Passion brings Gulzar to Tagore Chair at PU

A name that everyone is familiar with on a global stage, Gulzar is known for his lyrics, poetry, and film direction. He recently agreed to accept the Tagore Chair at the Panjab University and had sent a communication to Arun Kumar Grover, PU Vice-Chancellor, regarding the same. His introduction to the world of literature was through the writings of Tagore and this is why he shares a life-long bond with Tagore. Tagore has inspired his style of writing, and there are millions of fans of the same out in the world.

Talking about his recent works in connection to Tagore, he had translated two of much loved poetry of Tagore into English, namely, ‘Nindiya Chor’ which has been titled as Crescent Moon and ‘Baghban’, which has been titled as The Gardener. This is his work out of passion, and these are his most recent offerings, which are being released in 2016.

Gulzar had recommended to the PU-Vice Chancellor that these two books of Tagore must be translated in other languages as well and to take this forward, he has instructed the university to prepare for the same. He said the university will be publishing these books at the PU press and a few faculty members have willingly joined in to work towards this initiative.

Since the time when this chair was incepted at the University, there have been only two eminent personalities who have graced it and have guided this department. Initially it was Mulk Raj Anand, a very well known name in the writing and critic industry, who served from the year 1962 to 1965. Next to him, the eminent scholar, Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, who was appointed as the Tagore Professor and was in charge of the same till the year 1967, graced this chair. Since then it has been lying vacant and now it is Gulzar who is taking up this position in the university.

As part of the responsibilities of this chair, Gulzar will be delivering a series of lectures in the university and will be having interactions with the university as well as the faculty on regular intervals, guiding them through and apprising them with his profound experiences. On a similar level, recently Dr Manmohan Singh had accepted the Jawaharlal Nehru Chair at the Panjab University.