“Translating poetry is like pouring perfume from one bottle to the other, and spilling some in the process.”
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Gulzar in the audience at Jaipur Literature Festival 2023. The festival is being held from February 1-4 2024 at Clarks Amer
Madaari mujhe khuda laga jab chota tha main,
Gulzar
khuda mujhe ab madaari lagta hai
A whole lot of book lovers, sifting through various sessions, moving from the Mughal Tent to Charbagh, at 3 pm on a Friday noon left everything to gather at the Front Lawns to listen to Gulzar Sahab’s soul-stirring nazms.
Some were sitting on the ground, two sharing a single chair, others just standing and listening in awe, but everyone was just waiting for Gulzar Sahab to come on stage and mesmesrise them. And, he did, exactly that. And, more.
When asked about how he perceived shayari throughout his life, he said, “Shayari is not something to be kept in textbooks. It should be able to roam from soul to soul. The way you breathe, the poem breathes.”
“Course ki kitabein achi nahi lagti kyuki unmenin koi dard kahan! Dard ke bina bhi kya likhna…jaise aankhein mang ke rona, lakdi ki tang laga kar daudna”
Gulzar
Gulzar’s take on languages across the countries was one of a kind when he said – “Koi Zabaan, choti ya badi nahi hai (No language or dialect is bigger or smaller than another).”
No matter the religious languages or national languages, they are a way to communicate. And, for Gulzar Sahab all the languages he knows – Urdu, Marathi, Punjabi, English, Gujarati, and Hindi – are ways to weave soul into words, and words into poetry.
“For me, no matter the language, poetry must be written in a way that it holds relevance for all kinds of generations, one way or the other,” the 88-year-old poet said.
Earlier, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar, enthralled the audience with the banter of all banters. The two were discussing the ghazals and nazms penned by their respective fathers, Kaifi Azmi and Jan Nisar Akhtar. For Javed Akhtar, poetry is a means of revolution, something to be used for socially reforming society. Shabana on the other hand, says that her husband writes vividly about love and romance, but fails miserably to express the same to her in person. To which, Javed says, “Kabhi circus ke ringmaster ko ghar pe kartab karte thodi dekha hai? (Have you ever seen the ringmaster of a circus repeat the daring stunts at home?)”
He later said, “Translating poetry is like pouring perfume from one bottle to the other, and spilling some in the process.” When talking about her father-in-law, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Shabana said that his writings are pretty masculine in nature. “He would talk about how he missed his beloved, with striking imagery and drawing marvellous parallels, but would never make a move in his poetry. He would let her go in the end. That is heartbreakingly beautiful!”
Translating poetry is like pouring perfume from one bottle to the other, and spilling some in the process.
Javed Akhtar
On the contrary, talking about Kaifi Azmi, Javed Akhtar says that he writes vividly about his beloved, opening all the gates, talking about the dupatta between her lips, her sparkling eyes, and whatnot. “He was seductive and drowning with his writings and in the end, you would have no option, but to surrender.”
When people say poetry can be intended and written carefully, Javed ardently begs to differ. “Poetry is good poetry only when you lose yourself in it. Let it take you wherever. It can never be intended.”
