Read with closed eyes: Gulzar on Joginder Paul's 'Nadeed'

Popular Urdu poet Joginder Paul's 'Nadeed' is a multi-layered work of literature and must be "read with closed eyes on the inside", believes eminent lyricist Gulzar.
The poet was speaking at the launch of the English translation of the book at the ongoing Jash-e-Rekhta festival here.
"I'm aware of 'Nadeed' and I'm also aware about the inherent meaning of the word blindness. I know who Joginder Paul was. You cannot understand his story by reading it only once. There is a story in every layer of the page in this book.
"His writing is multidimensional and to understand the meaning of his writings, you will have to read and visualise the story with closed eyes on the inside. And this was Joginder's masterstroke," Gulzar said.

The book translated into English as 'Blind' by Paul's daughter Sukrita Paul Kumar, deals with the concepts of "blindness, sight and insight" in the backdrop of a blind home.
Lauding the writing style of Paul, who passed away last year, he said, "Every nazm (in the book) is a page and every page is a nazm".

Terming 'Blind' as a metaphor, Sukrita said the book talks about the blindness where people with perfect eyesight choose to ignore issues that are important.
"'Blind' is a metaphor. It talks about those who have eyes are the ones who are without the sense of sight... Who are actually blind. The blind in the physical sense are the ones who are visually far more empowered," she said.

She went on to say that translating her father was "extremely challenging", particularly because of the stark cultural differences between English and Urdu.
"It was both inspiring and challenging to translate the plot because I wanted the novelette to stand on its own, retain its spontaneity. There is a huge cultural gap between Urdu and English. Since the story has innumerable, complex layers, I hope I have done justice to my father's writings," she said.
Writer Irteza Karim, who was also present at the book release, said, "'Blind' may or may not mean visually blind. But the reader will have to harbour patience to tear through various layers of the story to understand the philosophy behind it."

The event also saw the launch of the second volume of 'Ghazal Usne Chedi' by Farhat Ehsas, which contains writings ranging from Amir Khusro to contemporary poets. The first volume of the book was also launched by Gulzar at the previous edition of the festival last year.