/> It's been over a yea. But the poet cannot get over the loss. Gulzar Saab had to bear a tragedy. The luminous lyricist suffered an irreparable personal loss.

Whispers the poet, "In July 2006 I lost my spiritual guru, my father figure, the Pakistani poet Ahmed Nadeem Azmi whom I called Baba.

Though we met just once in 2004 when I had visited Pakistan on an emergency visa only to meet my ailing Baba, we communicated constantly for seventeen years through letters and phone.

Baba was almost 90 and death is inevitable. But the death of a mentor is like the end of an era. And he was the most important poet of Pakistan. His death signifies a finality in my life."

Significantly the Mumbai blasts had happened a day after the death of Ahmed Nadeem Azmi when Indo-Pak relations are again being questioned.

Gulzar Saab sighs sadly. "What's the purpose of artistes like me and Jagjit Singh trying to build bridges when immense hurt is being tolerated if not created at a political level?

This time what has happened in Mumbai is beyond shock. People are hurt, genuinely hurt. They can't believe this could be done to innocent people who've never harmed anyone.

If you look at the statements being made by politicians this time they're no different from what was said when the blasts happened in Delhi's Pallika Bazar some time ago.

When they talk so bravely about Mumbai limping back to normalcy do they realize that the average Mumbaikar has no choice but to go back to his routines. But yes Mumbai is hurt."

Gulzar Saab has made two very significant films Hu-tu-tu and Maachis on militancy. "Yes. But Maachis was about Punjab terrorism. That was eradicated with a firm hand. But at what cost?

We lost Mrs Indira Gandhi. I don't know what the solution to Mumbai's terrorist attack is. But the entire Mumbai is swathed in hurt right now."

On a happier note Gulzar Saab's songs in Omkara were being talked-about for their rugged sensuous content. "I must admit it was a first for me. I've never done lyrics in a colloquial Uttar Pradesh language. It was a challenge.

I matched my words with the vocabulary that Vishal has used in his dialogues. If I say so myself, in Omkara I've given a totally new vocabulary to film lyrics."

Gulzar Saab and Vishal go back a long way. "In fact Vishal started his career as a music composer with me in Maachis. Now he's more famous as a filmmaker. But at heart he remains a musician."