Pratik : PRATIK South Asia Special Issue Highlight: Indian Poet Gulzar's "The Heart Seeks"

Thursday, February 9, 2023

PRATIK South Asia Special Issue Highlight: Indian Poet Gulzar's "The Heart Seeks"

GULZAR

The Heart Seeks

The heart seeks again those moments of leisure

When all day and night we just sat thinking of the beloved

– Ghalib

The heart seeks again those moments of leisure

Lying in the courtyard in the mellow winter sun

The shade of your aanchal pulled over my eyes

Face down, and sometimes on one’s side

Or, on summer nights, when the east wind blows

To lie awake for long on cold white sheets

Sprawled on the roof, gazing at the stars

On some cold snowy night perhaps

To sit again in the embrace of that mountain

And listen to the silence echoing in the valley

The heart seeks again those moments of leisure

When all day and night we just sat thinking of the beloved.

Translated from the Urdu by Pavan K. Varma

Gulzar is a celebrated Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002, the Padma Bhushan in 2004, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2014. He lives and works in Mumbai.

Pavan K. Varma is an Indian diplomat, politician, and author who served as an ambassador to Bhutan and Cyprus. He has written over a dozen bestselling, books including Krishna: The Playful Divine and a biography of the Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib.

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