Selected Poems

Gulzar, one of India’s finest film-makers and lyricists and has always been a poet at heart. His oeuvre is steeped in a poetic sensibility, marked by a lyricism rare in the world of Hindi cinema. Today, Gulzar is regarded as one of India’s foremost Urdu poets, unparalleled in his exploration of human relationships and the insight and sensitivity with which he addresses the many facets of daily life. The sophistication and cadences of Gulzar’s work come alive in this bilingual edition of some of his best poetry, sensitively translated by Pavan K. Varma.

Gulzar is one of India's most respected scriptwriters and directors and has been one of the most popular lyricists in mainstream Hindi cinema for over five decades. One of country's leading poets, he has published a number of poetry anthologies and collections of short stories. He is also regarded as one of India's finest writers for children. A member of Indian Foreign Service, Pavan K. Varma has served in Moscow, in New York at the Indian Mission to the United Nations, in London, where he was director of the Nehru Centre and as India's high commissioner in Cyprus. Pavan K. Varma's books include Ghalib: The Man, The Times, The Great Indian Middle Class, Being Indian, and Becoming Indian. He has also translated Kaifi Azmi's selected poems and Atal Bihari Vajpayee's poetry (21 Poems) into English.