Gulzar at Premchand Rangshala in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Jai Prakash

The river

Muttering to himself the river throws along,
Some small desire still alive in his heart.
An entire life span slithering along the sand,
Now he wants to climb up and flow over the bridge.

Nature has always captivated Gulzar and the knack to transform the beauties of environment in art has allowed him to pen Green Poems.

Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Thursday released Gulzar’s Green Poems, a congregation of elements of nature in the form of small verses on the occasion of World Environment Day in Patna. The forest and environment and art, culture and youth affairs departments had organised the event.

“I am paying back to the environment through my poems. The environment has kept me alive,” said Gulzar, while reciting his verses from Green Poems — translated into English by retired diplomat Pavan Kumar Varma.

“People will have to understand that we live with the environment. If we are trying to conserve the nature, we are trying to conserve ourselves because there is no existence of life without nature. While I was launching the books by the forest and environment department, I felt like I was planting a tree,” said the maker of Ijazat (1987), who had shot a few songs in the film in the lap of nature.

On the occasion, the bard had a message for the youth: “Have a motive, make a decision. Plant a tree on your every birthday. It will make a huge difference.”

Gulzar has written about rivers, forests, mountains; snow, rain, clouds; the sky, the earth and space; a familiar tree, an unused well; Kullu, Manali, Chamba, Thimpu in the book. Like glimpses of nature, the poems are often short, an image captured in a few words. At times, the image gives rise to a striking thought.

P.K. Shahi, the forest and environment, planning and development department minister, launched two books — Birds of Bihar volume-2 and Wildlife of Bihar (a field guide), along with CDs on environmental issues in Maithali and Bhojpuri. A 24-minute documentary on Valmiki Tiger Reserve was also launched.

Are you planning to grab a copy of Green Poems? Tell us at ttbihar@abp.in