Amrita Pritam

#13,
I am glad that you researched so much for this poem. She was very traumatised by the oppression in 1947 in Jhelum. Also, the words are written in a Punjabi that Sikh`s speak that is why it can be complicated for Non-Sikhs to understand some of the folk lores behind it such as charka, peeng in Sawan etc.

This was probably the best Punjabi poem ever by a woman.

She was obviously impressed by Sahir Ludhinavi, but I don`t think that there was anything more than just interest in poetry. She may have had other flings.

She is very frail these days living in Patel Nagar Area of Delhi, she can rarely recognize people. I have driven past her place few times and seen this character Imroz from distance, he is a self styled new ager, who liked to draw attention to himself by naming himself Imroz(Parsi for new year or something)???

Umair-Raja:

Your dedication & devotion is commendable. At least it brings out divergent interests and also helps bring out innate desires among readers.

But!

The tyrranical times that we live in. As if the tyranny of translation itself was not enough, now (yeah Yeah because of these english-keyboard `facilities`) it is the translation/transformation of the SCRIPT, & whatever is lost & gained there@ , and that too through the master`s domain.

(@ hUm ney iss ishque mein( angraizee kay) kyaa khoyaa hai kyaa payaa hai--Faiz)

This `facility` ( internet & fast & easy access to information) not only helps spreading knowledge & information but also spreads the flipside as well with the same `efficency`.
The irony is that human-eyes has gooten trained to accept printed and typed word as so `authentic`. Today newspapers & magazines , urdu, are compounding mistakes ( not errors)
which were called katib`s errors & were much easier to spot because of the `pictogram` phenomena. Today the printed word looks so authoritative & innocent at the same time.

Your piece gives me this food of thought. Maybe I`m just rambling. Now that KauRRa has posted the one in the `original` script [ the one it was written in by Amrita--it could have been in arabic/urdu script] , can somebody come to our rescue and clarify the following:

I picked this one because it was mentioned in an earlier post.

[ Now I am not well read in any of the laguages or literature generally discussed on Chowk. Nevertheless, I do not ming putting myself on line by doing `guesswork`, & learning from somebody in the process . So I try here below:]

gale`oN* tutt`e geet phir, takaleon^ tuttii tand,
trinjanoN tuttiaaN saheliaaN, chaRakhRre# ghuukar band

Could it not be * Throats , instead of streets.
^ This of course is the Taklaa- of the spinning wheel. --the spool snapped

# Could this be the Water-pulley on the well which went silent or it could even be the ghugoo sound of the pUN-chUkkee , waterdriven-flourmill. I say this because mention of CHarrkhaa twice sound odd to me, even in Darshan Singhs translation--which is so oft quoted .

Waiting for Umair Raja!

I think she translated her work in simple Punjabi also(especially this poem), can someone please research that?
Anyways, I am impressed with Umer knowing so much about Sikh poetry.

Re: # 13Romair,
Punjabi language is ever developing in at least Indian Punjab.After Amrita,there are scores of very good poets,novelists and story writers which are world class.Amrita nad Mohan Singh were regarded as parents of modern punjabi poetry,but punjabi poetry has marched a long way since then.Even ghazal which was thought to be possible to be written only in persian and urdu is being written very well in punjabi.Deepak Jaitoyi,Dr. Jagtar,Ulfat Bajwa,Surjeet Patar and many others are considered ``ustads`` of punjabi ghazal.On the free verse side,likes of Pash(marhoom),Lal Singh Dil,Amarjit Chandan have created mile stones.The only sinf which has almost died is Kissa Kaav and also the popular stagi kavita to a large extent.
Gurdial Singh`s novels(MaRhi da Deeva,Parsaa,Anhoye etc.)can compete with any novels in any language and have been actually translated in many languages.
Similarly in short story,Kulwant singh Virk,Santokh Singh Dhir,Prem Prakash,Mohan Bhandari,Waryam Sandhu,Prem Gorkhi are some of the names whom all punjabis should be proud of.
Official apathy has been a problem in India as well but people have fought for the language whereas in west Punjab there are very few who are speaking bout the mother tongue.There is no mass movement to force the govt. to make Punjabi the official language.Formal education in Punjabi language upto Matric level is must in Indian Punjab to enter into a govt.job.

