Dear Amrita,
I am writing this letter to you, not being a daughter of independent India but being a girl who lives in a country that claims to be free of any colonizer, in a country that claims to be developing yet I feel like a girl who is caged in all societal expectation of this SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC.
It's been roughly two years since I came across your name. I was told that you are a brave woman who taught this impassive world about platonic love's literal meaning. But I never believed them because I always thought that love is a worldly feeling. I always regarded love as an emotion that happens here on earth between two souls who would end up feeling as if they no longer belong here but to a divine world.
Amrita, I have often been told by others how to live life to the fullest. Isn't this so ironic, these people haven't lived their own life, but yet they want to comment on others? But it's you who unknowingly taught me that living to their unrealistic image of 'a Happy life' won't give me happiness; you are right; it's not a drive that one can be persuaded to join.
I am so inspired that you were never ashamed or distressed about your love towards Sahir. You have taught me how to embrace one's love, be it one-sided or not. I wonder why people don't understand that it's not the physical touch which is required to fill the void in any relationship. One of your poems, "Cigarette" made me realize the level of your devotion to your love. I pity people who named your passion – "obsessive love," to be honest, it's you who taught me how to fall in love, how I could love a person without the physical presence of my lover.
Your poems, novels, and other written works are the best examples of revolutionary writing I have ever read; you have been such a fearless feminist and a progressive writer. Thank you for the perspective that you have shown me for this world, I could never see it myself. Despite having such a disturbing childhood, you held on to hope. Despite being married, you were brave to love another man with all your heart and soul. Despite being betrayed, you didn't choose to settle for less for the rest of your life. You decided to live with Imroz, who fell for your soul. And in my opinion, your poem – 'Main tenu fir milangi' is a sign of promise for Imroz, the one who silently kept loving you.
Amrita, thanks for being You, instead of being the wife of Pritam or mere lover of Sahir or the mere muse of Imroz. And I am sure your mother would have been equally proud if she could have witnessed your growth as such a bold woman.
Your admirer,
Kirti
Written by Kirti Mondal
Indraprastha College for Women
University Of Delhi
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