The writer-lyricist is known to enjoy a game of tennis in the morning while ideas strike the music composer-singer best in the early part of the day. The duo also often exhanges ideas over the phone.

Shankar stays in Vashi in Navi Mumbai and getting to the city takes him a good amount of time. He gets a call from the veteran lyricist usually when he is crossing the Vashi bridge, which is always a traffic bottleneck.

Gulzar and Shankar have their brainstorming sessions over the phone while Shankar's chauffeur maneouvres the traffic snarls. By the time the composer reaches Mumbai, there is already a tune in his head ready to be hummed to Gulzar.