साहित्य Literary Figures ਸਾਹਿਤ

साहित्य 

कुछ कलमें  --- पालतू तोते 

जो ग़म-ए-जान और ग़म-ए-दुनिया कंठ करते हैं 

ठंडे और गर्म सांस भरते हैं 

और फिर पिंजरे की सीख से चोंच मारते है 

कि अब शौहरत की चूरी ज़रूर मिलनी चाहीए 

Literary Figures

A few pens - tamed parrots

          wax eloquent 

          on the human condition

          they sigh and fret

          in consideration

And then tap their beaks 

          on the cages

          for now 

          they must be fed 

          the morsels of fame 

Amrita wrote several poems piercing the hypocrisy of the elite or the inanities of the political class. Though Amrita had deep reverence for the written word, she seldom criticized other’s written work. This is the only poem on literature in this collection.  In this poem, she takes a shot at the literary figures who kowtow to the establishment for the sake of fame. In her career, she was often the target of criticism from the literary establishment for being a beautiful woman who challenged their conventions, outshone their craft and socialized as an equal among them - smoking and drinking openly at a time when such practices were taboo for women. It was clearly a case of envy. 

Amrita clearly had political affiliations: she was a member of Progressive Writers group, wrote admiringly of Lenon, Ho Chi Min, Martin Luther King and other world leaders. Nonetheless, she never took a strong public stand on policy issues. Like her treatment of her fictional characters, even her criticisms of public figures were psychological and moral. 

Other political poems - Tamge,  Lenon, Ho Chi Min, MLK 

साहित 

कुझ कलमां  --- पालतू तोते 

जो ग़म-ए-जानां , ते ग़म-ए-दुनीआं  कंठ करदे हन 

ठंडे ते तते साह भरदे हन 

ते फेर पिंजरे दी सीख़ नाल चुंझां मारदे 

कि हुण शुहरत दी चूरी ज़रूर मिलणी चाहीदी  

ਸਾਹਿਤ 

ਕੁਝ ਕਲਮਾਂ  --- ਪਾਲਤੂ ਤੋਤੇ 

ਜੋ ਗ਼ਮ-ਏ-ਜਾਨਾਂ , ਤੇ ਗ਼ਮ-ਏ-ਦੁਨੀਆਂ  ਕੰਠ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਨ 

ਠੰਡੇ ਤੇ ਤੱਤੇ ਸਾਹ ਭਰਦੇ ਹਨ 

ਤੇ ਫੇਰ ਪਿੰਜਰੇ ਦੀ ਸੀਖ਼ ਨਾਲ ਚੁੰਝਾਂ ਮਾਰਦੇ 

ਕਿ ਹੁਣ ਸ਼ੁਹਰਤ ਦੀ ਚੂਰੀ ਜ਼ਰੂਰ ਮਿਲਣੀ ਚਾਹੀਦੀ  

Sāhita 

kujha kalamāṁ  --- pālatū tōtē 

jō ġama-ē-jānāṁ, tē ġama-ē-dunī'āṁ  kaṭha karadē hana 

ṭhaḍē tē tatē sāha bharadē hana 

tē phēra pijarē dī sīḵẖa nāla cujhāṁ māradē 

ki huṇa śuharata dī cūrī zarūra milaṇī cāhīdī