{"id":12368,"date":"2017-09-15T11:00:42","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T05:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak?p=12368"},"modified":"2019-01-16T16:13:54","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T10:43:54","slug":"amrita-pritam-not-just-a-poet-but-revolution-personified-indianwomeninhistory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/amrita-pritam-not-just-a-poet-but-revolution-personified-indianwomeninhistory\/","title":{"rendered":"Amrita Pritam: Not Just A Poet, But Revolution Personified | #IndianWomenInHistory"},"content":{"rendered":"

This essay is part of the\u00a0#IndianWomenInHistory<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0campaign for Women\u2019s History Month to remember the untold legacies of women who shaped India, especially India\u2019s various feminist movements. Each day one Indian woman is profiled for the whole of March 2017.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Amrita Pritam was\u00a0an iconic Indian writer, whose works as well as life, were a bold statement that\u00a0redefined not just the Punjabi literary canon but also found new words and images for how Indian women perceived themselves.<\/p>\n

The famous writer and journalist Khushwant Singh had once told Amrita Pritam that the whole story of her life was so inconsequential and brief that it could be easily contained within the small space at the back of a revenue stamp. She remembered the joke and called her autobiography\u00a0Raseedi Ticket (The Revenue Stamp)<\/em>. This one incident probably sums up this prolific and ground-breaking writer\u2019s philosophy of life \u2013 \u201cMy work\/my life will be my answer<\/em>\u201c.<\/p>\n

Life and Times: The Beginning<\/strong><\/h4>\n

She was the only child of Kartar Singh and Raj Kaur, a Sikh couple who named her Amrita Kaur in 1919, in Gujranwala, Punjab in erstwhile undivided British India, now Pakistan. Her father was a school teacher by profession but is also believed to have been\u00a0a small-time poet. The environment in her early home was deeply spiritual; her father was a\u00a0pracharak\/<\/em>Sikh religious preacher as well. Along with religious learning, she also inherited her love for literature from him.<\/p>\n

Amrita was born a rebel, a questioner of norms, a devil\u2019s advocate of sorts. She asked difficult questions and challenged those things\u00a0that everyone accepted as the norm. This gets reflected in her literature and personal life much later and throughout.<\/p>\n

In her autobiography, she recalls that once as a young girl she noticed water being hawked at the railway platform as Hindu\u00a0water and Muslim\u00a0water. She questioned her mother \u2014 \u201cIs water also Hindu-Mussalman<\/em>?\u201d Her mother\u2019s reply \u2013 \u201cIt is this way here\u2026<\/em>\u201d \u00a0\u2013 was definitely not satisfactory for the young rebel. \u00a0Later, a very young Amrita raised her voice against her conventional grandmother, who kept separate utensils for her Muslim visitors. It was \u201c\u2026.my first\u00a0baghavat\u00a0(rebellion) against religion<\/em>\u201c, she writes therein.<\/p>\n

Amrita, the young critical thinker who was already questioning a lot of morality and religion, turned almost atheist after the death of her mother when she was barely eleven years old. She realised the uselessness of prayer as all her prayers to restore her mother\u2019s health had turned futile and stopped praying altogether after her mother passed away.<\/p>\n

The family then moved to Lahore where the young teenager found herself overburdened with responsibilities of running a household. In such depressing and challenging circumstances, Amrita found succour in writing. Her exceptional talent did not go unnoticed and as a result her first anthology of poems\u00a0\u2018Amrit Lehran\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(Immortal Waves) was published in 1936 when she was barely 16 years old.<\/p>\n

Trying to find some grip on life the young Amrita married Pritam Singh and became Amrita Pritam around the same time, a name she carried all her life. Pritam was the son of a hosiery merchant and an Editor, the couple had two children, but according to Amrita the union was loveless and devoid of any passion or deep emotion.<\/p>\n

Writing Career<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Once Amrita started writing in 1936, she continued doing so prolifically; in spite of the dissatisfactory marriage by 1943 she had already gained much acclaim and had six anthologies of poetry to her credit.<\/p>\n

Her initial work consisted mainly of romantic poems though she gradually gravitated towards the Progressive Writers\u2019 Movement \u2013 a literary movement where writers were writing about socio-economic concerns of their society and times. In 1944, in a poetry collection titled\u00a0\u2018Lok Peed\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(Anguish Of The Public<\/em>) Amrita\u2019s first social poetry emerged and she criticised the economy being depleted by the Second World War and the disastrous Bengal famine of 1943.<\/p>\n

Her increased involvement in social work in the mid-1940s, her working with the Lahore Radio Station for a brief period and her angst at the helplessness of the commoners especially women made her works around that time become more and more rebellious and socio-political in nature.<\/p>\n

The year 1947, the partition of the country, became a watershed for her both as an individual and as a writer. She witnessed innumerable, unspeakable human tragedies. The communal riots that continued for several months during the refugee influx to and fro from both sides led to such mindless violence that like most other survivors of this historic tragedy, it left an indelible mark on Amrita\u2019s mind for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n

