Gulzar – An artist and a Patriot Gulzar was born in a Sikh family, Kalra Arora, in 1934 in the Jhelum District that is now in Pakistan. He was a keen reader as a child. He was drawn to writing poetry after he read Tagore’s book “Gardner”. His family moved to Mumbai, where he came in contact with film directors Bimal Roy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. His career as a lyricist came to public attention in the film Bandini (1963) and he developed his film career as a poet and a film director. During his career, he has believed that one must write only when there is something to say with strong feelings and not just because one has facility with words and technique to put together a composition. Gulzar was invited to be a guest editor for the issue of 18 January 2015 of the Marathi newspaper Loksatta, to mark its 67th anniversary. The articles in this issue reveal his multi-faceted career as a pragmatic artist, whose love for literature has transcended well beyond the boundaries of his own language. He disapproves being locked into regional identities and welcomes the scheme for scholarships to students to go and study in other States as a means of breaking the barriers of class, religion and languages. He believes that the feeling of nationhood will be strengthened in this way. He also would like Indians to be “Complete Human Beings”, whereby the literature (magazines in particular) would cover national and international issues. Unlike many scholars of advanced age, Gulzar is not partial to old ways or the days gone by. He says that he loves young people for their openness and plain-speaking, unlike many older people who appear to be conceited, and tolerate and condone injustice and corruption. Gulzar has thought it essential to interact with Marathi people of literature. Having learnt the language well enough, he would translate into Hindi, with the help of his writer friends, works of such Marathi poets as Kusumagraj. He has travelled all over India and would like to bring the works of many poets and writers into Hindi. This would be Gulzar’s way to serve his country by promoting inter-State familiarity. (Gulzar’s interviews are available on YouTube/LoksattaLive)
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 04:59:29 +0000
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