New Delhi: Legendary poet-lyricist Gulzar, who had witnessed the horrors of Partition first-hand and has often written on it, has come with a collection of prose and poetry on the subject.
Footprints on Zero Line: Writings on the Partition, however, does not stop at the events of 1947 but looks at how these continue to affect our lives to this day. Partition is a theme that Gulzar has gone back to again and again in his writings, publishers HarperCollins India said.
"It is not only a collection on a cataclysmic event in the history of our nation by one of our best contemporary
writers but also a timely reminder that those who forget the errors of the past are doomed to repeat them," a HCI statement said.
Translated by Rakhshanda Jalil, this compilation marks 70 years of India's Independence. Born in Dina (now in Pakistan), Gulzar writes in the poem 'Zero Line': "... I am back at the Zero Line/My shadow whispers from behind me,/'When you give up this body/Come back to your home/Your birthplace, your motherland'."
A stalwart of Indian literature and one of the finest poets, Gulzar has a number of poetry and short-story
collections to his credit. He has published two volumes of his translations of Rabindranath Tagore's poems - "Baaghbaan" and "Nindiya Chor".
He is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Bhushan. In 2008, he was awarded an Oscar for his song 'Jai ho' in Slumdog Millionaire. He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2014.
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