The Indian novelist, poet, and essayist Amrita Pritam Singh (31 August 1919 - 31 October 2005) and poet-lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi (born Abdul Hayee; 8 March 1921 - 25 October 1980) first met at a mushaira — a social gathering where Urdu poetry is performed — in Preet Nagar, a small village between Lahore in present-day Pakistan and Amritsar in present-day India. “I do not know whether it was the magic of his words or his silent gaze, but I was captivated by him,” Amrita Pritam would later write about their first meeting.

Over the next several meetings at many such social gatherings, a strange and unusual relationship blossomed between the two. They rarely spoke to each other — often letting their silence speak for themselves. "There were two obstacles between us," Amrita Pritam wrote about their relationship. "One of silence, which remained forever. And the other was language. I wrote poetry in Punjabi, Sahir in Urdu."

Of course, there was another obstacle — Amrita Pritam was married at the time. Her marriage to Pritam Singh had been arranged when she was 16, and she had two children with him: a daughter and a son. But this was never an equal marriage, and she found solace in Sahir Ludhianvi's silent companionship. She called him "mera shayr" (my poet), "mera mehboob", (my darling), and "mera khuda", (my god). In her autobiographical work Raseedi Ticket (Revenue Stamp), she wrote:

"When Sahir would come to meet me in Lahore, it was as if an extension of my silence had occupied the adjacent chair and then gone away (...) He would quietly smoke his cigarettes, putting out each after having finished only half of it. He would then light a new cigarette. After he would leave, the room would be full of his unfinished cigarettes (...) I would keep these remaining cigarettes carefully in the cupboard after he left. I would only light them while sitting alone by myself. When I would hold one of these cigarettes between my fingers, I would feel as if I was touching his hands (...) This is how I took to smoking. Smoking gave me the feeling that he was close to me. He appeared, each time, like a genie in the smoke emanating from the cigarette."

Sahir Ludhianvi, too, felt the same way about Amrita Pritam. He'd later tell her that he'd often visit her neighbourhood when they both lived in Lahore and linger for hours with a paan, cigarette, or a bottle of soda at a street corner, intently watching the window of her house which opened to the street. An infamous bachelor throughout his life, he once said to his mother after seeing Amrita Pritam during a visit to Delhi, "That's Amrita Pritam, you know? She could have been your daughter-in-law."

But while Amrita Pritam was open and unabashed about her love for Sahir Ludhianvi, he was far more reserved, almost taciturn about his feelings for her in public. Although they often exchanged intense love letters, their meetings were rare and often wordless. Perhaps it was because she was married, or perhaps it was because of his inability to commit to a person and his deeply-held belief that great love is meant to remain unrequited, but he rarely wrote about her as openly as she wrote about him in her poems, short stories, and autobiography.

The Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 further complicated Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi's relationship. While Ludhianvi settled in Mumbai (then Bombay) and found work as a lyricist in the growing Hindi film industry, Amrita Pritam moved to New Delhi with her family and focused on her literary pursuits. Her 1947 poem 'Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu' (Today I say unto Waris Shah) about the horrors of partition made her a household name in New Delhi and Punjab.

During this time, Amrita Pritam produced a prolific body of work across poetry, fiction, and non-fiction featuring characters inspired by him. His character featured prominently in the collection of poems ‘Ik si Anita’ (A Girl Named Anita), the novel ‘Dilli Diyaa Galiyaan’ (The Bylanes of Delhi) and the collection of short stories ‘Aakhri Khat’ (Final Letter). Her poem ‘Sunehade’ (Messages), which won her the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1956, was also written for Ludhianvi. She was willing to leave her marriage for a life with Ludhianvi but he could never commit to her.

The distance between New Delhi and Mumbai, and Ludhianvi's aloofness doomed their relationship. In 1958, Amrita Pritam met painter Inderjeet 'Imroz' Singh while working at the All India Radio, and soon the two became friends and lovers. From the 60s onwards till her death in 2005, Amrita and Imroz would live together and work together — Imroz would illustrate and design the covers of Amrita Pritam's books, and treat her children like his own. In 2005, Amrita Pritam acknowledged their lifelong commitment to each other in a profound deathbed poem, 'Main Tenu Phir Milaangi', (I Will Meet You Again) dedicated to Imroz.

Imroz was always considerate of the love which remained between Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi. Theirs was a perfect troika — both men loved Amrita Pritam in their own ways, and she loved them back in hers. When a writer asked Imroz how he felt about Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi's love for each other, he said, "A person who loved Amrita is dear to me too." When he passed away in 2023, Amrita Pritam's grand-daughter Shilpi Acharya performed his last rites.

Sahir Ludhianvi remained unmarried and committed to his poetry and songwriting career in Bollywood. His poetry and lyrics continued to address themes of love and social justice until his death in 1980.

To learn more about Sahir Ludhianvi, Amrita Pritam, Imroz, and the greatest love story in the history of Indian literature, read 'Sahir Ludhianvi: The People's Poet' by Akshay Manwani and 'Amrita-Imroz: A Love Story' by Uma Trilok.

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