Author Padma Shri Dr Sunil Jogi is also a lyricist and social worker, rolled into one. He recently wrote a song for Bollywood movie Thackeray. Earlier, one of his poems, Mushkil hai apna mail priye, ye pyaar nahi hai khel priye, was adopted as a song in Anurag Kashyap’s film Mukkabaz. At present he is working on a book on shayari and nazms. Excerpts from an interview:
So you always wanted to be an author?
Thanks to my educationist father, love for reading and writing came naturally to me. I began with writing poems and later branched out into prose. But at my heart, I am a poet. I’ve always had a keen interest in poetry; poetry is the centre of my writing career. There are two forms of poetry that I write — one that I perform on stage which is dipped in humor that induces laughter and joy. The other that I write and turn into books.
Tell us about your books?
I have written almost 100 books of which about 30 books are a collection of my poems while 20 are for kids. The others are biographies of some famous personalities. Apart from this, I have written 15 books on management as well.
Among all of the management books, my most popular one is Management Guru: Bhagwan Sri Ram — it has been translated into 12 Indian languages. Another book that got good response is Lord Hanuman and His Art of Management. Of all my poetry books, Katra Katra Samundar Hai and Yaaron Shadi Mat Karna are much appreciated by readers.
How did you enter into writing lyrics for Hindi films?
A writer always dreams about writing for Bollywood, I feel. So was my wish.
My Bollywood entry is thanks to one of my friends, Dilip, who introduced me to music director duo Nadeem Shravan. I met Shrvan and showed him my poems which he really liked. This later led to my penning down the title song Aaya Re Thackeray for the film Thackeray. The song was sung by Nakaz Aziz.
Any anecdote about Hindi film industry you would like to share.
I had many unforgettable experiences in Mumbai. One of the best moments of my life was when I met the legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. While talking, I asked her what does she listen to during her leisure time, and she replied, “Jogiji, I listen your poetry or read your books, the ones I have in my collection”. That was the happiest moment of my life because for me it was as though Goddess Saraswati was blessing me. One day, I may write a book on my Bollywood experiences.
Other than writing…
There is an NGO, MAA Foundation that I run. I set this up in 2005 with the motive to support homeless kids. Besides orphan children, we also support talented underprivileged kids who cannot afford the expenses for studies —about 700 students are supported every year. We also organize an event Uttar Pradesh Gaurav Samman every year wherein we give awards to the young achievers in different streams.
Your NGO promotes sustainable education in rural areas. Living in Delhi, how do you manage this work?
We collaborate with local people who are looking for support to help children for their education. We also connect with principals of schools and District Education Officers for data about children. Currently, we are working in Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad and Modi Nagar.