THIS ABOVE ALL
The lady-killer poet
Khushwant Singh

I refrained from writing about Gulzar as I know next to nothing about cinema, and he is essentially a producer of films and composer of film lyrics. At his invitation I did see his film Maachis based on the 1984 anti-Sikh violence focussing on the nefarious role played by Congress leader HKL Bhagat. I was impressed by his superb craftsmanship and the lyrics he inserted in the film.

I knew no more about him till I received an illustrated and detailed biography from Dr Zafar Hassan, a Pakistani businessman, based in Lahore and Karachi. The Art and Achievement of Gulzar (Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore) gives a detailed account of Gulzar’s life from his childhood to his triumphant rise in Bollywood with pictures of the broken-down haveli in which he was born, Meena Kumari, who was his lady friend for some years, his wife Rakhee and his daughter Meghna.

Gulzar’s original name was Sampooran Singh Kalra. He was born in Dina village (Jhelum district in today’s Pakistan). He was the son of Makhan Singh through his second wife, who died soon after giving birth to him. Sampooran spent his childhood with his step-brothers and sisters from his father’s other two wives. The family members were initially doodhwalas, selling milk door to door.

Gulzar’s original name was Sampooran Singh Kalra. He worked in a garage in Bombay, patronised by film director Bimal Roy, who was then engaged in making Bandini. He asked Sampooran to compose lyrics. His first foray began with "Mora gora ang lai le". It became an instant hit. Some of the most beautiful women of the time fell for him. The best known are Meena Kumari and Rakhee

Then they took to buying and selling cloth. They moved to Delhi. Sampooran went to Bombay to stay with his step-brother. For a while he worked in a garage, patronised by film director Bimal Roy, who was then engaged in making Bandini. He was having trouble with his music composer. He asked Sampooran Singh to compose lyrics that he needed. His first foray began with "Mora gora ang lai le". It became an instant hit. He realised he could not succeed as a poet unless he changed his name.

So Sampooran Singh became Gulzar. Looking at him in his photographs one would not think that Gulzar was also a lady killer. But some of the most beautiful women of the time fell for him. The best known was the ravishing Meena Kumari. Then came the equally beautiful Rakhee, who gave him the lovely daughter Meghna, now on the way to becoming a mother herself.

Women in Gulzar’s life complained of his being aloof and seeking solitude. All poets and writers crave for solitude and make bad companions. Zafar Hassan’s biography does not touch upon Gulzar as a poet. For that I had to turn to Sandeep Sen’s Aria (Yeti Books). One entitled sketch reads as follows:

On the plant now, flowers appear.

The other entitled Ash reads:

The death of Uma Anand (nee Chatterji) on Friday, November 13, brought back memories of my Christian friends in pre-Partition Punjab. Uma was the daughter of Professor Chatterji of Government College, Lahore. She married film producer Chetan Anand and bore him two sons. Later, she married Ebrahim Al Kazi, producer and arts collector. Her brother Tiny Chatterji rose to become Director-General, All India Radio.

Punjabi Christians were divided into three classes, which had little to do with each other. The aristocracy comprised the daughter of Dalip Singh, the last Sikh Maharaja, who converted to Christianity in his early teens. The aristocracy included descendant of Raja Harnam Singh of Kapurthala. His sons and daughters included Maharaj Singh, later Governor of Bombay, Sir Dalip Singh and Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur, disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and minister in Pandit Nehru’s Cabinet.

The second class consisted of civil servants and educationists — Mangat Rai, first Indian to become Commissioner of Income Tax, his daughter Priobala, who became the first Indian Principal of Kinnaird College, Brig Raj Mangat Rai, now settled in Canada, Nirmal Mangat Rai, ICS, who married Champa, daughter of Shoren Singha, Registrar of Panjab University, and then Nayantara Sehgal. He died a few years ago in Dehradun. There was Professor Lal of Forman’s Christian College, his son Karl of the Railways, Arthur and John, both of whom got into the ICS, and Rallia Ram, prominent figure in the Indian National Congress, whose daughter Lajwanti married Mohammed Yunus, later our Ambassador to Spain and head of the Trade Fair Authority of India set-up.

My closest friend was Wilburn and his wife Usha. Wilburn was an all-India athlete working for an American oil company. One of their daughters was jailed by Mrs Gandhi during the Emergency.

In the third category of Punjabi Christians fell village folk, largely Dalits, who converted by efforts of American, English and Indian missionaries. However, Sunder Singh, who was recognised as a saint, was a land-owning sardar who gave up his possessions to walk the Hindustan-Tibet road alone.