Javed Akhtar to Publish Grandfather's Poetry

New Delhi: Noted lyricist and author Javed Akhtar is planning to publish a book on his grandfather Muztar Khairabadi's poetry. He said that while he was compiling the works of his grandfather he came to know that a popular nazm was actually written by Mr Khairabadi.

"We have been working since 10 years on this project, and during this process I discovered that the Ghazal Na Kisi ki Ankh ka Noor hu, Naa Kisi ke Dil ka Qaraar hu, that has been sung by many artists but was anonymous since decades is none other than Muztar's creation," said Mr Akhtar. (Also Read: When Javed Akhtar Wanted to Hide in a Small Town)

The lyricist was in Delhi to address a session on "In other words", a Hindi and English translation of his poetry, organised by Hindustani Awaaz.

Mr Akhtar said that contrary to the belief, today's youth has lost touch with Urdu language "Urdu isn't lost as a language. It is the script that is lost somehow. Even these days, youth speak Urdu, listen to Urdu songs and read Urdu books but either in Devnagri or Roman script," he said.

He feels this trend is not only confined to Urdu, languages like Hindi, Gujarati and Punjabi are going through the same phase.

"I appreciate this generation for taking interest in their traditional culture. I don't think we have witnessed this much demand of Urdu books a generation back even if they are reading the translated version," he said.

Mr Akhtar's new book is a rare collection of his poetry.

Unlike his romantic poems, the lyricist has used nazm to ask larger metaphorical questions about the world around him in his poems like Waqt, Kainaat, Aansoo and "Ye Khel Kya Hai.