For seven decades, Gulzar-one of India's most beloved and respected literary and cinematic personalities-has made Mumbai (once called Bombay) his home.
Over the years, Gulzar has written at length on the city, in the form of both poems and short prose pieces. These writings reflect not only his inimitable thoughts on the city, but also many facets of the ever-changing and evolving metropolis, as a Mumbaikar sees it.
Aamchi Mumbai brings together twenty-five unforgettable short stories, all set in Mumbai, and thirty-six poems, arising from Gulzar's experience of living in the great city. These poems and stories were handpicked and given their current arrangement for this collection by Gulzar himself; they appear together for the very first time.
Each story and poem has been newly translated by the renowned author and translator Rakhshanda Jalil. The original poems and stories appear in Devanagari script, alongside the English translations, in this bilingual volume.
A handsomely produced, giftable collection of poetry and prose, Aamchi Mumbai is a tribute to the great city of Mumbai from one of its best-known residents. It belongs on the shelf of every fan of Gulzar's and every lover of Mumbai.
About the Author
Gulzar (b. 1934) is one of India's leading poets; he has published several volumes of poetry and fiction (many of which are available in translation) and is also regarded as one of the country's finest writers for children. A greatly respected scriptwriter and film director, he has been one of the most popular lyricists in mainstream Hindi cinema, gaining international fame when he won an Oscar and a Grammy for the song 'Jai ho'. Gulzar received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002, the Padma Bhushan in 2004, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2014. In 2024 he was bestowed with the Jnanpith, India's highest literary honour. He is the only person ever to have received both the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Jnanpith Award.
He lives and works in Mumbai.
Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is a multi-award-winning translator, writer and literary historian. She has published over twenty-five books, among which are translations of Gulzar's Footprints on Zero Line: Writings on the Partition (HarperCollins, 2017) and his collected poems, Baal-o-Par (HarperCollins, 2024), as well as The Temple and the Mosque: The Best of Premchand (HarperCollins, 2011), The Sea Lies Ahead, a translation of Intizar Husain's seminal novel (HarperCollins, 2015) and a collection of essays, But You Don't Look Like a Muslim (HarperCollins, 2019). She runs an organization called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularization of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture.
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