Dehliwala,
Amrita had a florid affair with Sahir and it was mostly from her side;Sahir being more schizoid kind of person.He did not even get married.Read her autobiography(Raseedi Ticket) and Imroz is a Sikh(his original name is Inderjeet Sigh).He changed his name to incorporate Amrita`s name in part into his new name.
This poem is in simple Punjabi,what translation are you talking about?This was in our course book at Matric level in seventees.This is in fact one of her simlest poems,written in traditional style.She experimented with free verse etc. i her later age ang went on becoming more and more abstract.
Her poetry is just punjabi poetry and not sikh poetry.She has never let religeon come near her writings and as always been known as a lovable human being,though bit eccentric at times.
Echo,
You are right about ``galeon``--it means ``from throat``

LokRaj/Dullab?or another Giyani.

Please check the article and compare with the original I posted below. There seems to be a few mistakes. In the original, it states ``Galeon`` (throat), in the above it states ``Galiyon`` (streets). And there are some other simmilar `mistakes`.

Romair,

A commendable effort. I`ve seen a better translation. I will post it as soon and if I find it.

Kiya baat ey Raja Saab tohadi.

Re: # 10

I think I am going to remember this verse for the rest of my life

Kal Waris Shah nooN vandya see
Aj Shiv dee Vaari aayee ai.

Thanks for sharing it

It is difficult to pick out a clear translation for a word, unless one has the text available in Urdu or Gurmukhi script. Galee`on can mean three things, depeding on original spelling:

- It can mean streets, hence songs being sung in the street
- It can mean throat (which is actually a different word), in which case it means songs coming out of the throat
- It can also mean clay pots or piggy banks. And geet, in this case would mean small stone/pebble (as in geeti).

The first two have the same sort of meaning i.e. songs being silenced. The third would imply clay pots being broken by pebbles.........I compared notes with some other individuals in India who had translated this, and we felt streets was the most appropriate...........

Kaurasach: Do you have the Urdu text. No one (hardly any one) from Pakistan can read Gurrmukhi........

Kaurasach,
Yes there are some mistakes,but they are minor and can pass,seeing the overall effort and the spirit behind it.
to point a few,just for improvement
1. DardmandaaN da dardi is not narrator but one who feels their pain
2.bela is jungle/forest and not fields
3.trinjan is not play ground--it is a common place where girls used to spin cotton their charkhas.While spinning,they would usually singe folk songs as well,to which Amrita has referred as ``galeon tuttay geet``
4 LagaaN keelay lok-munH bus phir dung hi dung.... means the ``the venom(biting)spread like infection from person to person and within no time whole of punjab turned blue with its effect``
5. Sane sej de berian.... in this stanza, Luddan who was Heer`s naakhuda,has thrown away the boat along with the famous bed of heer which was always in that boat and the peepal tree itself breaks the swing along with its own branches.

This is in no way criticism of the good translation.

Romair I am looking for it, I don`t know where I stored it. I`ve the English translation of it as well. Till then........


CLICK HERE to read short stories by Amrita Pritam (English Translation).


Amrita and Imroz during earlier days.

lokraj,

I thought ``Bela`` was the strip of land next to the river bank. I may be mistaken. if not, what is that land called in Punjabi?

I assumbed the word `beli` (friend) came from that root. i.e. the person who you spent in Bela....simmilar to `haani` (same age group).

#10 & #23
Dost ji: Will comment on the subject later but quickly want to point out that

kall Waris Shah nu wandeya si
ajj Shiv Kumar di waari ay
pehlay zakham ki bhull gaye, (.... not sure about this line - paraphrased)
jo naweyaN di pher tiyari ay

was not by Amrita. It is by Surjit Patar. I would strongly recommend to Umair to read Surjit Patar to get more comtemporary picture of Punjabi poetry. Also he has written extensively on the subject of violence in Punjab in 80`s.

DullaBhatti

Can you translate those lines by Surjit Pattar please?

Thanks

Theo, I will post the whole Surjit Patar poem later in the evening.

I am certain that Drlokraj is correct about Galeon, the way it is written in Gurmukhi, and also as I had heard from my elders.
I think it means

Galeyon Tuttay Geet comments:
Throats are seperated from Geet, means killed or beheaded etc
Then Takla was seperated from Tunda
Place where Girlfriends spin was separted and Charkhari is silent

The reason I think that ``throats are separted is because of the words that follow it``
``Tutay and Tuttee``, indicates ``former and later`` style of writing.

My Punjabi is really rusty, but I do remember that Chand Alankars are written that way.
It is probably called ``Anupras Alankar``.

Drlokraj: How many affairs did she have then? Sahir was not a love affair but more of infatuation. I was born in very late sixties, but I do remember Amrita and Nirlep Kaur`s name being spoken of in same category.

DullaBhatti

Thanks. I dont understand Punjabi that well and am interested in learning more about its literature.