Reading Tagore beyond Gitanjali: Gulzar

“It’s a lovely city,” remarked Gulzar, on his visit to Hyderabad on Friday, as he sat down to speak about his admiration for Rabindranath Tagore. The popular poet and lyricist was in town to launch Baaghbaan and Nindiya Chor — his translations of Tagore’s poetry, which is now being published in Hindi, English and Bengali and spoke to DC about them. The Gardener was one of the first books of Tagore’s that Gulzar picked up. Gulzar loved it so much that he never returned the copy back to the library. “I have been reading his work since my childhood. Over the years his works grew on me... His feelings are human and so intimate, and that comes across in his work,” he said, adding, “People mostly associate Tagore only with Gitanjali. That is the mistake they make. Gitanjali is just one per cent of his oeuvre.”

But Gulzar denies any influence of Tagore in his life or work. “It’s a common notion that if you like Tagore, then he must have had an influence on your life. While I like Tagore’s poetry and his thoughts, he doesn’t influence my work. But we learn from masters. They are a part of your learning, but you will finally write in your own style.” Gulzar started working on the translations five years back. But it took a lot of struggle to publish the book. “I should thank the publisher, because nobody was willing to publish a book in three languages about the same poetry. Shantanu, a managing editor from Harper Collins, made it possible. He was convinced that the book could be published in Hindi, English and Bengali. That needs conviction. Some publishers backed out much earlier. Another big publisher also backed out, but Shantanu was still waiting, and he eventually managed to convince his publisher. It wasn’t easy for me too, I struggled a lot to bring this work out. Getting your work published is a major struggle.”