This is my Abbu...my father. I never used to call him Abbu ... I love to call him by this name in my memories of him...always.
There's so much 'mamta' in the word ma. More than in a mother herself. Just saying the word starts off a churning in the navel. Intimate, subtle and deeply personal, Caged ... Memories Have Names is probably Gulzar Saab's first autobiography in verse. Gulzar Saab ruminates and writes in rainbow colours. From Rumi to Pablo Neruda and Jibananda Das, among others, have coloured him in myriad of hues. With this he has painted the portraits of Birju Maharaj, Mehdi Hasan, Pancham, Asha Bhosle in words. Their palpable presence, thoughts and words are etched in Gulzar Saab's existence. Then there are people, who have showered his life with love, affection with multitude of emotions: Meghna, Raakhee ji, Vishal Bhardwaj, and Javed Akhtar Saab, to name a few. And, words that remained unsaid to Abbu, search for his Ma within his own existence, they are the silken bonds of life. Gulzar Saab has 'caged' them deep inside his heart. They are for now ... and ... forever.Gulzar, one of India's leading poets, is a greatly respected scriptwriter and film director. He has been one of the most popular lyricists in mainstream Hindi cinema, gaining international fame when he won an Oscar and a Grammy for the song 'Jai ho'. Gulzar received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002, the Padma Bhushan in 2004, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2014 and the Jnanpith Award in 2024. He lives and works in Mumbai.
After 12 years as Editor of Femina which was declared a Superbrand, Sathya Saran chose to be a full-time author, part time teacher and a columnist. Her books include the acclaimed biographies, Ten Years with Guru Dutt Abrar Alvi's Journey, Baat Niklegi toh Phir: The Life and Music of Jagjit Singh, Sun Mere Bandhu Re: The Musical World of SD Burman and Hariprasad Chaurasia: Breath of Gold. She also has a book of short stories The Dark Side. Caged is her first book as a translator.