Who doesn’t….?

As he said goodbye,
The winds gently lowered down the sails,
The ocean had just woken up,
The slumber of ages,
The night of the thousand stars,
He looked at the mirror,
Calmly reflecting his self,
It’s okay to let go,
The mirror had said,
The hands that escape your touch,
The sounds that silence your voice,
But I had loved,
He broke down in front of the mirror,
Who doesn’t….?
The mirror had said.

मेरा आसमान….

कुछ दबी दबी सी साँसों में,
खोया है मेरा आसमान,
मधम सी धूप है,
गीली है धरती भी,
इसपे ना जने किस किस के निशान,
मैं कोशिश भी करता हूँ कभी,
कभी सो जाता हूँ थक के,
क्या माँगता है,
तू ही बता दे ऐ खुदा,
धुन्दली सी हो जाती है,
नज़रें ये मेरी भी,
में पलके उठाता भी हूँ,
पर शायद सुबह नहीं हुयी अभी तक,
सो रहा कहीं अपनी ज़ुल्फ़ों को समेटे,
शायद मेरा भी आसमान,
ना जाने क्या क्या सितम झेले होंगे,
जब आया होगा घर लौट के वापिस,
माँ, बाबूजी, भाई, बहन,
क्या दिलासा देता है तेरा भी यह जहां,
पर शायद अब रात है,
या दिन भी,
अब होश धूमिल सा हो रहा,
कुछ दबी दबी सी साँसों में,
खोया है मेरा आसमान…..

Sun She Is….

As he burned in her desire,
His skin donned her smell,
His breath the rhythm of her heart,
They say love falls from the sky,
And hits the earthlings,
Usually when they are unaware,
Engrossed in the duties of time,
Does it really happen?
Had someone asked,
Maybe, Maybe not,
He had said,
My world becomes her,
The sun to my farms,
The rains to my meadows,
The winds to my wings,
The dreams to my reality,
Maybe it happens,
Who am I to say,
Maybe I am a moon to the Sun she is……

आसमान

दिखते हैं किसी को आसमान में परिंदे,
हसरतों से भरे,
उजाले से सजे,
होता है किसी का आसमान गहराइयों सा भी,
अनंत, शून्य, अनदेखा,
पर शायद होगा इन्ही आँखों का क़सूर,
समझ के जो ऐसी मुख़बरि की होगी,
तेरा, मेरा, है क्या सबका एक जैसा आसमान….?

Can we really call ourselves human?

Saw this today while scrolling through my news feed. This is one of the many news items that i have come across especially in these grave times. People harming innocent, dumb animals just for fun, just for some godforsaken video that may get them views. This is heartbreaking and depressing for some one like me who tries to appreciate the life itself. I have been an animal lover since the time I can remember. But this act, animal lover or not is a disgrace to the human kind. This elephant was fed a pineapple with firecrackers stuffed in it. She was pregnant and upon eating the fruit, her mouth and tongue were damaged to an extent that she couldn’t bear the pain and stood in the river damping her mouth in order to ease the pain. She died without harming a single human being, without breaking a single home.

How can we justify taking life of anybody when we cannot give a life. How is that amusement for some people is harming others. Is this what humanity come to.

If this is the case, maybe Corona is the antidote. Maybe this is what animals would feel like for humans. A deadly, insensitive, sinister virus that takes lives because it cannot do anything else.

I have tears in my eyes as I write this. This is unacceptable. If there was God, this is ungodly. Maybe there isn’t heaven or hell. Maybe we don’t need heaven or hell. Atleast the humans, they don’t because they have the weapon that can lay wrath to anything but themselves or maybe sometimes their own. Maybe the human cannot be trusted with this power, this preposterous, illegitimate filth that we humans boast of. Every life is precious, animals or humans, blacks or whites, hindu or muslims, Dalits or brahmans.

Hope someday we could all learn.

Rest in Peace you Majestic Animal. We didn’t deserve you.

नूर….

