The second and fourth covers are Amrita Pritam books; namelyĀ āAakhri Khatā andĀ āNaagmaniā. Amrita Pritam is one of the most prolific Punjabi poets till date, and a lot of her work revolves around the partition of the subcontinent (she used to live in what is now Lahore, and crossed the border during Independence), and feminism; like many authors in India in the years right after independence, she wrote in a very distinct romantic-progressivist style, and was beloved on both sides of the border.Ā
These covers had to have been done by Inderjeet Imroz; he is a painter and was her lover of 40 years. Heās also the man who Amrita ranĀ āNaagmaniā the magazine with. (The book inherits its name from it.)Ā
ThisĀ article here talks a little bit about them, with a photo of Imroz standing by some of his work. Amrita was his muse for as long as heās painted.Ā
They met through Amrita looking for someone to design her book covers. He fell in love with her almost instantly, and remembering her bookĀ āDoctor Devā, in which she described her perfect dream of a man, he once gave her call, saidĀ āI am your Doctor Dev speakingā and then hung up. He didnāt tell her until a decade later when she was complaining about prank calls that it was him.Ā
Before Amrita died, she wrote a poem calledĀ āMain Tenu Phir Milaungiā, or,Ā āI Will Meet You Againā for him. After she died, he released a book of poems himself:Ā āJashn Jaari Haiā; āThe Celebrations Continueā.Ā
In it, he writesĀ āusne jism choda, saath nahiā. She left the body, not my side.Ā
Thereās a book calledĀ āAmrita-ImrozāĀ In the Times of Love and Longingā, compiling all their letters to each other. If you can read gurmukhi or shahmukhi, I suggest checking out the original Punjabi versions. If you canāt, theyāve been translated into English if you wish to read them.Ā
Amrita Pritam was incredible, and her work is absolutely worth reading. Punjab and the subcontinent loved her for a reason. And these book covers were born out of a love thatās become legend, which is so nice to think about.Ā
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