Gulzar: From garage worker to lyricist

Gulzar, one of the most prominent Indian lyricists of the sub-continent, dwelt on his spiritual connection with Rabindranath Tagore recently, when he spoke at the publishing ceremony of his two books - “Pantabhate” and “Pluto” in Kolkata. 

The celebrations were organised at Nandan, known as Kolkata's intellectual hub, in which legendary poet Shankha Ghosh, Satyajit Ray's Son Sandeep Roy, composer Shantunu Maitra, poet Shudhanshu Roy and others were present.

At the event, Gulzar said, “It was while working as a garage mechanic that I got involved in the film industry through director Bimal Roy.” It was under his guidance that the Urdu-speaking Gulzar was introduced to the Bangla language. “If I wasn't given the task to make Urdu translations of Rabindranath's poetry, perhaps I would never have become a poet myself.”

At the ceremony, Gulzar opened up on his memories of the likes of Hemanta Mukherjee, RD Burman, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Utthup and more. One moment, there was a tear at the corner of his eye, the next a playful smile at the corner of his lips. The lyricist expressed himself to everyone in his own language.

In the book “Pantabhate”, the poet wrote about his childhood, adolescence, and memories of youth. “Pluto” focuses more on his struggles, family and ancestors, carefully crafting one story after the other.