Hyderabad, Jan. 22 -- The entire face of Indian poetry and literature cannot be judged or drawn with just one language, said eminent poet and lyricist Gulzar on Friday. Gulzar was speaking at the first session of the eleventh edition of Hyderabad Literature Fest.

"If you don't listen and understand literature in different Indian languages, you cannot draw the face of Indian literature," he said. Gulzar's session at the festival's 'Kavya Dhaara' was about his recent publication "A Poem a Day: 365 Contemporary Poems 34 Languages 279 Poets".

Gulzar's book, as the title indicates, involved translating works of 279 poets in 34 different languages into Hindustani. Saying that it took him eight years to compile it, he said that he tried to kee...