आग की लकीर

by Amrita Pritam

132 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1974

About the author

Amrita Pritam (Punjabi: ਅਮ੍ਰਿਤਾ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ, امرتا پریتم ) was considered the first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist. She was the leading 20th-century poet of the Punjabi language, who is equally loved on both the sides of the India-Pakistan border. With a career spanning over six decades, she produced over 100 books, of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi folk songs and an autobiography that were translated into several Indian and foreign languages.

She is most remembered for her poignant poem, Aj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu (Today I invoke Waris Shah - "Ode to Waris Shah"), an elegy to the 18th-century Punjabi poet in which she expressed her anguish over massacres during the partition of India in 1947. As a novelist, her most noted work was Pinjar (The Skeleton) (1950), in which she created her memorable character, Puro and depicted loss of humanity and ultimate surrender to existential fate. The novel was made into an award-winning eponymous film in 2003.

When British India was partitioned into the independent states of India and Pakistan in 1947, she migrated from Lahore to India, though she remained equally popular in Pakistan throughout her life, as compared to her contemporaries like Mohan Singh and Shiv Kumar Batalvi.

Known as the most important voice for the women in Punjabi literature, in 1956, she became the first woman to win the Sahitya Akademi Award for her magnum opus, a long poem, Sunehe (Messages). She received the Bhartiya Jnanpith, one of India's highest literary awards in 1982 for Kagaz Te Canvas (The Paper and the Canvas). The Padma Shri came her way in 1969 and finally, Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award in 2004, and in the same year she was honoured with India's highest literary award, given by the Sahitya Akademi (India's Academy of Letters), the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship given to the "immortals of literature" for lifetime achievement.

