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It was interesting to see so many women gushing over Imroz. They love him because he loved Amrita so much, writes
Aruti Nayar
For all those who think that eternal love that transcends space and time lives on only in fiction or cinema should meet Imroz, Amrita Pritam’s soulmate. It was interesting to see so many women gushing over Imroz. They love him because he loved Amrita so much. Meeting Imroz is like watching a river flow gently, without turbulence and in total peace, with waves lapping the shore. In Chandigarh on a private visit, Imroz talks of poetry, passion and companionship with the poet who ruled over hearts for more than 50 years. Whether it is on the forced conformity to religion, society or the shackles of the legal system, Imroz’s observations are simple and transcend the personal. He believes if there is no uniformity in nature (no leaf is like the other), individuals can also not have the same expectations and rules that they follow and cannot be forced to lead uniform lives. Zindagi aadar chahati hai, he affirms. It was this respect and love that defined the bond he shared with Amrita. He would dutifully make and serve tea to her (even at the unearthly hour of 1 am when she started her writing) and the unending stream of guests that thronged their Hauz Khaz home. They never lived in the same room, such was the respect for each other’s space. They ate together, shared words and silences and gave a lot of space to each other.
Imroz recounts how when he used to live in a barsati in Delhi and Amrita came to meet him, she knocked and then said why did she even have to knock at his door. He quietly took out a key and gave it to her, and he said: Kamra apne aap ko ghar banta dekh raha tha...mein uski bolti aankhon mein ek rishta banta dekh raha tha. This cherishing of bonds is something that Amrita lived by all her life. That is why Imroz is saddened by the fact that though she never criticised any one ever and only gave writers a platform in Nagmani, all her contemporaries criticised her. If Amrita had the guts to lead life on her terms, he, too, had the courage to stand by her through sickness, tough times and in the face of opposition. He sums up his admiration of Amrita in a poem Sohni, from a shop of beautiful pictures to the famous Sohni of Sohni-Mahiwal fame to finally Amrita: Sohni tasveeran di dukan de bahar ek sohni jahi tasveer dekhi; aj main ek hor sohni nun dekh raheya haan, jinhe addhi sadi ton apni kalam naal sara Punjab paar kita hai...lagataar.
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Every poem of Imroz
brings out the nuances of a relationship that was unique not only
because it was an equal partnership but also because the delicacy of
emotions and sensitivity that both brought to it enriched them. She
only started cooking when Imroz came into her life, and she loved to
cook for him, while he handled all the house work and drove her
around. Whenever she would be invited to a dinner in an embassy or a
state banquet, he would drive her, carry his own dinner and wait
patiently for her. Only when the invite included his name did he go in
with her. They only spent what they earned. As he says: Agar
zarooratein hi nahin, toh Bhagwan ki bhi zaroorat insaan ko nahin
padhegi.