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amrita - imroz a gospel of love


This is me and that is you and in the chasm is the dream
wrote a woman once of her relationship with the man she loved and lived with.
Some love stories reverberate like hymns in this universe. Love is a spiritual force in itself since it is a part of the inner world. In terms of events it happens between two people in a particular time and space but its fragrance spreads across time and space both.
Amrita-imroz A love Story is a contemporary love legend which Penguin India brought to the world. It is best described not as a story of a woman or a man but a biography of a love story penned by Uma Trilok who was fortunate enough to spend some precious moments with the lovers just before Amrita left her body on October 31, 2005 at the age of 86. Being a Reiki and Pranik healer, the writer formed close ties with Amrita and Imroz and what came out is a book
which is so soothing that it takes you to yourself.
Love is a word which carries a halo around itself when used as a word. Ironically in societies that worship norms, love when it actually happens violating social icons is still a four letter word.
Amrita the rebel poetess remained faithful to the woman inside throughout her life. A mother of two children this woman created a furore in the society when she decided to spend her life with her lover Imroz a painter much younger than her. The woman had married earlier but had walked out on her `unfriendly husband' without a divorce.

Cuckoo my heart sings
My tongue suffers blisters forbidden
With pain I get ensnared
They lived together for 50 years, without marrying, under the same roof but in separate rooms. They believed that in a true relationship, no law is needed. Laws are made for irresponsible people.

Today I have sold a world
And bought a world of beliefs
I committed an act of blasphemy
I wove a bolt of dreams
Tore off a yard
And sewed a blouse for my life.


Though this woman was hailed as the doyenne of Punjabi literature which was celebrated in many other countries as well she had more detractors than admirers here. Most of her works pick threads and are coloured by her own life.

That was an ache
I smoked
And flicked off
A few poems as ash.

“We never said `I love you' to each other. It wasn't needed. What is love? Love is taking care of small-small things for each other. When we decided to live with each other in the early 1950s, we didn't let anyone interfere with our decision. I told her, `You are my society. I am your society'. And why do you call it live-in? Aren't others live-in relations?" As far as Sahir is concerned, he never asked her to come to him. If he had, she would have gone. And I would have respected her decision," says Imroz, forever smiling.

I can patch a sheet if torn
But can I stitch the sky
A husband dies I remarry
A lover dies, can I live
Imroz was a shadow, a confidante, a dedicated friend, a lover and a fakir in most ways. Egoless, self-assuming, a heart full of ibadat --- a love that is any woman’s dream.
'What do you like most of Amrita?' Uma asks Imroz.'Her presence.' He replies.

When Amrita’s body was being consumed by fire one is introduced to a stoic Imroz deeply in love still but detached.
"At the end of the deserted cremation ground, a few people were standing, silently staring at the burning pyre. Away from everybody, alone, standing in a corner, I spotted Imroz. Going close to him and touching his shoulder from behind, I muttered, "Don’t be sad." Somehow I always felt that Imroz would become very sad after Amrita’s death. He turned, and looking at me, said, "Uma, why be sad? What I could not do, Nature did."
Such words of wisdom and love because Amrita,s last years were painful for her body and death came to her like a liberator.

The following is the last verse that she penned for her lover.
I will meet you yet again
How and Where?
I know notPerhaps
I will become a
figment of your imagination and
spreading myself
in a mysterious line
on your canvas
I will keep gazing at you
Perhaps I will become a ray
of sunshine to be
embraced by your colours
I will paint myself on your canvas
I know not how and where
but I will meet you for sure
Maybe I will turn into a spring
and rub the foaming
drops of water on your body
and rest my coolness on
your burning chestI know nothing else
but that this life
will walk along with me
When the body perishes
all perishes
but the threads of memory
are woven with enduring specs
I will pick these particles
weave the threads
and I will meet you yet again
(The extracts of poems by Amrita Preetam are translations of her original poems in Punjabi.The prose in italics are from the book mentioned above.)

Comments

Dawn said…
WOW...what a tribute to love!
Amazing! I havent read this one. But yes Amrita Pritam is one of the best...!
Thanks for sharing
Cheers dear
Thanks...you have inspired me to buy and read this book!
Vartika said…
"Some love stories reverberate like hymns in this universe"
:)
wow...looks like after Shantaram and Hillary's biography, I have to move on to this one...
thanks for putting up all those excerpts!
Anonymous said…
this made me cry.

xx
l.b.
Sayani said…
a real love story
And blessed are they .thank you again for this soulful post ...
some people live here to make others realize true meaning of life and its colors and i think amrita pritam one among them
hey thanks Jyotsna:) your blog is really nice.. am gonna add it to my fav blogs:)
Do drop in an email (my blog email's not same as d personal one....)
tc
K.C. said…
OK, after I melted down to the floor from that one, I got up and read it again. Melted again, and got back up. So romantic. Glad I saw it... KC
Melissa said…
Oh my word - I am so aware of a new and inspirational woman because of you. Thank you so much my dear friend. This is elevating for my soul. xo
Hi