Amrita, a young woman of 28 moved to New Delhi from Lahore. By now she was sure that her marriage was just imprisoning her body and soul. It was in this state of emotional turbulence that she penned one of her oft-quoted and most famous poems\u00a0\u2018Ajj Akhaan Waris Shah Nu<\/strong><\/a>\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(\u2018Today I invoke Waris Shah\u2019)<\/em>\u00a0in 1948, invoking the famous Sufi poet Waris Shah.<\/p>\n

In this poem she challenges the\u00a0tropes used in\u00a0romantic poetry\u00a0\u2013 not just Punjabi or Sufi poetry, but the entire literary canon \u2013 where the woman is just seen as a consort\/beloved and nothing more, her suffering and her dilemmas completely overlooked. Also, her vision of love here became significantly broadened and delved into the other worldly Sufi realms.<\/p>\n

Nirupama Dutt, a prominent Punjabi\/English writer herself, who was a friend and confidante of Amrita in her last years and has translated some of her work,\u00a0writes<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in an article that in Amrita\u2019s literature love wasn\u2019t viewed as \u2018a narrow man-woman exchange\u2019. She was deeply hurt and saddened by the loss of a composite Punjabi culture and felt a deep sense of betrayal like many other survivors because of the mindless bloodshed during and in the aftermath of the Partition. Nirupama says that probably she had turned to Waris Shah to express this deep-seated anguish because he had composed one of the most famous and immortal love legends of Punjab.<\/p>\n

\u201cAj akhaan Waris Shah nu
\n<\/em>Kiton qabran wichon bol,
\n<\/em>Te ajj kitab-e-ishq da koi
\n<\/em>Agla varka phol\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

(I call out to Waris Shah today<\/em>
\nTo speak out from his grave<\/em>
\nAnd turn today the next leaf<\/em>
\nOf the book of love.)<\/em><\/p>\n

(Original Amrita Pritam, Translation: Nirupama Dutt)<\/em><\/p>\n

Soon after in 1950 her novella \u2018Pinjar<\/em>\u2019 (Skeleton\/Cage) came out. This was made into a Bollywood film years later in 2002 and remains till date one of the few\u00a0Punjabi works\u00a0on the partition of India from a woman\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n

Amrita began working in the Punjabi service of All India Radio, Delhi and continued serving there till 1961. In the 1960s, post-Pinjar,<\/em>\u00a0the feminist streak in her writings became more predominant and vociferous.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Pinjar<\/em>, Amrita depicted the immense human tragedy through the lives of young Muslim, Sikh and Hindu women who were abducted, raped and killed. Several of these women were permanently separated from their families and those that were reconciled were not accepted and labelled \u2018tainted\u2019. Many of her poignant poems during this period also encapsulate the silent suffering of women in such a conservative milieu where behind their suffocating veils these women remained perpetually doomed and belonged nowhere.<\/p>\n

Several of her later works \u2013\u00a0\u2018Kaal Chetna\u2019 (\u2018Consciousness of Time\u2019), \u2018Kala Gulab\u2019 (\u2018Black Rose\u2019),\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0\u2018Aksharon Kay Saye\u2019 (\u2018Shadows of Words\u2019)<\/em>\u00a0all had a strong rebellious undertone.<\/p>\n

In 1964, she founded a Punjabi literary journal called\u00a0Naagma\u1e47i,<\/em>\u00a0in which she started showcasing the work of emerging and reputed Punjabi poets and writers as well as translations of foreign writers, as her contribution to a growing new canon of new literatures in India.<\/p>\n

Amrita\u2019s literary legacy is vast not just in its impact but its volume too, consisting of more than a hundred\u00a0books of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, and even a collection of Punjabi folk songs \u2013 many\u00a0of which were translated into several Indian and foreign languages as her fame and reputation grew.<\/p>\n

Official Recognition<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In 1956 Amrita\u2019s work\u00a0\u2018Sunehey\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(\u2018Messages\u2019)<\/em>\u00a0was conferred the reputed\u00a0Sahitya Akademi Award<\/em>. Later she was also awarded one of India\u2019s highest literary awards \u2013 the\u00a0Bhartiya Jnanpith Award<\/em>\u00a0for\u00a0\u2018Kagaj Te Canvas\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(\u2018Paper and Canvas\u2019)<\/em>. She was also the recipient of the\u00a0Padma Vibhushan<\/em>, India\u2019s second-highest civilian award and was elected a member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha.<\/p>\n

The Legacy Of Her Life And Her Work<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Amrita became the first Punjabi woman writer to move out of the shadows of the contemporary male writers\u00a0and created her own niche in Punjabi literature. Not just a poet, she was indeed revolution personified.<\/p>\n

This fiery woman\u00a0survived and walked out of a loveless marriage, she bore with courage the agony of being uprooted from her homeland during partition and went on to lead an exemplary life.<\/p>\n

