Gulzar awarded honorary Doctorate

Hyderabad: The University of Hyderabad (UoH) held an investiture ceremony to confer the honorary Doctorate degree on renowned poet and lyricist Gulzar. The honorary degree was conferred upon him by Prof. CH Hanumantha Rao, chancellor of UoH, in the presence of Prof. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, vice-chancellor of UoH, and other officials, faculty, students and staff at the DST Auditorium.

Prof. K Muzaffer Ali, head of department of Urdu, welcomed Gulzar by reciting few of his famous lines. He urged the university to name the grove near the Urdu Department after Gulzar.

Speaking on the occasion, Gulzar, whose official name happens to be Sampooran Singh Kalra, said that one cannot ignore the importance that books hold in one’s life. He said that though people only remember his movies and tend to ignore his books, one must read as it was an important part of learning. He added that he was upset because people still clung onto his movies, the field that he had left 20 years ago.