Spring is the time for Gulzar. Last March when he came to Delhi he talked happily of stories short and soulful. In his own self-deprecating manner, he called them, aadhi, adhuri, kuchh anchhui kahaniyan . Stories they were, untouched too, but neither incomplete nor half done. As he spoke at Penguin’s Spring Fever fest then, the audiences, enjoying the caress of the late March evening smiled, laughed and clapped. It was more of the same this March as he talked of lyrics that form part of his next book to be brought out by Penguin. A few minutes into the sunset, and his words brought a radiant smile to many a face, some hummed along, some hoped for an encore. They stayed quiet in the moment. The mushaira was elsewhere in the city, here the poet was on song.
A few hours before that though, Gulzar was his own man; cool, calm, collected. Sitting across the lunch table at India International Centre, over grilled fish, he revealed a bit of himself. “I remember Partition distinctly. I am penning a novel around it now. A lot has been written about Partition but not much about the people affected by it. Where did they reach 20-30 years later. I spoke to many people, some friends who were displaced. Sukrita will do the English translation of the novel.” A novel from Gulzar, isn’t that a first? “It is, but I have tried most other genres, be it short stories or poem or lyrics. I had been planning to do it for some time.”
The novel shall be ready by the year-end. How about an autobiography? “What is there for me to say? Everything has been written about. There have been so many books.” This from a man who has moved from Azadpur Subzi Mandi to a garage on the way towards being a part of Progressive Writers’ group in Bombay and then an illustrious poet and lyricist! But won’t he like to write about his early associates like SD Burman, Shailendra, Bimal Roy and the rest? “That is something which can be done.” Can be done or will be done? Gulzar chooses to keep the cards close to his chest, choosing instead to talk of his work on Rabindranath Tagore. Many summers ago he learnt Bengali to understand Tagore and today is in a position to say that the best of Tagore can be savoured only in Bengali. “Whatever works in English have been in public domain do not do justice to his genius. Tagore in Bengali was something quite else.” It is that “something quite else” he intends to bring to life in the book likely to be out this coming August. A Rupa publication, Gulzar says this one is close to his heart.
If that be so, where would he fit in Pluto , that wonderful collection of poems that tug at your heart, leaving you both entranced and mystified. He simply calls it, “my best book published so far.” Early last year, Vani Prakashan’s Urdu original was launched at The Hindu Lit for Life. I had then left the chill of Delhi to experience the warmth of Gulzar’s words in Chennai. He talked of Pluto, once the farthest planet of them all, and how it fond a resonance with him. A perennial outsider, I soaked in every word of his. As did the audiences, most of whom could not read or write Urdu. Gulzar though transcended the limitations of language and script.
Now, the English translation of Pluto by Nirupama Dutt is out. After bringing Pluto home, Gulzar took it to Chandigarh too. From Chennai to Chandigarh with Pluto , the planet is no longer on the radar! That is an interesting journey to make. That reminds me, about a decade ago, he had said that he wanted to make up for all the time he spent in the Hindi film industry by writing more and more. Now with four books scheduled to be release this year, after a similar crop last year and the year before that, hasn’t he made with for the prolonged drought with the rich harvest? “Yes, I would think so,” he said on a note of contentment.Multiple books every passing year, many a hit song, life must be a joy for Gulzar! Many say he chooses his words with care. They are wrong. Words choose him. Then he strings them together a songs, poems, short stories, now even a novel.
