his autobiography, was banned in Punjabi University, Patiala.
Cover of Amrita Pritam’s book ‘The Revenue Stamp’
- In 2019, she was paid a tribute by director MS Sathyu through his performance ‘Ek Thi Amrita’.
- In 2012, his son was found guilty of involvement in adult shooting after police found pornographic CDs in his flat which featured some models and actors.
- In 2007, lyricist Gulzar created an audio album named ‘Amrita Written by Gulzar’, in which he recited poems by Amrita Pritam.
Poster of audio album ‘Amrita Paath by Gulzar’
- On 31 August 2019, Google honored him on his 100th birth anniversary by posting a doodle for him. Along with one of his photos, Google wrote,
Today’s Doodle celebrates Amrita Pritam, one of the pioneering female Punjabi writers in history, who ‘dared to live the life she imagined.’ Born 100 years ago in Gujranwala, British India, Pritam published her first poetry collection at the age of 16.
Google’s doodle on Amrita Pritam’s 100th birthday
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Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn