Like
the girl next door, Sukhwinder Amrit is composing ghazals and nazms in an
inconspicuous manner. 'Kanian' (2000) is her latest collection of poems. Earlier
her two collections of ghazals- 'Suraj di Dehleez' (1997) and 'Chiragan di Daar'
(1999)-had received much acclaim in the literary circles. Generally a good
writer of ghazala (ghazalgd) is not expected to be a good writer of poems (nazmgo)
also but she has done well in both the genres. She is with Faiz, Sahir, Mohan
Singh, Ishwar Chitarkar and Patar in this context.In her long poems, she goes back to the early days of her life. During those formative years, she felt miserable due to the overbearing attitude of her father towards the members of the family. Like a bully, he would smother the newly-sprung aspirations in the young hearts. He would also strike fear in the minds of his mother and wife. The poetess has recalled those excruciating moments so very vividly. She has, however, conveyed her feelings in a guarded manner with the help of metaphors:
On seeing him
theboliofthe 'giddha'
received the fatal cut
underneath my teeth,
the dance movements
entangled in my feet
petered out unceremoniously.
My ebullient desire for 'kikli 'was smothered out.
My enthusiasm
for participation in ""Teean'
committed suicide.
Now in hindsight, she blames her mother to be too docile to allow her husband to act so ruthlessly. She does not want to be sentimental, while recalling the unsavoury incidents of those days. She has no intention to forgive her mother for her submissive attitude. Nor does she entertain the idea of disregarding the past events as bygone-
I search in her soul
the long-lost songs of love
I jot down those songs
in a new notebook.
These smouldering songs
take the form of burning coals
when I intend to place them
on the loveless palms of my father.
He had snatched away
from the hands of my mother
the notebook
full of love songs
in days of yore.
During her childhood she was interested in drawing as well as singing. But the domestic atmosphere did not allow her to pursue her hobbies. Such activities on the part of a girl were severely frowned at. In her teens she took recourse to composing poems. Even this was considered unpalatable by the orthodox family. Consequently her note-book of poems was consigned to the flames. Thereafter, she started committing her poetic compositions to memory. This method provided sanctuary to her wandering thoughts. Her early marriage did not allow her to emerge on the literary scene. She had other engagements to attend to, besides completing her education. Even now she is engaged in her postgraduate studies.
She is at her artistic best in her short poems. In these the poetess recedes into the ivory tower of her desires. She tries to fathom the depth of her feelings for the object of desire. There is no selfish trait in this odyssey for discovering the true innerself. It is an attempt to grasp the meaning of human relations. At times she is left high and dry with the feeling of existential nothingness. In some of her short poems like 'Chhoh' (The touch), Sukhwinder Amrit settles down, like a butterfly, on the shifting stance of her love-lorn heart-
The touch of my warm lips
thawed the frozen river in him.
Earlier a thousand sunshines
had committed suicide
by striking against its hard surface.