The creative genius of Gulzar is that of a nomad in spirit. He will walk holding a poem by the hand for a distance, only to suddenly wander into the writing of a story. Imperceptibly, he will, while writing songs for films, shift to writing dialogues, and no one can discern the moment of change. He sources the screenplays for films from the field of poetry and picks stories from literature to make films.Innumerable poems, ghazals, and lyrics for film songs make up Gulzar's universe giving us glimpses of his life. Even as this expression reveals the intricate weave of the poet's inner voice, the Sufi overtones of spiritualism inherent in his poems convey to us shades of melancholy and regret. Thus, Gulzar's poetry touches upon the pain of separation in love, indifference to worldly attachments, the growing gaps in relationships and a scrutiny of the growing insensitivity to most issues that beset our times. Though this journey we get insights into some of the most personal moments in the poet's life.To try to capture the magic and enticing mesmerism, the simplicity and the mood of his spiritual quest that permeates his work is a task akin to that of a child attempting to catch a butterfly. The fragrance of his journey through life, writings and cinema, has been the reason for who knows how many sleepless nights.The result of those sleepless nights is offered here to his countless fans. Come then, let us delve into the chapters of this litterateur's life, turn some pages, listen to him speak.We can look at and examine our times in this way too, through the prism of literature and cinema.
Yatindra Mishra is a student of music and cinema, a poet and an editor. He has to his credit five collections of poetry, ‘Yada-kada’, ‘Ayodhya and other poems’, ‘Dyodi par Alaap’, ‘Vibhas’ and ‘Bina Kaling Vijay Ke’. Of his other books, ‘Girija’ is about the famed Hindi singer Girija Devi, ‘Devpriya’ is based on interviews with renowned classical dancer, Sonal Mansingh, Sur ki ‘Biradari’ is on the life and music of shehnai exponent, Ustad Bismillah Khan, and he has also written ‘Lata: Sur Gaatha’ on the legendary playback singer, Lata Mangeshkar.Yatindra has also written ‘Bhairavi’, a translation into Hindi of the poems of Kannada poetess, Akka Mahadevi, ‘Vismay ka Bakhan’ on the performance arts, ‘Humsafar’ celebrating 100 years of Hindi cinema music, as well as ‘Ayodhya Parampara, Sanskriti, Virasat’, on the cultural and spiritual aspects of the holy city. As editor he has two collections of selected poems and lyrics by Gulzar titled ‘Yaar Julahe’ and ‘Meelon se Din’, a city gazette titled ‘Shaharnama : Faizabad’ and a collection of articles on Begum Akhtar titled ‘Akhtari’.Many of his books have been translated into English, ‘Ayodhya and other Poems’ has been translated into German.Ayodhya-based Yatindra has been the recipient of 'The National Film Award' for Best Book, 'The MAMI Film Book Award', 'The Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Academy Award', Raja Samman, 'The Yuva Puraskar Award' from the Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad, among others. He has been a Bharatiya Jnanpith Fellow, a research scholar with the Ministry of Culture, an adviser with Doordarshan's Prasar Bharati's culture section, and Chairman of the jury for the Best Book on Cinema for the 69th National Film Awards, a member of the jury at the 52nd International Film Festival in Goa and of the committee that decides 'The Sangeet Natak Academy Awards'.★★★Sathya SaranBest known for her long association with Femina, which she edited for 12 years, Sathya Saran is also the author of a diverse variety of books. ‘The Dark Side’ reflects her love of the short story, while the critically acclaimed biographies, Ten Years with Guru Dutt Abrar Alvi’s Journey; Sun Mere Bandhu Re The Musical World of SD Burman while Baat Niklegi toh Phir The Life Music of Jagjit Singh and Hariprasad Chaurasia Breath of Gold, bear testimony to her love of cinema and music.Sathya’s books include a biography of Ritu Nanda, Tea of Life on the man and Nature relationship in India’s tea gardens, an anthology on marriage titled ‘Knot for Keeps’, an analysis titled ‘Angoor Insights into the Film’. She has also written ‘How to Look Like Miss India’, on the confidence building secrets known to Miss Universe and Miss World winners from India.Venturing into translations, she has translated Caged, a book of poems by Gulzar. Her next book is on poet and lyricist, Shailendra.Currently Consulting Editor with Penguin Random House, Sathya also teaches fashion journalism at NIFT.Sathya has written at five serial titled Kashmakash on marital problems, 13 episodes of which were aired on DD, and 13 more on ‘Star TV’.Sathya wrote and was on the filming team of a documentary on the Computerisation of Land Records which was produced by the MP government and beamed on ‘DD 1’. It had Raghuvir Yadav in the lead and was shot on location in a village.Besides she is the India correspondent for Ms magazine, USA. And a columnist with The New Indian Express and Hindu Business Line.An avid trekker and traveller, Sathya lives in Mumbai with her family and dog.
