His imagery was unique: Gulzar

Nonika Singh

Call it providence or the ironies of life, Gulzar, the celebrated poet/lyricist, never met Shiv Kumar Batalvi. Even though both belonged to Punjab and were contemporaries, their paths never crossed. However, when Gulzar was climbing the ladder of success in Bombay, he had heard of Birah da Sultan, as well as his poetry, through some common friends, including some in faraway London. 

Closer home, one particular name he singles out is that of Bishambar Shambi. Though many believe no one sang the inimitable Batalvi better than himself, Gulzar recalls Shambhi’s rendering of Batalvi vividly. Gulzar was taken in by Batalvi’s new vision, fresh lehja replete with hitherto untried imagery. “No one till date has come close to Batalvi’s expression,” says the poet/lyricist. 

Gulzar was well acquainted with other greats of those times, such as Amrita Pritam and Mohan Singh. He adds, “If Amrita’s poetry spoke in metaphors, if her poem on Partition gave us new symbols of the cataclysmic event, Batalvi’s symbolism, too, was singular and cut like a sharp knife. Who else but he could have penned thoughts like ‘Maaye ni maaye mein ek shikra yaar banaya’? Here was a modern poet with modern sensibilities.”

Does he, too, think Loona, which won Batalvi the Sahitya Akademi Award and which turned the legend of Puran Bhagat on its head and instead epitomised Loona’s pain, was his seminal work? Gulzar reminds us how Bhupinder and Mitali composed the haunting Loona beautifully.  “Bhupinder’s voice mirrored Batalvi’s anguish and pain as poignantly as he wrote.  Sure, Batalvi was a poet of longing and suffering. To think of him any differently is not possible; it’s just like imagining Manto without his fabled anger.” 

Gulzar would not entertain clichéd or simplistic queries like when was the first time he read Batalvi? Nevertheless, on the poetic prowess of the Sahitya Akademi award winner, he is ready to reflect more than once and hails him as a poet of many dimensions. How much more could he have achieved if he lived longer? That’s something in the realm of conjectures, but it’s a harsh reality that he burnt himself out and died young at 36.

Would the current and coming generations know him better if more of his songs, such as ‘Ek kudi’, are picturised in Bollywood? Gulzar, whose innumerable songs have been translated into timeless melodies, says, “Now we are talking of marketing, not the poet.”