Remembering Amrita and her legacy
Renowned Punjabi poet-writer Amrita Pritam died at 86 on October 31, 2005. Best remembered for her epic poem on Partition “Ajj aakhan Waris Shah nu”, Amrita was born on August 31, 1919, in Gujranwala, Pakistan. However, this poem is only a part of her huge body of work in Punjabi literature that remains unparalleled. Her broad and eclectic oeuvre includes poems, short stories, novels, diary entries, memoirs, essays and much more. Even the letters she wrote to her life-long companion, Imroz, are a literary treat.
Publishing her first anthology of poems, ‘Thandiayaan Kirna’ (Cool Rays) at 16 in 1935, Amrita became the first woman to get Sahitya Akademi Award (1956) for her poem ‘Sunehray’ (Messages), which she had written for Sahir Ludhianvi. She was also the first Punjabi woman to get the Padma Shri (1969) and was awarded the Jnanpith Award (1981) for her poem, ‘Kagaz Te Kanvas’ (Paper and Canvas). In 2004, she received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by the Akademi, calling her a ‘living legend of Punjab’. Nominated for the Rajya Sabha in 1986, she also received the Padma Vibhushan in 2004.
A prolific writer of more than 100 books, Amrita wrote around 18 poetry collections, 31 novels, about 20 short-story collections, besides nearly 40 collections of prose writings.
Amrita was also the founder of ‘Nagmani’, a monthly Punjabi literary magazine. She sustained it for 36 years with Imroz, minus any advertisements, purely on passion and commitment, says Patiala-based Surinder Sharma, an associate of the poet-writer, who met her after his nazm was published in ‘Nagmani’.
“People speak about her as a poet or writer but for me, Amrita the editor was taller than Amrita the writer. She published the best of the world literature in the magazine, which also provided a platform to the emerging voices in Punjabi literature and created a whole new generation of Punjabi writers, including Prem Gorkhi, Kirpal Kazak, Baldev Singh Sadaknama and many more. For her, the only selection criteria was the merit of writings, at times rejecting even famous names,” recalls Sharma. Nagmani was shut down in 2002 after Amrita started keeping unwell. “She and Imroz had nurtured it like their own child. Amrita would take care of editing while Imroz did all the art work. No one else could have cared for it with the same passion. After it was shut down, she meticulously returned rest of the money to all subscribers,” remembers Sharma, who also received his share through a money order.
Gurdaspur-based Punjabi writer Beeba Balwant, who, too, started his literary journey with ‘Nagmani’, has preserved almost all issues of the magazine. He has also instituted an annual Amrita-Imroz Award with his savings to be given to writers, poets or artists. “Her philosophy of love and loyalty is reflected in her writings as well as her life. Many of us only talk about it, she lived each and every moment, steeped in this philosophy,” he adds.
Amrita was much ahead of her times. This is what makes her writings timeless, says poet-writer Amia Kunwar, a long-time associate and friend of Amrita. “Her works have been translated into 34 languages, including Hindi and English. These translations, the depth in her writings and social media has kept her work alive and relevant to the younger generations,” adds Kunwar, who written, translated and edited many books on Amrita and is bringing out a book of poems on Amrita written by others.
Her heroines were bold and self-confident, carved in her own image. Chandigarh-based Arvinder Kaur, who has translated Amrita Pritam and Imroz’s letters from Punjabi to English, is full of admiration for her ‘bindaas’ personality. “Imagine, having the courage to live with your partner without marriage in the mid-1960s. She never bothered about rules. Love was the only criterion for her in any relationship,” she adds.
For Mumbai-based dentist Dr Gurpreet Singh, it was her ‘bebak’ persona that first attracted him to her writings. “I must have read her autobiography ‘Rasidi Ticket’ countless times.” He has not only read most of her books but has also imbibed her poetic influences, having published two poetry books. “My only regret is that I couldn’t meet her but made sure that I could at least meet Imrozji,” he adds.
While many relate to her poetry, it was her short stories that resonated with Jalandhar-based lawyer Amit Jindal. “She brought an urban perspective to Punjabi fiction unlike other Punjabi writers before her,” says Jindal, who has written a play called ‘377’, inspired by her story “25 26 27 January”. He also finds her women characters quite relatable, finding parallels of their struggles in the lives of his mother or sisters.
Amrita’s novel ‘Pinjar’ (Skelton), which was also made into a critically acclaimed film of the same name in 2003, and ‘Ajj Aakhaan…’ remain among the most referenced literary works on Partition not only in India but also in the land of her birth. As she writes in her autobiography ‘Rasidi Ticket’, “In 1975, poet Mashkoor Sabri from Multan came to Delhi for an Urs recital. He told us of the annual ‘Jashn-e-Waris Shah’ in Multan where my nazm ‘Ajj Aakhaan’ is always read at the poets’ symposium.”
“It has been 77 years since she wrote this nazm after witnessing the horrors and violence of riots while fleeing from Pakistan in 1947. Yet, whenever and wherever Partition is ever discussed in my country, ‘Ajj Aakhaan…’ is inevitably mentioned,” says Sargodha-based Pakistani poet and playwright Ikram Basra. “When I first read this poem, I was struck by her fearlessness. Sufi saints have a god-like stature here and no one had dared to invoke them till now,” adds Basra.
In ‘Rasidi Ticket’, Amrita also writes about the censure the poem had faced. “When I wrote this poem, many magazines in Punjab were full of accusations against me. Sikhs held me guilty for invoking Waris Shah, instead of Guru Nanak, and communists asked why did I not address it to Lenin or Stalin….”
In fact, there is an interesting anecdote why ‘Rasidi Ticket’ was named so. In an article in ‘The Tribune’ (February 19, 2009), eminent author Khushwant Singh wrote, “There was a time when I was much taken up by Amrita Pritam. She was fair, petite, pretty, a gifted poet but a poor storyteller. She wrote only in Punjabi and was little known outside Punjab. I took upon myself to translate her works into English so that she could get better known in India and the English-speaking world… First I translated her novel ‘Pinjar’. It was published and went into many editions. Then I translated some of her poems. I refused to share royalties she earned. The only thing I asked her was to tell me the truth about her love affairs, as many names were associated with her. When her turn came to telling me about her love life, she mentioned only one name, Sahir Ludhianvi. I was disappointed by her narration and remarked: ‘If this was all, I could write your love life behind a postage stamp’.”
The same, however, can never be said about her vast and enduring legacy that lives on. Amrita continues to engage the coming generations, evident in the continuing appeal of her life and literary works that also keep on inspiring filmmakers and playwrights to make movies or stage plays based on her personal life and her writings.
Ajj aakhan Waris Shah nu
kiton qabraan vichon bol
Te ajj kitaab-e-ishq da
koi agla warqa phol
Ik royi si dhee Punjab di
tu likh likh maare vain
Ajj lakhaan dheeyan rondiyan
tenu Waris Shah nu kehn…
(Today I beseech Waris Shah
To speak up somewhere from the grave
And today turn some other leaf
In the book of love
A daughter of Punjab had wailed
And you penned a
long saga
Today millions of daughters shed tears
And addressing you Waris Shah)...
(Transcreated by Jyoti Sabharwal in the volume ‘The Ninth Flower: Best of Amrita Pritam’, Stellar Publishers)
