The fifteenth edition of the Mumbai LitFest kicked off at NCPA, Nariman Point on Friday. The three day literary festival has sessions with a star-studded line-up of speakers, authors and thinkers across a range of themes, including fiction, poetry, non-fiction, music, sport, history, spirituality and society.
The festival kicked off with noted poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director Gulzar, in conversation with writer-diplomat Pavan K Varma, moderator for the session Titled: For the love of the word- The Anil Dharker Session the session was an entertaining one with both writers reading poetry by Gulzar and discussing everything from issues plaguing society and sharing their thoughts through poetry to an artist’s role in society. They mainly discussed Baal-o-Par, a collector’s edition of Gulzar’s collection of poems in six volumes, from which he read his works.
Speaking about an artist’s role in society Gulzar said, “A human being is never alone, he is either surrounded by family or neighbours, he is part of a larger society. As an artist there is an even larger responsibility, no matter what fine art you are part of, you are more than just an individual. You have to involve others when putting your work out in society and do it responsibly. As a poet one has to understand not just the words but even the shadow of the words (lafz ki parchayi). Whether it is music, writing or any art form, you have to be conscious that you are more than just being an individual.”
Pavan K Varma gave the audience a glimpse of Gulzar’s sense of humour by recalling an incident where he had to translate some of Gulzar’s works but got delayed due to his role as the ambassador of Bhutan. “His way of reminding me and giving me the message it was time to finish my work, was to call and say ‘I think we should call it neglected poems,” said Varma.