By Dr (Mrs) Manu Sharma Sohal

Date:08-03-06

Source: PCSCI

BY PUNJABI CULTURE STUDY CIRCLE INTERNATIONAL (PCSCI)

Remembering the great legend Amrita Pritam,
Special on International Women`s Day
Aj aakhan Waris Shah noon . The writings of Amrita Pritam are the voice of silent but smoldering sobs of many a woman of our male-dominated society. Her works guide and teach us as to how woman can live all alone gracefully and with dignity, fighting back her tears, her agony, and her anguish with her creativity. Her strugglesome life proves that to achieve a goal and to establish her identity in society, a woman must learn to disregard all criticism from inside or outside family and abandon hopeless traditions. Only then she can liberate herself from the societal clutches. Amrita Pritam gave voice to the tortured and tormented psyche of woman as well as many social problems. She had seen the carnal communal riots of 1947 over partition of which moved her soul and body making her challenge the great poet Waaris Shah to wake up and emerge from Kabaran ( graveyards) to witness the plight of partition. She wrote: Aj aakhan Waris Shah noon kitey kabraan vichon bol. It expresses the same agony as she cries: Tey aj kitab-i-ishq da koi agla warqa phol/ Ik roi si dhi Punjab di toon lakh lakh marey vain/ Ajj lakhan dhian rondian tenu Waris Shah noon kehn/ Utth dardmandan deya dardia, utth tak apna Punjab/ Ajj beley laashan vichhian, tey lahu di bhari ChenabAmrita Pritam proved that all false values of age old customs are exhausted and must be discarded. Kicking away all the bondages and breaking away the shackles of male-dominated world she raised her own universe\n and wove her own dream world. It was her wonderland, full of each bliss – the Nature, the woods in which dwelled innocent characters like Angoorie (wild herb) and the untamed fragrance. She was able to shape up any emotion or character the way she liked it. She gave a new meaning to the human feelings imbibing love, hatred, adoration, contempt, agony, anguish, fraternity etc. So much so that a complete glossary can be formed of her expressions and terms, while going through her literary creations.She is an immortal as her name Amrit conveys. She has left this world, so to say, but she has created a permanent niche for herself in the literary world owing to her superb literary creations. She only joined her other contemporaries like Shiv Kumar Batalavi and Dr Atam Hamrahi, beyond this world. The PCSCI prays for her eternal rest!