World Poetry Day celebrated on March 21 every year is dedicated to one of the oldest forms of human expression. Speaking to us on the occasion, celebrated poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter,and film director, Gulzar says poetry will always be relevant. He says, “Poetry in India has always been bound with culture and represented the social values and difficulties of that period. Be it Rabindranath Tagore, Amrita Pritam, Faiz saab (Faiz Ahmad Faiz), they wrote poems about war, partition, separation from loved ones, themes that are still relevant to the contemporary world.” He quotes Amrita Pritam’s famous poem Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah a heartrending poem written during the riot-torn days that followed the partition of the country, and says, ” Ajj Aakhan Waris Shah Nuu, Kiton Qabraan Wichon Bol,Tey Ajj Kitaab-e-Ishq Daa, Koi Agla Warka Phol. (To Waris Shah I turn today! Speak up from the graves midst which you lie! In our book of love, turn the next leaf. When one daughter of Punjab did cry.)” He goes on to say, poems that he read in school like The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Tennyson, are still works he refers to, adding that poetry doesn’t know any borders.
Gulzar (91) who has translated 365 poems, one for every day of the year, written by 279 poets in 34 languages, the works of poets from the north, south, west and east of India, as well as the northeast, and neighbouring countries, says nothing brings him more joy than interacting with children. He says, “Recently when I was interacting with students, a question came up, someone asked me how is poetry relevant, other than in textbooks. In the times of modern technology and AI, it is poetry that can make children fall in love with nature and teach them about relevant issues like protecting the environment, that is a cause of concern in modern times. I wish for children to be exposed to poems that they can relate to and I’m working on a book that will be called Aab- O- Hawa (climate.)”
