PLUTO

Every poem has a season If not harvested in time, it wilts. Words wither and hang from limp metaphors. Colours fade, and the poem Drifts like fallen autumn leaves. 'Pluto lost its status as a planet only recently. Seeing Pluto sad on being rejected thus, my heart sinks. It is so far away, so tiny, so all my pint-sized poems I gift to it,' says Gulzar.In this exquisite collection of short poems, Gulzar addresses his pet themes - relationships, his relationship with God, Nature, Time, the art of poetry - with characteristic wit and brevity, and the uncommon ability to find meaning in the mundane. The bleakness of these verses on man's violence against Nature, religious fundamentalism, physical illness and spiritual turbulences are leavened by an undertone of optimism. In Gulzar's work, even the darkest moments are filled with light; hope never gives way to despair.Beautifully rendered into English by Nirupama Dutt - and including, for the first time in a volume of his poetry in English, a collection of the poet's own sketches - this is a collection to savour and treasure.