Her life choices, as well as her literature, were definitely ahead of her times. She gathered\u00a0the courage to walk out of her loveless arranged marriage, which was unheard of in those times, and openly acknowledged her love for the famous poet Sahir Ludhianavi. She\u00a0lived the rest of her life with her companion Imroz, her relationship with whom resulted in some of her most beautiful poems and has served as an example to look up to for women who dare to be themselves in a world that is constantly trying to put them into watertight compartments\u00a0\u2013 daughter, wife, mother or the more intangible ones \u2013 chastity, morality, virtue.<\/p>\n

This choice of being together outside wedlock in 1958, when living together was not even heard of, became one of the most defining statements about her non-conformity to the norms of \u2018ideal Indian womanhood\u2019. This courage allowed her to transcend all social sanctions and the formal legitimacy of marriage.<\/p>\n

Amrita is mostly known for her passionate and unabashed love poems, hitherto unknown in the whole canon of Indian literature by women. She talks about the woman\u2019s body as an independent entity as well as a contested space by a man\u2019s love and the tradition\u2019s pressure to procreate.<\/p>\n

These revolutionary ideas and expressions made some contemporary critics describe her as a feminist much before feminism. She was a firebrand poet who would not mince any words just because of expectations from\u00a0her gender.<\/p>\n

Amrita Pritam\u2019s legacy for women and subsequent generations is to\u00a0intentionally challenge status quo, trying to use art to challenge accepted taboos and redefine them. Be fearless, unabashed and courageous in the face of crude censorship and charges of obscenity, of raising and using your voice to speak as you see the world \u2013 not in the manner that\u00a0the world expects you to speak.<\/p>\n

The last of Amrita\u2019s love poems titled\u00a0Main Tenu Pher Milangi (\u2018I shall meet you again\u2019)<\/em>, is now not just a piece of poetry but a legend in its own right, having been recited by many including the famous writer\u00a0Gulzar<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0This poem is dedicated to her long-time companion Imroz and is\u00a0now seen as her perfect epilogue. It showcases her unique perspective on life, her vision of love and the world and her undying hope for a world full of love and peace.<\/p>\n

I will meet you yet again<\/em>
\nHow and where<\/em>
\nI do not know<\/em>
\nPerhaps I will become a<\/em>
\nfigment of your imagination<\/em>
\nor maybe splaying myself<\/em>
\nas a mysterious line<\/em>
\non your canvas<\/em>
\nI will keep gazing at you.<\/em>
\nPerhaps I will become a ray<\/em>
\nof sunshine and<\/em>
\ndissolve in your colours<\/em>
\nor embraced by your colours<\/em>
\nI will paint myself on your canvas<\/em>
\nI do not how and where \u2013<\/em>
\nBut I will meet you for sure.<\/em>
\nMaybe I will transform into a spring<\/em>
\nand rub foaming<\/em>
\ndroplets of water on your body<\/em>
\nand like a coolness I will<\/em>
\nease into your chest<\/em>
\nI know nothing<\/em>
\nbut that whatever time might do<\/em>
\nthis birth shall run along with me.<\/em>
\nWhen the body perishes<\/em>
\nIt all perishes<\/em>
\nbut the strings of memory<\/em>
\nare woven of cosmic atoms<\/em>
\nI will pick these particles<\/em>
\nRe-weave the strings<\/em>
\nand I will meet you yet again.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Translated from original Punjabi \u201cMain Tenu Phir Milangi\u201d by Pooja Sharma Rao.<\/em><\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0\u090f\u0915 \u0925\u0940 \u0905\u092e\u0943\u0924\u093e \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0940\u0924\u092e: \u092a\u0902\u091c\u093e\u092c\u0940 \u0915\u0940 \u092a\u0939\u0932\u0940 \u0932\u0947\u0916\u093f\u0915\u093e<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Scroll<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Story of Amrita Pritam\u2019s Final Love Poem<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Amardeep Singh<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Reflections (And Questions On Amrita Pritam)<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. Independent<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Amrita Pritam: An Obituary<\/em><\/li>\n
  4. The Hindu<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0An Alternative Voice of History<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Amrita Pritam\u2019s legacy for women and subsequent generations is to intentionally challenge status quo, trying to use art to challenge accepted taboos and redefine them. Be fearless, unabashed and courageous in the face of crude censorship and charges of obscenity, of raising and using your voice to speak as you see the world \u2013 not in the manner that the world expects you to speak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":12383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,1,1389],"tags":[1405,1407,1410,1409,11,1406,1408],"class_list":{"0":"post-12368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog-roll","8":"category-categories","9":"category-fiction-and-sexuality","10":"tag-amrita-pritam","11":"tag-feminist-movements","12":"tag-gluzar","13":"tag-pinjar","14":"tag-poetry","15":"tag-revolution","16":"tag-writing"},"menu_order":885,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12368"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15968,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12368\/revisions\/15968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}