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'''Amrita Pritam''' (August 31, 1919 – October 31, 2005) ({{lang-pa|ਅਮਰਿਤਾ ਪਰੀਤਮ}}, ''{{IAST|amritĝ prītam}}'', ) was a [[Punjabi]] writer. She is considered the first prominent woman [[Punjab region|Punjabi]] poet, novelist, and essayist. When the former British India was partitioned into the independent states of India and [[Pakistan]], she migrated to India in [[1947]]. | '''Amrita Pritam''' (August 31, 1919 – October 31, 2005) ({{lang-pa|ਅਮਰਿਤਾ ਪਰੀਤਮ}}, ''{{IAST|amritĝ prītam}}'', ) was a [[Punjabi]] writer. She is considered the first prominent woman [[Punjab region|Punjabi]] poet, novelist, and essayist. When the former British India was partitioned into the independent states of India and [[Pakistan]], she migrated to India in [[1947]]. | ||
Revision as of 08:09, 17 March 2009
Amrita Pritam (August 31, 1919 – October 31, 2005) (Punjabi: ਅਮਰਿਤਾ ਪਰੀਤਮ, amritĝ prītam, ) was a Punjabi writer. She is considered the first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist. When the former British India was partitioned into the independent states of India and Pakistan, she migrated to India in 1947.
Formative Years
Amrita Pritam was born in 1919 in Gujranwala, Punjab, now in Pakistan, the only child of a school teacher and a poet. Her father was a pracharak -- a preacher of the Sikh faith. Amrita's mother died when she was eleven. Soon after, she and her father moved to Lahore. Confronting adult responsibilities, she began to write at an early age. Her first collection was published when she was only sixteen years old, the year she married Pritam Singh, an editor to whom she was engaged in early childhood.
Partition and Her Poem - Aj Aakhaan Waris Shah Noo
Some one million Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs died from communal violence that followed the partition of India in 1947. Amrita Pritam then moved to New Delhi. Her anguish was expressed in her poem, "Aaj Aakhaan Waris Shah Noo", addressed to the Sufi poet Waris Shah, author of the tragic saga of Heer and Ranjah, the Punjabi national epic:
ਅਜ ਆਖਾਂ ਵਾਰਸ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਨੂੰ ਕਿਤੋਂ ਕਬਰਾਂ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਬੋਲ।
ਤੇ ਅਜ ਕਿਤਾਬੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਦਾ ਕੋਈ ਅਗਲਾ ਵਰਕਾ ਫੋਲ।
ਇਕ ਰੋਈ ਸੀ ਧੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦ ਤੂ ਲਿਖ ਲਿਖ ਮਾਰੇ ਵੈਣ
ਅਜ ਲਖਾਂ ਧੀਆਂ ਰੌਂਦੀਆਂ ਤੇਨੂ ਵਾਰਸਸ਼ਾਹ ਨੂੰ ਕਹਿਣ:
ਵੇ ਦਰਦਮਂ ਦਾਂ ਦਿਆ ਦਰਦੀਆ ਉਠ ਆਪਣਾ ਪੰਜਾਬ।
ਅਜ ਬੇਲੇ ਲਾਸ਼ਾਂ ਵਿਛੀਆਂ ਤੇ ਲਹੂ ਦੀ ਭਰੀ ਚਨਾਬ
ਕਿਸੇ ਨੇ ਪੰਜਾਂ ਪਾਣੀਆਂ ਵਿਚ ਦਿਤੀ ਜ਼ੀਹਰ ਰਲਾ
ਤੇ ਉਨਾਂ ਪਾਣੀਆਂ ਧਰਤ ਨੂੰ ਦਿਤਾ ਪਾਣੀ ਲਾ
ਇਸ ਜ਼ਰਖੇਜ਼ ਜ਼ਮੀਨ ਦੇ ਲੰ ਲੰ ਛਟਿਆ ਜ਼ੀਹਰ
ਗਿਠ ਗਿਠ ਚੜਰੀਆਂ ਲਾਲੀਆਂ ਛਟ ਛਟ ਚੜਿਆ ਕਹਿਰ
ਵਿਹ ਵਲਿਸੀ ਵਾ ਫਿਰ ਵਣ ਵਣ ਵਗੀ ਜਾ
ੳਹਨੋ ਹਰ ਇਕ ਵਾਂਸ ਦੀ ਵੰਝਣੀ ਦਿਤੀ ਨਾਗ ਬਣਾ