Reviews

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aag Ki Lakeer by Amrita Pritam- novel- Hindi- The story is about a 22- year old girl named Nanda. She has completed her college education. She is being taken care by Laaj Bibi and Dr. Jaswant. They are her parents. She has three brothers, Ravi, Ashok & Param. Parents & Nanda resided on the ground floor while the 3 sons resided on the first floor. Nanda finds that Dr Madan had come from the back gate of the garden to meet them and he stood under the tree in the garden. Her parents had fixed her marriage with a young man J.C. Puri but his family refused marriage on the ground that she was not their real daughter of Laaj Biwi and Jaswant. After hearing this news, she feels sad because she knows that daughters are always genuine. She is sad and does not wish to wake up in the morning. Her mother arrives with tea, wakes her up. She sips tea and feels better. Ravi had completed his Medical education. He helps his father in his Medical clinic as a doctor. Jaswant asks his son Ravi to inform him about his friend from Canada so that he can propose marriage of Nanda with him. Nanda thinks that she is either daughter of a mother who has thrown her after birth as she is not born of a legitimate wedlock, or soon after her birth her parents havJ Ce expired, she is sent to an orphanage. Nanda know a bit of palmistry. She views the palm of Lajwanti and finds that she has a long life. Her palm has three lines depicting three sons but fourth line of Nanda is not visible. Ashok was admitted in Medical College while Param had completed post- graduation and was purusing research. He remained in the college library for the whole day collecting data for research papers. Param was interested in painting. On holidays, he closed his room door and spent his time in drawing and painting them. Param’s parents and brothers were not much interested in literature and drawing. Whenever Param left home, he locked his room. For cleaning his room, he gave the key of the room to Nanda. Nanda visited his room and found a painting in black colour. She is unable to find the reason for this black coloured painting. Just then, Param arrives. He calls Nanda. Nanda says she is Prometheus, titan God of fire. Prometheus has created humanity from clay. Param informs her this black painting is named God, from less darkness to more darkness. Every day after Dr Jaswant left for his clinic, Nanda used to sort his mail and attend to telephone call of his patients. Today, she found a letter from J C Puri father of L C Puri, her proposed groom. In the letter it is written that though Nanda is not Dr Jaswants’ daughter still he is prepared to donate a part of his immovable property to her as dowry in marriage, thus, he has accepted the proposal of marriage between Nanda and his son J C Puri. Nanda decides that as this is a matter of accepting dowry in marriage, she decides to disagree to this proposal. In the evening Dr Jaswant returned home. She served him a cup of tea. He went to his office room and examined the letters. He asked Nanda to send her mother. After some time, she witnessed her mother coming out. She was happy smiling and weeping. She said that to her that if there is God in the world, He must be like her father. She patted Nanda’s cheek and said that she will understand her tears when she grows up. Nanda prepared dinner for the family. Nanda’s father broached the subject of her marriage with J C Puri on the dinner table. Nanda questioned her father that he had not asked for her opinion about the groom. She added that she has completed her BA and she wishes to pursue MA studies. Her father replied that earlier when J C Puri had come to see her, she did not say no, thus he concluded that she has approved the groom. Her father got her admitted to MA class. Dr Jaswant informs Mr Puri that his daughter is continuing her education and marriage is not possible. One day at the college the peon informed her a young man wishes to meet her. She goes out of the class and finds that J C Puri wishes to talk to her. He informs Nanda that he knows that she is the daughter of a lady with whom her father Dr Jaswant and relations. As he cannot keep two wives under the same roof, he has decided to up-bring her daughter with his children. After marriage, he will take Nanda to meet her mother. Nanda must be knowing her address. Nanda replies that he must talk to her father about her marriage but at this point of time she wants to complete her education. She leaves him and sits in the bus to go to her residence. The new tension of not knowing her mother brings fever in her body. She takes a cup of tea served by Lajwanti and goes to sleep. When she wakes up in the evening, she finds that she has recovered from fever. She had a dream that a lady begging for help in the college. The lady was looking at her with love. She left her to enter the bus but then realized that might be she is her mother. She wore up from the dream. She had a cup of tea with Param. She talked to biography of Jean Genet, French thief and author. Jean’s mother had left him in an orphanage. He grew up to become a thief. He started writing in jail. Popular authors recommended that sentence of Janet terminated. Ultimately Jean left the prison and started writing. She reminds Param about life of Balzac who wanted eagerly to touch his mother’s hand. Param suggested to Nanda that she must keep away from reading such serious books and she join sports in the University. Within two days Param researched about laws relating to illegitimate children in USA, England, Norway in relation to mass death of young men in second world war. He told Nanda that once laws did not accept the transfer of property in favour of illegitimate children after death of parents but after Second World War, since so many men died that States accepted claims of illegitimate children to property. Param started a painting but it was incomplete, therefore, he requested Nanda not to view it. Dr Madan was invited to deliver a talk in Patiala Medical College. He left for Patiala next day. Dr Ravi and Sudha were close friends in Medical College. Lajwanti suggested that she was prepared to marry Ravi with a girl of Ravi’s choice. Ravi said that his sister should be married first. Ravi’s friend in Canada enquired whether his sister Nanda looked like him or not. Ravi replied to him that his sister had the looks of his father. Lajwanti called all her children to her room and informed them that during Partition of the country, many women were raped and they came to India pregnant. Dr Jaswant and Lajwanti attended to such camps and helped people in distress. Krishna was one such girl. One month after delivery of Nanda, she expired and gave her daughter to Dr Jawant and Lajwanti. After that this couple has brought her up as their daughter. Nanda remembers that when she was a child see saw one widow in white dress drown in the river. She thought she was her mother. Nanda serves coffee to all three of her brothers in their rooms. Param shows her the canvas which he had painted. The painting showed that Param’s face was in two parts. Param said that this painting depicts his mental distress in relation of Nanda. Param showed Nanda a letter from an American University which had accepted him as a Research Scholar. Parma said that he is in love with Nanda. His parents would accept their relationship and then they both can leave for further studies in USA.

[Mason MB · Rating 3 out of 5]

यह जानना कि आप यतीम हैं, स्वयं के अनुभवप्राप्त अतीत और स्वयं के प्रति वर्तमानकालिक चेतना पर किस तरह का असर डालता है? इसके साथ-साथ इस उपन्यास में पारिवारिक प्रेम और पीड़ा तथा भारत-पाकिस्तान के विभाजन की भयंकर घटनाओं के सवाल भी उठ खड़े हो जाते हैं। पढ़ते वक़्त कई पात्रों के अस्तित्व मुझे कुछ अधूरे-से लगे, विचार आया कि कथा थोड़ी बहुत और लम्बी लिखनी चाहिए थी। इसकी जानकारी अभी मेरे पास नहीं है लेकिन ऐसा भी लगता था जैसे इसकी कहानी आत्मकथात्मक हो, और शायद इसलिए ज़्यादा लिखी नहीं गई।