Itna lamba kash lo yaaro
Dum nikal jaaye
Zindagi sulagaao yaaro
Gham nikal jaaye

- Gulzar

Someone who asks you to take such a deep breath of life
And burn your sorrows with your inner fire
Must definitely know what he’s talking about…

Happy birthday Gulzar sa’ab

I’m walking down memory lane, an inspired soul,
like many others, whose lives have been touched

The year was 1999. I was all of 12.

I had no understanding or interest in the world of politics,

Current affairs and general knowledge subjects
(In school and otherwise), were merely that

In the language of my life, they were Greek and Latin.

It was perhaps the poetry of song and lyrics,
That made my world go by.

Like the pitter patter of raindrops today
And a whiff of birthday celebration in the air

There was a buzz in my immediate environment
Of this film, Hu Tu Tu.

It was during those mid-school breaks
Spent on sets in small locales
That I learnt the early dynamics of filmmaking

On one hand, short stories of English,
Whispered in my ears tale of their land.
While in the interiors of my own homeland,
I was learning the poetry of life.

The English Graduate

It is extremely fitting then, in the year 2010
Just a decade from when I was 12…

I’m pursuing my higher studies in the literature of English,
Strolling through University lawns,
Filling up forms amidst the buzz of absorbing students
Putting pen to paper, writing my stream of consciousness…

Gulzar

Like the other happy co-incidences
Perhaps already beautifully planned for my life

It is this great writer’s birthday
When I make it to the University

Beginning my preparation in the classics,
Reading from the renaissance to modern eras

Love, Dhruvi