Google celebrates Punjabi author Amrita Pritam's 100th birth anniversary with doodle

NEW DELHI: Google's Saturday doodle is in the honour of a prominent Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam.

On her 100th birth anniversary, the doodle by artist Vrinda Zaveri shows backdrop of a typical house in Punjab where the author is writing notes and placed next to her are black roses - 'Kala Gulab' name of her autobiography. Kala Gulab disclosed many details of her personal life, allowing other women to speak more openly about their experiences of love and marriage.

On its website, Google wrote that Pritam was one of history’s foremost female Punjabi writers, who 'dared to live the life she imagines'.


The poet and author, born in Gujranwala during British India, published her first collection of verse at the age of 16.

She is also known for her other work - 'Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu' - a poem lamenting the traumatic 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. The translation of the title is 'I Call upon Varis Shah Today', referring to the 18th-century Sufi poet Waris Shah.

Widely considered the greatest 20th-century Punjabi poet, Pritam published 28 novels including the well-known Pinjar, a dramatic tale set during the time of partition which was adapted into a movie.

Known for her mastery of the Punjabi language, she wrote many works in Hindi and Urdu which were admired on both sides of the border. Pritam also worked for All-India Radio and edited the literary journal Nagmani. In 1986, she was nominated to Rajya Sabha, the Indian parliament.

Throughout a six-decade career, Pritam received many prestigious awards including the Bharatiya Jnanpith literary award in 1981 and one of India’s highest civilian awards, the Padma Vibushan, in 2005. That same year a French translation of her novel, The Skeleton, was awarded the La Route des Indes Literary Prize.

Google also shared early concept sketches for the doodle by Zaveri.