Amrita Pritam

Amrita Pritam was born in the year 1919, on 31st of August. She was a professional poet and a writer. Her poems and writings were mainly written in either Hindi or Punjabi. Amrita was considered a milestone in Punjab. Amrita was the first notable writer and poet in the Punjabi language and even the most famous and successful one in the 20th century in the Punjabi language. Her publications have been published in both India and Pakistan. But keeping aside the political tension between the countries, this writer was loved by both the countries equally. Amrita’s career stretches for about 60 years.

During these years she has published more than a century of poems, stories, essays, fictions, short stories, biographies, plays, and much more. In addition to that, she has also written many folk songs, poems and stories in the Punjabi language. Her most notable poem was a tribute to Waris Shah. The name of the poem was Aj aankhan Waris Shah Nu. The poem is written in the Punjabi language as we can understand from the name. In that poem not only did she pay tribute to the late Punjabi Poet, but she also expressed her frustrations and anger on the British rule in the poem. Amrita also used to write novels. Her most notable novel was called Pinjar.

Pinjar meant a cage. It was published in the year 1950. A character in the novel, named Puro, was a figure of protest, women empowerment, freedom, and justice. This novel was made into a Bollywood film in the year 2003. This film bagged many awards. As she used to write during the time of independence, her writings were an inspiration for the fighters. When India and Pakistan were separated in 1947, Amrita was residing in Lahore. Later on, she moved into India. Though she moved into India, her popularity in Pakistan remained the same.

For the Punjabi people, she was a milestone, an example to follow. Because of her hard work and her writings, Amrita received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award. Amrita got the award for one of her poem named Sunehade, or messages. She also got the Bharatiya Jnanpith, Padma Vibhushan and another Sahitya Akademi Award for her poems. Her birthplace was Gujranwala, which was the name of Punjab in British India. Unfortunately, she died on the 31st of October in the year 2005. She died in Delhi. She was one of the finest poets India has ever produced and has left behind an ocean of her works.