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Amrita Pritam is no more 5/6
Several of her stories were turned into Bollywood films; a recent Indian movie, Pinjar (skeleton), was based on her novel bearing the same name (Pinjar was translated into French and also received the La Route des Indes Literary Prize in 2004).The film was well-acclaimed and won several awards, while its central, human message remains valid as the plot revolves around the kidnapped girls of rival communities. Paro and Lajjo are characters symbolising thousands of Muslim, Hindu and Sikh women who faced abduction and rejection by families since they stood defiled. In fact Amrita’s characters encapsulate the politics of female sexuality and question gendered identities in an immediate political context. Remarkably, the narrative never gets ideological and reinforces the commonality of human experience.
 Written against the backdrop of common suffering, A Needle of Light echoes:
Our destiny has been tattered
There are torn patches in sight
My country now requires
A needle of the Light.
I was repairing my phulkari
With a needle to thread
But the earth shook
With a great fright
And broke my needle
The needle of the light.