The Hindu : New Delhi News : Govt. apathy disappoints Amrita Pritam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 03, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Govt. apathy disappoints Amrita Pritam

By Sandeep Joshi

Amrita Pritam.

NEW DELHI, JULY 2. It is a classic case of government apathy towards writers and artistes in the country. Noted litterateur Amrita Pritam might have been given this year's Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, but the ailing writer is yet to get a congratulatory letter or a phone call from the powers that be. And at her Hauz Khas residence, the 85-year-old bed-ridden author awaits the award to be sent to her by post.

It was in April 2002 that Ms. Pritam, who is also the first woman recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award and the first Punjabi woman to receive the Padma Shri, fell in her bathroom and broke her pelvis bone. Though she was operated upon and a rod was inserted for support, but the octogenarian writer failed to respond to treatment and even painful physiotherapy sessions did not help.

Since then the noted Punjabi writer has been lying on bed and her health is constantly deteriorating. She has lost weight and every fortnight she has to be taken to hospital for administering saline water.

As a result, she has stopped writing and the first casualty was the closing down of the monthly Punjabi magazine "Nagmani" which she had been editing for the past 35 years.

Recalling the past two years of her life, Imroz, a companion of the author who has been living with her for the past four decades, revealed that Ms. Pritam was a little disappointed over the manner in which the government awarded her the Padma Vibhushan, but she does not care. "She is a self-contended person who now lying happily in bed recalling the good moments of her life and discussing all sorts of topics with those around her."

The Jnanpith awardee in 1982 for her lifetime contribution to Punjabi literature and also recipients of five D Lit degrees from various institutions including Delhi, Jabalpur and Vishva Bharti University now spends time talking to her four grandchildren. Though she occasionally talks with her friends over the phone, it is the noted Hindi writer Kamleshwar who visits her regularly.

One thing that Ms. Pritam, who has to her credit 24 novels, 15 collections of short stories and 23 volumes of prose, has been awaiting for the past couple of years is the release of her collection of poetry in Punjabi titled "Mein Tumhe Phir Milungi". "The collection is in the press and will be out by this month. Though she now has no aspirations or ambitions left, she only wants this book to be published soon," said Mr. Imroz.

Recalling Ms. Pritam's contribution to the Bollywood movie "Pinjar", based on her book on Partition with the same title, he said she wrote two songs for the film and had discussions with the film crew explaining how she viewed the story. "She wanted to write all the songs for the movie and also its dialogues, but failed to do so due to her ill health. But after watching the movie she liked it very much and wished that more such meaningful movies should be made," he added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi