Amrita Pritam : The Lady who led the Revolution of Sex Politics in India!

Amrita was the first recipient of Punjab Rattan Award conferred upon her by Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh. She was the first female recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1956 for Sunehadey (poetic diminutive of the Punjabi word "ਸੁਨੇਹੇ" (Sunehe), Messages), Amrita Pritam received the Bhartiya Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary award, in 1982 for Kagaj te Canvas (Paper and Canvas).^[21] She received the Padma Shri (1969) and Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, and Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, India's highest literary award, also in 2004. She received D.Litt. honorary degrees, from many universities including, Delhi University (1973), Jabalpur University (1973) and Vishwa Bharati (1987).^[22]

She also received the international Vaptsarov Award from the Republic of Bulgaria (1979) and Degree of Officer dens, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Officier) by the French Government (1987).^[1] She was nominated as a member of Rajya Sabha 1986–92. Towards the end of her life, she was awarded by Pakistan's Punjabi Academy, to which she had remarked, Bade dino baad mere Maike ko meri Yaad aayi.. (My motherland has remembered me after a long time); and also Punjabi poets of Pakistan, sent her a chaddar, from the tombs of Waris Shah, and fellow Sufi mystic poets Bulle Shah and Sultan Bahu.^[2]

Celebrated poet and novelist Amrita Pritam is one of the most recognized Punjabi authors of the 20th century. Although she has more than 100 books to her credit, she is best known for her novel Pinjar. Amrita Pritam wrote in Punjabi and Hindi, but her works have been translated into many languages, including Danish, Japanese, French and Mandarin.

This interview was conducted in Hindi and Urdu by my grandmother’s sister, Mukti Verma, who is 85 years old today. Her writer husband and she were friends with Amrita Pritam and growing up, I often heard the names of Amrita and Imroz at their home in Delhi.\

According to a recent interview let's take some inspiration from Amrita Pritam :

 The most important thing in life is happiness. But then so much of what we go through in life depends upon our ruling planets. You know our elders chanted on a 108-bead string. If you consider the real reason they did this, you will realize it is the chanting of 12 zodiac signs and 9 planets i.e. 12x9 = 108. These 108 planets travel throughout the universe and influence our lives.

I consider astrology to be a complete science. These planets, constellations, they hold a special place in our lives. The more immersed you are in the understanding of this science, the more accurate your calculations will be. So much of what we go through is written in the stars.

 I do not decry the importance of science. I do believe that scientific discoveries have done many wonderful things for us. Science has progressed, it has established its suzerainty over every aspect of our life like a sorcerer. But as long as science is estranged from spiritual power, it cannot give happiness to human beings. It cannot function in and by itself for the overall betterment of human life.