A Death, A Poem And Amrita Pritam
Something truly fascinating happened yesterday afternoon. There were forty of us gathered at Bada Gumbad, Hauz Khas, celebrating the life of Amrita Pritam. The storyteller, Harshit, shared tales from her life and invited the audience to contribute anything they wished. That’s when a young Sikh man, originally from Kashmir, told this story.
His family lives in Kashmir, where they also write in Urdu. His grandmother could read Hindi and would translate Amrita Pritam’s work back into Urdu, keeping the translations with her. Her only wish was that when she died and was cremated, the books of Amrita Pritam—along with her handwritten translations—should be burned with her, so they would stay with her even after death.
She passed away last year. Following her wishes, they placed her on the pyre with all the books of Amrita Pritam and the translations she had cherished. After the cremation, when everything had burned and the pyre had turned cold, her grandsons went to clear the remains. Everything had been reduced to ashes—except for one small piece that remained intact. It was her favorite poem by Amrita Pritam, which reads:
Jahaa.n bhii ik aazaad ruuh kii jhalak dikhaa.ii de,
samajhnaa vo meraa ghar hai.
This is from the poem Mera Pata by Amrita Pritam.
The grandson kept this small page with him and brought it to the walk. It was the most surreal experience I’ve ever had on a walk like this.
This young man was born in 2006, a year after Amrita Pritam’s death in 2005. I wonder if she knows how many of us still love her, gathering in her name, singing her words, reciting her poetry, and shedding tears over her love story with Imroz. What a woman! What a life she lived—that even children born after her death speak of her with such emotion, as if she had lived right next to them.
The absolute magic of Amrita Pritam lives on!
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Thanks for sharing this. She is one of my favorite poets, writer too. Sadly, as I cannot read Hindi that well, whenever I can, I read the stories translated to English. I have an interesting story too to share here. Two years ago, I underwent a surgery and I had to hospitalised for 4 days. I knew I will get bored, doing nothing at the hospital except popping pills, eating the tasteless khana and answering the same questions to all those who visit me. So, a day before my hospital admission I went book-hunting and this book got my attention. Not sure why. I had only heard about Amrita Pritam and her unconventional life choices and her wisdom but never had the opportunity to know more about her and her life. I bought 'Amrita Imroz- A Love Story' by Uma Trilok. As with any book that I love, I cannot wait to start reading and the feeling was the same for this book as well except, it was not a book like any other. What a fantastic woman she was and the life she led. Unbelievable. The book was at my bedside, all the days of my hospital days. The words, the magic and her life, helped my cope up with my post-surgery pain and discomfort. I got through a rough patch in my life, thanks to the book. For those of you reading this note and not read the book, you can buy it here https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ARsunRUQ7boeTbpObaVvwISTndF6r236. I definitely want to visit her house someday in Hauz Khas and experience the magic.