Title: In the Company of Poet
Author: Gulzar and Nasreen Munni Kabir
Publisher: Rupa Publications India
Genre: Non-fiction, Biography
Rating: 5/5
I feel blessed sometimes that I’ve
been breathing in the era of Gulzar Saab, literally it is hard to imagine the
Indian music and poetry world without him. The way he expressed every emotion,
the charm he weaved while directing movies, the magic he sprinkled while
writing lyrics, speechless is the only word I’m left with.
I have already read “Conversation
with Waheeda rahman by Naseen Munni Kabir” and I was in awe how she indulged
with the artist while conversing them.. Sometimes It felt like we were in front
of the respective person and trying to know their lives.
“In the Company of Poet” covers the
most of the life events of Gulzar Saab in his own words. NMK doesn’t exaggerate
things. She portrayed the person as he/she are. And that’s the beauty of NMK’s
books!
This Book reveals the highs and lows
of the life of Gulzar Saab, in an expressive manner. As The India-Pak Partition
time, when his family had left the Dina(Pakistan) and come to Delhi. How he
suffered in initial days... How he fell in love with books, how he started
working with Bimal Da, How he got his first song as lyricist and so on… The
success story, the relation between many characters related to Classical Indian
Cinema.
Believe me! It was fascinating to
read about such people whom you have adored that much. The little things she pointed out in her book
making the book Remarkable. The way Gulzar Saab answered each and every
question amicably …I couldn’t help it but fell in love with his basic nature.
The humbleness!
The poetry love of Meena kumari, The
Kind nature of Bimal Da, The discipline of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, his tennis friends
and of course he talked about his poetry…!
The parts I loved most:
What's his father thought - He
was sure that things just happened in one’s life and there was no grand plan or
element of choice.
His career and Work - Despite his
long and prolific career, a career that continues to win him countless awards
and widespread recognition, he wears his success lightly. He has his finger on
the pulse and feet firmly on the ground. He is a man who remains intensely
curious about the world around him and so has a great capacity for reinvention.
Gulzar Saab’s work shows the embracing of change, and a constant search for new
idioms and ideas. That is probably the reason why, for over five decades, his
poetry, songs and films have appealed to people across generations.
His love for poetry - A sunset in a poem has
always been more real to me than a sunset in a film. Personally, I like direct
communication and thus writing poetry is still my preferred choice.
When Nasreen Ji asked him about Shair!
NMK: I was interested to discover the
Persian word ‘shair’ comes from ‘shou-our’ which means wisdom.
G: ‘Shou-our’ in Urdu is also used
for consciousness.
When Nasreen Ji asked him about
writing.
I don’t think you can pinpoint the
moment when you turn into a writer. Writing is a process and you do not know
where it starts or ends. You write something, put it aside, come back to it, go
away from it, and finally the writing gains some maturity.
While taking about his father - The
human tragedy unfolding around him was a far greater shock—a greater blow to
him than the loss of material possessions.
He shared Tagore’s poem with his
translation -
G: ‘Your questioning eyes’ from the
collection The Gardener. This is Tagore’s English version:
Your questioning eyes are sad
They seek to know my meaning
As the moon would fathom the sea…
My hindustani translation:
Samajh paati nahin ho tum mujhe,
hai naTa’ajjub se bhari aankhein
tumhari poochhti hain
Ki jaise chaand ek-tak dekhta hai
ta’ajjub se samandar ko
While conversing about Ghalib’s Work
-
I also wrote a poem inspired by a
line of Mus’hafi—‘Tere kooche is baahaane humein din se raat karna, kabhi is se
baat karna, kabhi us se baat karna.’
He shared moments of Kishore Da –
Ashaji always said it was difficult
singing a duet with him because he would make her laugh in the middle of the
recording. at that time songs were recorded with a full orchestra and as soon
as the interlude music would start, Kishoreda would walk over to the musicians
and tease the violinist or drummer while they were trying to play. But he would
come back to the mike precisely when he knew he had to catch the beat. He was
fantastic.
I wish I could share more dimensions
of his life here. Book is such a beauty. Must Savour!
About The Author:
Nasreen Munni Kabir is a reputed
documentary film-maker and film writer. Based in London, she has made several
programmes on Hindi cinema for Channel 4 TV, UK, including the forty-six part
series Movie Mahal and The Inner/Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan.
Her several books are, among others, Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema, Talking
Films and Talking Songs with Javed Akhtar, A.R. Rahman: The
Spirit of Music, Lata Mangeshkar: In Her Own Voice and In
the Company of a Poet, a book of conversation with Gulzar.
Affiliate Link (Amazon) : In the Company of a Poet: Gulzar in Conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir
Affiliate Link (Amazon) : In the Company of a Poet: Gulzar in Conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir