“She is here, she is at home, she has not gone anywhere.” (She is here only, she is home, she has not gone anywhere).” These were the forever words of Inderjeet alias Imroz, an artist and a poet who kept undivided Punjab’s beloved poetess Amrita Pritam alive even after her death. He would never speak about Amrita as someone dead but would insist she was still around.
The timeless love story of Amrita and Imroz came to an end on Friday when the latter passed away at his residence in Mumbai’s Kandivali. He was 97 and was suffering from age-related issues.
Confirming his demise, Amiya Kunwar, his close acquaintance and a poetess, said that Imroz was suffering from health issues for some days and had been hospitalised. “He was taking food through a pipe. But never for a day did he forget Amrita. He would hate it if someone would talk of her in the past tense. He would say ‘Amrita is there, here she is’. Imroz might have left the physical world today but he has only joined Amrita up in the heavens and their love story is not the one that would die with their physical passing. It would only get more beautiful for the world to remember,” said Kunwar.
Imroz and Amrita. (Express Photo)
Born on January 26, 1926, at Chak number 36 in Lyallpur of undivided Punjab, Imroz, originally named Inderjeet, was an artist. In 1966, when Amrita started publishing her magazine ‘Naagmani’, he joined her and worked as an artist/illustrator. That is when he changed his name from Inderjeet to Imroz.
Imroz began writing poems after Amrita started keeping unwell, and even after her death, he wrote several poems dedicated to her. He penned four poetry books, all having poems dedicated to Amrita. These include ‘Jashan Jaari Hai’ (for which he won an award), ‘Manchaaha Hi Rishta’ and ‘Rang Tere Mere’. In a nazm titled ‘Amrita’, Imroz wrote: “Sometimes I think of the empty body, the empty body also starts acting…(Sometimes, beautiful thoughts also take shape of beautiful bodies)”.
Sketches and poems Imroz wrote for Amrita. (Express Photo)
In literary circles, many credit Imroz for Amrita’s success as he stood behind her like a rock. Even after her demise in 2005, she never died for Imroz.
Amrita’s last poetic work ‘Main tainu pher milangi’ (I Will Meet You Again) in 2004 was for Imroz whom she met in 1957, a man who loved her the way she loved Sahir Ludhianvi. With a strong belief that she will be back, in a nazm for Imroz in 2004, she wrote, “I don't know where I will meet you, where… I don't know… where I will meet you…(I will meet you again… Where.. How?… I know not.. but I will meet you again).”
Both never married but after her 40-year-old live-in relationship with Imroz, Amrita left behind a love story to be remembered for the ages. In 2022, a film Imroz: A Walk Down the Memory Lane was released on their love story.
Imroz lived with Alka, Amrita’s daughter-in-law, the wife of the late Navraj, a son she had from her marriage with Pritam Singh when she was 16. Like a rose embedding its fragrance in a book, he would keep gazing at her sketches on his canvas at his residence.
“Though unwell, he would remember Amrita’s birthday every year. He would get congratulatory calls since morning from Amrita’s fans and well-wishers. We would get cake and flowers. He would never talk like Amrita ji was no more. His room was flooded with her photographs and sketches he made of her, and he would keep gazing at them, missing her,” Alka said.
Poster of the film which was released last year. (Express Photo)
Padma Shri Dr Surjit Patar praised Imroz for the way he continued to love Amrita without judging her and accepting her despite her love for Ludhianvi. “Imroz of the society has given a lot of praise to Matthew, the way I love Amrita without him…(Imroz wiped off many blots on the male community by the way he loved Amrita),” he said, adding, “He honoured her and her writings.”
“Live with you all the beautiful days of the night, now you are sharing my poetry with me…(Those beautiful days and nights I lived with you, are now becoming my poems)”, wrote Imroz, as the artist turned poet, smitten by Amrita, and stayed in love – beyond life and death.
