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Gulzar’s date with Delhi
Celebrating the word prowess of known poet, lyricist and dialogue writer Gulzar, two books bound by a common theme — I Swallowed the Moon: The Poetry of Gulzar by Saba Mahmood Bashir and Hindi for Heart by Gulzar with Rina Singh (Harper Collins), were launched in the city recently.
Celebrating the word prowess of known poet, lyricist and dialogue writer Gulzar, two books bound by a common theme — I Swallowed the Moon: The Poetry of Gulzar by Saba Mahmood Bashir and Hindi for Heart by Gulzar with Rina Singh (Harper Collins), were launched in the city recently.
Held at Jamia Milia Islamia, the event saw Gulzar read out some of his unheard verses. He took the audience by surprise with his witty replies when the house was thrown open for questions. “I am a greedy poet. I keep munching life all the time ... sweet, sour and bitter moments — whatever falls from the time orbiting over my head, I keep swallowing. A shiny moment that I swallowed once was the moon,” he says as he explains the title of the book.
The book is the English translation to some of Gulzar’s well known poetry and verses from Bollywood and otherwise, along with an interaction based text between the poet and the author. The event got into a light mood when a student from the audience asked him how does he write and imagine beyond and beneath, and he replied, “Kyonki mein bilkul laajawab hoon!” The launch was followed by a discussion by Pavan K Varma, author and translator, Sukrita Paul Kumar, poet and critic M Asaduddin, Head, Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia and Saba Bashir.