Because you seem to read a lot, I'm tagging you about the book you are reading now....do visit

http://whynotblogitout.blogspot.com/2008/06/im-taggedand-thrilled-to-t.html

please reply in a post. I'll love your take on the tag!
Unknown said…
Jyos..Thank u for directing me to this first..This writeup itself is a big tribute to Amritha Pritham"s love, suffusing all the strings of the heart. and particulary it shows how much you love that theme LOVE Words are not sufficint to portray my true feelings for what I read here and immense thanks. It is truly a homage to her and love. cheers. kunjubi
White Rose said…
Thank you for writing this!

"'What do you like most of Amrita?' Uma asks Imroz.'Her presence.' He replies."

This just touched my soul, he loved everything, her very presence, that IS love!
Unknown said…
Hello jyotsana. Very nice job done with this blog. I am very happy to inform you that "AH Woman" has been reviewed and gets a big thumbs up, as well as being added to Blogging Women. I want to thank you for your outstanding work and wish you continued success!
It's simply great that you have written a book! You are such a talented, thoughful writer that I'm sure you'll write a lot more.

As for the tag I set you,
since I've been tagged for the first time myself, I'm giving very elementary advice: you have to write a post on your own blog where you do the job that is asked of you.
In this case, you have to take the book you are reading these days, open it to page 123, reach the fifth line, write out the 6th-7th-8th lines and your own comments on the book/author/tag/etc.
In you post, you must also mention the name of who tagged you (in this case, yours truly) and tag 5 other bloggers (write their names on your post AND visit their blogs and leave a comment regarding what you've tagged them about).
To create links, when you are writing any names, block the name, go to the hyperlink-icon (the bull's face icon) on top and add the url of that person's blog.

Hope this helps and happy tagging!
Anonymous said…
well ,i have never been intopoetry much....jus got to know through my love...i call puchu...she is a writter,singer and gret poet...the words that amrita writes are really heart touching...wish i cud have ever met her...
Dear madam,

i came first time to your blog , i liked all your postings and specially on Amrita Pritam .
very informative.

can i get a copy of the book on amrita -imroz.... pls inform me - vksappatti@gmail.com

Please visit my blog : http://poemsofvijay.blogspot.com/

Regards

Vijay
Hyderabad
India
Poonam Nigam said…
I really love the way Amrita ji pens down things...in her so original and flowing words.
Thanks for this post.
TC
manpret kapor said…
I think it is amazing how God sometimes uses the smallest things to change a persons whole day around. I bet Roger had a better day just because you stopped and took an interest in him. Thanks for sharing Christ’s love.
freshblossoms said…
Truly, Ah indeed..
Great to see that though in her life time she had to withstand so much pain for her decisions; now she is hailed for the same!! There is a price to pay for following the innate freedom of the soul, but its too little a price for the bliss it brings.
Her autobiography RASIDEE TICKET tells the beautiful saga of the two beautiful souls and makes one wonder why there has be a physical scale to calibrate something so divine and natural as LOVE?
invincible said…
Kala ko darsakon ki Jaroorat nahi hoti , Darsakon ko kala ki jaroorat hoti hai. One such book . FYI 31ST AUGUST is Amrita ji's Birthday !!
Anonymous said…
Hi,sir...its been delighted to read your love story ... the love,the kind of respect of each other....Sir by LAST couple of days back u visited to a college name P.C.M sd college for women jalandhar. Sir i get touched by ur deeply love with amrita pritam ji .... with due respect...i will say that u are the true love legends.....
with regards
TWINKLE VAID
dineshsaini said…
I could not meet you amrita ji, i am sorry for entire life for that. after reading your books i had one desire to see you. but it is later may be next birth...even today i was talking with myself and thinking about your books
shalini said…
I have read your blog story thanks for the sharing with us your blog
Harbans Singh said…
>>>unfriendly husband' without a divorce.<<< ?

Her husband was not unfriendly --read Amrita's autobiography --RASIDI TICKET>

He was suffering from Ecxema.

Despite the fact that she had given birth to NAVRAJ,that was not the son of her husbang, they stayed together for years.
I knew tem very well.
Anonymous said…
u made me cry.. literally..
incidentally d man i am in love with has the same name.. IMROZ..
and he does painting too.. so so romantic.. our relationship is not going well these days ..but we both love each other so much.. i am going to gift him this book as my token of love..
Amritaji has been my fav always.. thnx
Anonymous said…
This true incident is epitome of love & care symbol of true love after reading about amrita & Imroz I can say that I had seen love in reality I can bet till the time the world will exist no one can ever imagine to live life together as they did with so much love affection & care salute to both of you u will be remembered forever u will symbolise true love forever & ever & ever :-)

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