Everyone who is remotely interested in Hindi songs from any era will have their own top three or five (even more) favorite Gulzar songs. The lyricist, now in his late 90s might’ve slowed down on the lyric writing front, but he’s given an entire generation enough fodder to drink in from the pools of. In his interviews with Nasreen Munni Kabir, which span various books, Gulzar has spoken vividly about evoking of all six senses to convey the essence of love. This is a broad essentialisation on my part, but I read those books in my Chennai college library more than a decade ago. While I might not be able to quote him verbatim, I’ve carried with me through these years his description of the writing process.

It was the monsoon of 2014, I’d just moved to Chennai for college, was a hopeless romantic, and was ready to acquire the esoteric knowledge of the field of journalism. I stupidly called the city Madras, walked barefoot by the Besant Nagar beach at midnight, found amusement in roasted corncobs and chilly pepper spiced mango slices bought from saree clad vendors at odd hours.