New Delhi: Bollywood`s ace poet-lyricist Gulzar is now yielding his pen to sensitise society to the issues faced by it`s `disabled` members, through a series of posters captioned by him.
"From the time I made `Koshish` I have been trying to learn about the problems of people with any form of handicap," said Gulzar after inaugurating `Ek Prarthana` a week-long exhibition of posters by Arushi, a Bhopal-based NGO that began here today.
The 1972 film `Koshish` directed by Gulzar, starring Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri, portrays a deaf and mute couple who struggle to survive in a desensitised society.
The 75-year-old has captioned posters made from photographs of children engaged in various routine activities both in school and outside.
While one poster shows a visually handicapped child descending a flight of stairs, wondering why the steps are travelling up when he himself is going down, another depicts another child with a walking cane urging everyone to follow in his footsteps.
"This is an attempt to familiarise people with the faces and activities of people with disabilities. Even today whenever you meet a handicapped person you feel awkward and do not know how to behave. Some people automatically raised their pitch when talking to a blind person not realising that the person has no problem with his hearing," said Gulzar who volunteers at the organisation and propagates its activities in Mumbai.
The poet has also written one of the three chapters added to all textbooks of the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education depicting case scenarios where children are sensitised to the needs and requirements of their fellow
disabled students.
"The three pages added to the end of the textbooks include explanations to read braille and sign language. I think such efforts should be made in other states also so that children can grow up to be adults, equipped to deal with those, who are disabled," said Gulzar.
There are a total of 70 posters all captioned and signed by Gulzar, collected over a period of 10 years.
"We have approached various states and some like Chhattisgarh have showed interest in them. Also we are sending five posters with the original Urdu citations by Gulzar to Pakistan and Bangladesh," said Anil Mudgal, founder member of Arushi.
Gulzar has been working with the organisation for the past three decades and helped build a wheel chair track along Chowpati beach in Mumbai.
PTI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.