ਪਹਿਲਾ ਡੰਗ ਮਦਾਰੀਆਂ ਮੰਤਰ ਗਝ ਗਆਚ
ਦੂਜੇ ਡੰਗ ਦੀ ਲਗ ਗਈ ਜਣੇ ਖਣੇ ਨੂੰ ਲਾਗ
ਲਾਗਾਂ ਕੀਲੇ ਲੋਕ-ਮੂੰਹ ਬਸ ਫਿਰ ਡੰਗ ਹੀ ਡੰਗ
ਪਲੌ ਪਲੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੇ ਨੀਲੇ ਪੈ ਗਝ ਅੰਗ।
ਗਲਿੳਂ ਟਟੇ ਗੀਤ ਫਿਰ ਤਰਕਲਿਉਂ ਟਟੀ ਤੰਦ
ਤਰਿੰਜਣੋਂ ਟਟੀਆੰ ਸਹੇਲੀਆਂ ਚਰਖੜੇ ਘੂਕਰ ਬੰਦ
ਸਣੇ ਸੇਜ ਦੇ ਬੇੜੀਆਂ ਲਡਣ ਦਿੀਆਂ ਰੋੜਰ
ਸਣੇ ਡਾਲੀਆਂ ਪੀਂਘ ਅਜ ਪਿਪਲਾਂ ਦਿਤੀ ਤੋੜ
ਜਿਥੇ ਵਜਦੀ ਸੀ ਫੂਕ ਪਿਆਰ ਦੀ ਵੇ ਉਹ ਵੰਝਲੀ ਗਈ ਗੳਾਚ
ਦੇ ਸਭ ਵੀਰ ਅਜ ਭਲ ਗਝ ਉਹਦੀ ਜਾਚ
ਧਰਤੀ ਤੇ ਲਹੂ ਵਸਿਆ ਕਬਰਾਂ ਪਈਆਂ ਚੋਣ
ਪਰੀਤ ਦੀਆਂ ਸ਼ਾਹਜ਼ਾਦੀਆਂ ਅਜ ਵਿਚ ਮਜ਼ਾਰਾਂ ਰੋਣ
ਅਜ ਮਭੇ ਕੈਦੋ ਬਣ ਗਝ ਹਸਨ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਦੇ ਚੋਰ
ਅਜ ਕਿਥੋੰ ਲਿਆਈਝ ਲਭ ਕੇ ਵਾਰਸ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਇਕ ਹੋਰ
ਅਜ ਆਖਾਂ ਵਾਰਸ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਨੂੰ ਕਿਤੋਂ ਕਬਰਾਂ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਬੋਲ।
ਤੇ ਅਜ ਕਿਤਾਬੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਦਾ ਕੋਈ ਅਗਲਾ ਵਰਕਾ ਫੋਲ।
aj aakhan Waris Shah nun, kiton kabraan vichchon bol,
te aj kitab-e-ishq daa koi agla varka phol
ik roi si dhi Punjab di, tun likh likh maare vaen,
aj lakhaan dhian rondian, tainun Waris Shah nun kaehn
uth dardmandaan dia dardia, uth takk apna Punjab
aj bele lashaan bichhiaan te lahu di bhari Chenab
kise panjan panian vichch ditti zehr ralaa
te unhaan paniian dharat nun ditta paani laa
is zarkhez zamin de lun lun phuttia zehr
gitth gitth charhiaan laalian fut fut charhiaa qehr
veh vallissi vha pher, van van vaggi jaa,
ohne har ik vans di vanjhali ditti naag banaa
pehlaa dang madaarian, mantar gaye guaach,
dooje dang di lagg gayi, jane khane nun laag
laagaan kile lok munh, bus phir dang hi dang,
palo pali Punjaab de, neele pae gaye ang
gale`on tutt`e geet phir, takaleon tuttii tand,
trinjanon tuttiaan saheliaan, charakhrre ghukar band
sane sej de beriaan, Luddan dittiaan rohr,
sane daliaan peengh aj, piplaan dittii tor
jitthe vajdi si phuuk pyaar di, ve oh vanjhali gayi guaach
Raanjhe de sab veer aj, bhul gaye uhadi jaach
dharti te lahoo varsiya, kabraan paiaan choan,
preet diaan shaahzaadiaan, aaj vichch mazaaraan roan
aj sabbhe Kaido` ban gaye, husn, ishq de chor
aj kitthon liaaiye labbh ke Waris Shah ik hor
aj aakhan Waris Shah nun, kiton kabraan vichchon bol,
te aj kitaab-e-ishq da, koi aglaa varka phol
Translation:
Today, I call Waris Shah, “Speak from your grave”
And turn, today, the book of love’s next affectionate page
Once, a daughter of Punjab cried and you wrote a wailing saga
Today, a million daughters, cry to you, Waris Shah
Rise! O’ narrator of the grieving; rise! look at your Punjab
Today, fields are lined with corpses, and blood fills the Chenab
Someone has mixed poison in the five rivers’ flow
Their deadly water is, now, irrigating our lands galore
This fertile land is sprouting, venom from every pore
The sky is turning red from endless cries of gore
