Amrita Pritam: Shining words, golden verses
Mona
he was a poet and writer par excellence; on Amrita Pritam’s 101st birth anniversary, litterateurs from the region share their impressions of the author, who has remained hugely popular ever since she burst on to the literary scene with Amrit Lehran at the age of 16.
One-woman revolution
Amrita Pritam’s life had all the ingredients that every rebellious heart hangs on to, especially of those who grew up during the 60’s and 70’s. Her radical stance against the patriarchal system appealed to my subversive dreams. No flag-burning rhetoric accompanied her revolution. It was faith in her lifestyle choices, manifested in her poetry, which made her into a one-woman revolution!
In 1975, I accompanied a friend from Doordarshan, who was dramatising one of Amrita’s short stories for television. I entered her Hauz Khas home tentatively. My head was abuzz with stories of her passionate love for both the poet Sahir Ludhianvi and the painter Imroz. Those had certainly fuelled my romantic notions. The first sound that greeted me was the whirring of a giant cooler and a mid-afternoon darkness that makes one see everything in silhouettes, a play of shadow and light. The dim bulb illuminating the poems of Amrita, etched by Imroz on the lampshades, was an indication of his devotion. The silence in the house was soothing and measured.
Amrita was far ahead of her times, with her unflinching ideas on love and freedom. Her foray in literature started in Lahore, when the sixteen-year-old wrote her first anthology of poems Amrit Lehran (Immortal Waves) in 1936.
It was her poem on Partition, addressed to Waris Shah, which captured the imagination of people — Ajj aakhan Waris Shah nu, kiton qabran vichon bol. Her voice became the voice of millions of women, pleading with the poet Waris Shah to become a chronicler of the brutality inflicted on women during Partition.
— Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry, renowned theatreperson
Shining gem
Amrita Pritam was one woman who made a living solely through literary pursuits — be it her translation work or magazine or radio. She lived on her own terms. The magazine Nagmani, for which Imroz designed and drew, was one of its own kinds. She gave new poets a chance to get published. She would place her poems later, but showcase the work of new writers! While Ajj aakhan Waris Shah nu got her limelight, my favourite remain lines are from Sunehade — Mil gayi thi isme ik boond tere ishq ki/ is liye Maine Zindagi ki sari kadvahat piii li.
— Surjit Patar, noted author
Romance & rebellion
Amrita Pritam’s poems have been translated into many languages, including Tamil, English and Spanish. She was largely known for them, but her prose was as thought-provoking —Pinjar being one extraordinary creation. Kagaz Te Kanvas is my favourite anthology of poems by her. Her works fetched her every possible award —Bhartiya Jnanpith to Sahitya Akademi to Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan. Romance and rebellion go side-by-side in her works.
— Madhav Kaushik, author
She lived with passion
As young college-going girls, Amrita Pritam was our role model. We were awestruck by her. We subscribed to Nagmani and awaited every new issue with bated breath. That was our window not only to Amrita’s world, but also new writers. Pinjar and Doctor Dev are my favourites from among her works. On the day that Amrita Pritam died, I came across Dastavez — a collection of letters shared between Amrita and Imroz — and decided to translate them into English. One can feel the love and longing; there is this fire, a passion in how she lived and wrote.
— Arvinder Kaur, author
Amrita Pritam: 'I wanted to write at all costs, and I did'
This interview was conducted in Hindi and Urdu by my grandmother’s sister, Mukti Verma, who is 85 years old today. Her writer husband and she were friends with Amrita Pritam and growing up, I often heard the names of Amrita and Imroz at their home in Delhi.
Recently, while talking to her, I asked her to write something about Amrita with the intention of motivating her in these troubled times. A few days later, she called me excitedly with the news that she had stumbled upon an interview she had done with the writer for a school magazine in 1992 that never got published. Presented here is my translation of the text.
Mukti: What is the most important thing in life?
Amrita: The most important thing in life is happiness. But then so much of what we go through in life depends upon our ruling planets. You know our elders chanted on a 108-bead string. If you consider the real reason they did this, you will realize it is the chanting of 12 zodiac signs and 9 planets i.e. 12x9 = 108. These 108 planets travel throughout the universe and influence our lives.
Mukti: Your life is completely and wholly concerned with poems, stories and novels. This discovery that you are interested in planets and zodiac signs is confounding to me.
Amrita: But Mukti, I consider astrology to be a complete science. These planets, constellations, they hold a special place in our lives. The more immersed you are in the understanding of this science, the more accurate your calculations will be. So much of what we go through is written in the stars.
Mukti: You have increased my curiosity further...
Amrita: I do not decry the importance of science. I do believe that scientific discoveries have done many wonderful things for us. Science has progressed, it has established its suzerainty over every aspect of our life like a sorcerer. But as long as science is estranged from spiritual power, it cannot give happiness to human beings. It cannot function in and by itself for the overall betterment of human life.
Mukti: Tell us about an incident in your childhood that influenced you a lot.
Amrita: I was very young and was crying near my mother’s bed as she was on her last breath. One of my friends came by and bid me thus—“Amrita, wake up. Don’t cry. God always listens to children. Go! Pray to God for you mother’s life." I got up and started praying fervently for my mother’s life, but maybe her time was up and she passed away. My prayer was not accepted by the almighty. This incident left a lasting impression on my mind. After that, when anyone asked me if there was a God, I would answer—“No, if God were there, wouldn’t he have listened to a child’s implorations?’
(from left) Mukti Verma, Amrita Pritam and Balraj Verma.
View Full Image
(from left) Mukti Verma, Amrita Pritam and Balraj Verma. (Photo courtesy: Shunali Khullar Shroff)
Mukti: Is this indelible impression of the absence of God yet intact?
Amrita: No Mukti, that was in childhood—a childlike attitude, which was influenced by that event. Any child would have undoubtedly felt the same after their mother’s death. Life is fleeting and one considers a temporary object as permanent only to give comfort to the mind. I now think of God as a force of the entire universe, from eternal to infinite.
Mukti: How much did your family contribute towards your milestones?
Amrita: I was very young when my mother died but I was influenced by my father. He was a good writer and a poet of his time—he used to write in Braj language. His personality helped cultivate my literary temper.
Mukti: Even though you weren’t married to a literary personality, how did you persist with writing?
Amrita: It is true that I was married off while I was still very young. After marriage I did not find that mahol (environment) that a writer needs for his or her creativity to thrive. So I decided to create my own environment and sow my creative seeds (she left her husband on amicable terms with her two children, he himself encouraged her to leave in order 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 nourish your passions. What is also required is a lot of conviction in your pursuits. I wanted to be able to write at all costs, and I did.
In 1947, when clouds of doom engulfed India and Pakistan, there was endless despair and a constant ache in the heart from the rioting and violence that was taking place around us. What were we and what had we become? We all belonged to that one blooming garden, living and dying together, and then we were separated. And we started killing and robbing each other.
Mukti: There was a phase when you did a fair bit of political writing as well. Tell us about it.
Amrita: It was a good phase that got even better when it ended because nobody was willing to answer my most fundamental questions at the time. The Vedas say that if you do not familiarize yourself with the root, new leaves shan’t sprout. You must welcome the new leaves. But today there is an attempt to gain power and wealth in the name of democracy.
0 Comments