Sahir

Description

Sahir Ludhianvi (1921-1980), a remarkable film lyricist, was also an iconic literary poet. Surinder Deol paints a sensitive portrait that reveals an artist who was aware of the depth of his poetic message as well as of his ability to present it in words that captured the reader's imagination. Sahir looked outward at the world to find beauty in nature for inspiration while at the same time raising his voice against poverty, deprivation, and the denial of social justice. The book contains free verse translation of over ninety of Sahir's literary creations, including poems, ghazals, bhajans, and a long peace poem called Parchhaaiyaan (The Shadows). The author strives to bring together four distinct elements of Sahir's work that make him one of the most loved poets of our generation: his deep-rooted love of nature, his snug romanticism, his sensitivity to human suffering, and his unceasing optimism for a better tomorrow. 

About the authors

SURINDER DEOL is a poet, novelist, and translator who served as a program manager and a senior specialist at the World Bank in Washington, DC. Before that, he held a senior managerial position at the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and later as a director of the Management Development Institute (MDI) in Gurgaon. His early areas of interest included crosscultural negotiations and leadership development, on which he published books and facilitated several international seminars and symposia. His interest in Ghalib's poetry, a passion from his early years, led him to translate 'Divan-e Ghalib' in free verse, which was published as THE TREASURE: A MODERN RENDITION OF GHALIB'S LYRICAL LOVE POETRY in 2014. A new revised and expanded edition of the book appeared in 2018. He has also authored a novel titled ENDLESS LIFE (2012) and a collection of poems A MOMENT IN THE UNIVERSE (2006). More recently, he translated Gopi Chand Narang's classic study of Ghalib's poetics into English and it has been published as GHALIB: INNOVATIVE MEANINGS AND THE INGENIOUS MIND by Oxford University Press India in 2017. He lives in Potomac, USA, with his wife Daler Aashna Deol.

Table of contents

Foreword by Gopi Chand Narang
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Bitter and Sweet
2. War and Peace
3. Melody and Meaning
4. One Above, One Below
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index
About the Author