The toxic forest wind, screams from inside its wake
Turning each flute’s bamboo-shoot, into a deadly snake
With the first snakebite; all charmers lost their spell
The second bite turned all and sundry, into snakes, as well
Drinking from this deadly stream, filling the land with bane
Slowly, Punjab’s limbs have turned black and blue, with pain
The street-songs have been silenced; cotton threads are snapped
Girls have left their playgroups; the spinning wheels are cracked
Our wedding beds are boats their logs have cast away
Our hanging swing, the Pipal tree has broken in disarray
Lost is the flute, which once, blew sounds of the heart
Ranjha’s brothers, today, no longer know this art
Blood rained on our shrines; drenching them to the core
Damsels of amour, today, sit crying at their door
Today everyone is, ‘Kaido;’ thieves of beauty and ardour
Where can we find, today, another Warish Shah, once more
Today, I call Waris Shah, “Speak from your grave”
And turn, today, the book of love’s next affectionate page
Amrita Pritam worked until 1961 for All India Radio. After her divorce in 1960, her work became more clearly feminist. Many of her stories and poems drew on the unhappy experience of her marriage. A number of her works have been translated into English, French, Japanese and other languages from Punjabi and Urdu, including her autobiographical works Black Rose and Revenue Stamp (Raseedi Tikkat in Punjabi).
The first of Amrita Pritam's books to be filmed was Daaku, directed by Basu Bhattacharya. Her novel Pinjar (The Skeleton, 1970) was made into an award winning movie because of its humanism: "Amritaji has portrayed the suffering of people of both the countries." Pinjar was shot in a border region of Rajasthan and in Punjab.
Acclaim
The first woman recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1956 for Sunehe (Messages), Amrita Pritam received the Bhartiya Jnanpith, India's highest literary award, in 1982 for Kagaj te Canvas (Paper and Canvas). She received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, as well. She received D Litt degrees, honoris causa, from Delhi, Jabalpur and Vishva Bharti Universities.
Amrita Pritam lived the last forty years of her life with the renowned artist, Imroz. She died on 31st October 2005 at the age of 86, after a long illness, survived by her daughter, Kundala; her son, Navraj; and her grandson, Aman.
Her story cannot be completed without the name of Sahir.
Works
Novels
- Pinjar
- Doctor Dev
- Kore Kagaz, Unchas Din
- Sagar aur Seepian
- Rang ka Patta
- Dilli ki Galiyan
- Terahwan Suraj
- Yaatri
Autobiography
- Rasidi Ticket
- Shadows of Words
Short stories
- Kahaniyan jo Kahaniyan Nahi
- Kahaniyon ke Angan mein
Poetry
- Chuni Huyee Kavitayen
Literary Journal
- Nagmani