Literature lovers on Day 1 of the Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) did not want to miss a single word said by Sampooran Singh Kalra, better known by his pen name, Gulzar.
The iconic Hindi poet and lyricist attended a session on ‘Have you seen the Soul? ‘- The Craft Of Poetry along with writer-diplomat Pavan K Varma.
Before his session, Gulzar was a part of the inaugural session. “Please permit me to speak in Hindi as that is the only language I know,” Gulzar said. “The BLF should have happened much earlier. This place is the core of all South Indian languages,” he said. Interestingly, Gulzar’s relationship with Bangalore is almost 60 years old.
“In the 1950-60’s, I wrote numerous songs sitting in room number 50 of the West End Hotel. Bangalore has always given me the inspiration to write,” the 83-year-old poet said.
“We are living amid vast richness of literature in our country. In the time of corruption and violence, the only thing pure is literature,” Gulzar said.