22nd August 2015, Saturday
Gulzar’s 81st birthday was celebrated with understated grace along with the community, here at the Centre on 22nd August, Saturday. The evening turned out to be a nice mixture of all things that Gulzar stood by.
The evening began with Nitu, Deepesh and Meenal presenting a nicely-crafted narrative on the accomplished film maker’s life. They were three ardent Gulzar fans who had come together to portray a well-woven narrative of his life. Following this, Debabatra Sinha belted out a few of Gulzar’s soulful compositions- that touched everyone’s heart and had them humming to his tunes. Born into a family of classical singers, Mr. Sinha had begun his training in music at the age of 8. The evening concluded with a dramatic reading of Gulzar’s short story ‘Raavi Par’- a tragic tale of a family during the time of Partition. One could only guess whether it was real life happening or an idea sparkled in the master’s mind that allowed him to create such a touching story. The story was read by Nitu and Bansi Raina. Mr. Raina has been associated with theatre for the last 45 years.
It was an ode to Gulzar’s special way of touching the soul that touched everyone present for the evening. Through his simple tales of love and relationships in unique situations…this was what made him a master of his work. And still does.
