Gulzar

“If one is aware and alive, then it is one's relationships that make you live. It makes life worth living.”

“Poetry is not about personal pain or tragedy. It should resonate the society's grief.”

“People mostly associate Tagore only with Gitanjali. That is the mistake they make. Gitanjali is just one per cent of his oeuvre.”

“I had written the song 'aaza aaza Shamiyane ke tale... ' for Ghai's film 'Yuvvraj' but he felt the song did not suit his film and Rahman suggested that the track should be used in 'Slumdog' and it fitted well with the movie.”

“I firmly believe that Tagore should be taught in schools all over India.”

“It's always humbling and thrilling to be appreciated.”

“We've talked and written about the World War so much that it has almost been purged off. The bitterness is gone. The drama came to an end and it is history.”

“Gujarat has a rich culture and in my view every Indian should contribute to highlighting our heritage.”

“Nostalgia is not a place to live.”

“We have been teaching 'Paradise Lost' and 'Julius Caesar' to the students but we are not teaching them 'Kalidas' or Indian drama and epics.”

“The poetry of India can be truly known only through scanning the poetry of all languages.”

“It is good to be well connected with English language, literature and history, but the knowledge of our culture and roots is equally important.”

“All my earlier awards were for a particular film or a song. Even the Oscar or the Grammy was for a particular song, but Dadasaheb Phalke is for my entire work so it is the biggest honor for me.”

“Time will change and with it music will too. Our speed has changed, clothes have changed, food habits have changed, so why should music remain the same?”

“'Two' is not written in the usual style of a novel. It's a straightforward, linear narrative of my times, as I observed partition, and is told through multiple characters.”

“A writer can be identified just through his sigh, as a mouthful of words are flooded out in his single sigh.”

“When it comes to our 'Jai ho,' the song became a super hit because of the composition of Rahman... He made the tune.”

“I consider Rahman as a great composer. I had a lump in my throat when I heard his name being announced. I thanked God that he got an Oscar for Original Score, that was more than enough for me. I wonder what might have happened to me if I had gone there. I might have cried.”

“Another reason I did not make films is that I liked being unemployed, since that is when I read, study and write.”

“NASA is my favorite website. The universe with its abstract nature attracts me. The abstract element in my poetry comes from there.”