Google Doodle Honours Writer Amrita Pritam's 100th Birthday

Google has honoured Amrita Pritam's 100th birthday with a doodle today. Considered one of history's most prominent woman Punjabi writers, Amrita Pritam was born in British India's Gujranwala 100 years ago today. The Google Doodle dedicated to Amrita Pritam is a reference to her autobiography Kala Gulab, which revealed many details of her personal life that acted as catalyst to help women speak more openly about their experiences with love and marriage.

A writer who "dared to live the life she imagines", Amrita Pritam published her first collection of verse when she was only 16. She is widely remembered for her poem "Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu," based on the Partition of 1947, which translates as "I Call upon Waris Shah Today," - a reference to the 18th-century Sufi poet Waris Shah.

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

Amrita Pritam lived in Pakistan after the partition. Though she was known for her mastery of the Punjabi language, Amrita Pritam also wrote many works in Hindi and Urdu. She also worked for All-India Radio and edited the literary journal Nagmani.

In 1986, Amrita Pritam was nominated to Rajya Sabha.

In her career expanding six decades, Amrita Pritam received many awards including the Bharatiya Jnanpith literary award in 1981. She was also awarded the Padma Vibushan in 2005.

In 2005 itself, a French translation of her novel, The Skeleton, was awarded the La Route des Indes Literary Prize.