Sahitya News Desk !!! Amrita Pritam (English: Amrita Pritam, born: 31 August 1919, Punjab (Pakistan); died: 31 October 2005 Delhi) was a famous poet, novelist and essayist, who is considered the best poetess of the Punjabi language of the 20th century. Her popularity is equally across the border in Pakistan. She ruled the Punjabi world for six decades. Amrita Pritam has written a total of about 100 books, including her famous autobiography ‘Rasidi Ticket’. Amrita Pritam was among those writers whose works were translated into many languages. In her last days, Amrita Pritam also received India’s second highest honor ‘Padma Vibhushan’. She had already been decorated with the ‘Sahitya Akademi Award’.
Biography
Amrita Pritam was born in 1919 in Gujranwala (Punjab- Pakistan). Her childhood was spent in Lahore and her education was also done there. She started with Punjabi writing and started writing poems, stories and essays from her teenage years. Amrita ji was 11 years old when her mother died, so the responsibility of the house also fell on her shoulders. She is one of those rare writers whose first compilation was published at the age of 16. Then came the period of partition in 1947, she suffered the pain of partition, and felt it very closely, you can feel this pain yourself in many of her stories. At the time of partition, her family settled in Delhi. Now she started writing in English along with Punjabi. She got married to an editor at the age of 16, this relationship was fixed by her parents in her childhood itself. This married life also broke up with divorce in 1960.
Works
After her divorce from her husband in 1960, the pain of the female characters and the bitter experiences of married life can be felt in her works. A film was also made on her novel ‘Pinjar’, which dealt with the pain of partition, and it was quite popular. She wrote about 100 books and many of her works have been translated into foreign languages as well.
Honours and Awards
Amrita ji was also awarded many national and international awards, prominent among them are Sahitya Akademi Award in 1956, Award by the Language Department of Punjab Government in 1958, Bulgaria Varov Award in 1988; (International) and India’s highest literary award Jnanpith Award in 1982. She was the first woman to receive the Sahitya Akademi Award and also the first Punjabi woman to be awarded the Padma Shri in 1969.[1]
demise
Amrita Pritam died on 31 October 2005 after a long illness. She was 86 years old and lived in the Hauz Khas area of South Delhi. She is no longer with us, but her poems, stories, poems and memoirs will always remain with us. Writers like Amrita Pritam are not born every day, her departure has ended an era. She is no longer with us, but her literature will always remain alive among us and will continue to guide us.