बारिश में भी आज कुछ नमी सी है,

ऐ दिल तुझमें कुछ आज कमी सी है,

रुक सी गयी है क्यूँ ये हवाएँ,

बेजान सी जाने क्यूँ लग रहीं हर दिशाएँ,

ना जाने क्यूँ आज छुप गया है सूरज भी बादलों में,

क्यूँ शर्मा के इसने मोड़ ली निगाहें,

सागर भी ले रहा है आज अंगड़ाइयां,

लहरे इसकी कर रही गुस्ताखियाँ,

फिर देखता हूँ जब वो नूर तेरा,

शब्द ढूँढता है यह ज़मीर मेरा,

बेज़ुबान हो जाती यह हस्ती मेरी,

और खिल जाता यह जहाँ तेरा,

हर ज़र्रा तब पुकारता है मज़हब तेरा,

अल्लाह हू,

हू अल्लाह…..

Far away

And as the city diminished,

Engine slowly revving,

Just the sound of wind through our ears,

And a song on our lips,

We remembered how it felt,

How everything should be felt,

Synchronous, easy, natural…..

The Shine in His Eyes

The winds had murmured in his ears one day,

She’s the one grab her today,

The shy him quickly grew a pair of socks,

And ventured to the unknown lands,

The lands he had always avoided,

The lands he had always feared,

She came like the morning sunshine,

The lands glistened with her shine,

The soil beneath his feet shook,

Run you stupid lad,

Run before she dims away,

And as the boy with all his might,

Ventured into the deepest night,

Followed the path that led to her,

In a hope to be hers forever,

He saw the paparazzi that had followed her as well,

The crowd, the people and their shiny veil,

Maybe she has all that she needs,

The love, the care and all that glare,

What I am is a simple being,

Who has no shoes, no dreams to see,

And as he moved back towards his abode,

Something had caught his hand,

He looked back to see who it was,

There she was standing,

Not the one that had lit the sky,

But had brought a shine in his eyes……

Mist Air…..

She was slowly diminished from his memory,

The words, the skin and all the roses red,

A century might have passed since I saw her,

He exclaimed while he strolled,

Her smell, her touch and oh god that beautiful hair,

Lost in the shadows among the unnamed,

She was still there,

But nowhere here,

They say time heals the worst of all scars,

She was his time and he was her mist air…….

Night

As the night slowly descends,

The ghosts of the past,

The mistakes, the lost and the smothered,

The boy scared to his deepest bones,

Prepares himself for them,

Those that have chased him for eternity,

Hopelessness, despair and plight,

Everynight they come,

Sometimes shrivels him in his sleep,

Sometimes drop him to the trenches deep,

The boy scared and lonely,

Closes his eyes and tell himself each day,

This all would be worth someday,

For the night is not eternal,

For the plight is not eternal…..

Clouds

It is the days like these that I realise,

The biting scorch and the igneous rock,

The wind that keeps me alive,

The water that keeps me afloat,

All just become a medium to survive,

The warmth of your skin,

And the moist of your kiss,

Are like clouds,

To this mighty sphere…..

A family of 1000

Its been five years since my journey of blogging had started. An amazing ride full of all emotions, met so many spectacular people here. Its a privilege to be a part of the blogging community.

Thank you all the 1000 family members. This was not possible without your love and support.

I may not be a regular. But you always pull me back.

Thank you!

Muse

As she was slowly smothered by time,

Her memory, her laughs,

The imperfect perfections,

The ink in my pen had started to wither,

Betrayed by the mind,

Or by a drug of different kind,

My end is near,

The ink had run its spell,

My pen slipped into my ear,

Maybe she can save you,

The one who dares to be your muse O dear…..

Heart

The light slowly dimmed,

Heartbeats in upheaval,

Ecstatic and new,

Silence became a guide,

A love story had just begun…….

Saying goodbye to an old friend

It was the summer of 1999 and my summer vacations had just started. I was naive back then, had no idea of what was going around me. But could sense excitement when it spurred, especially in my parents. My parents on one fine day asked me to get ready to go somewhere and I got up with enthusiasm and curiosity to prepare myself. My brother was quite young back then and my parents decided to leave him with my grandmother at home. Ashok uncle had come to our house that day and I started to play with him. My parents got ready and we took off from our home. We took a rickshaw and reached the place. To my surprise it was a car dealership. My excitement knew no bounds and I jumped with happiness. In it we went and there were all kinds of shiny cars. The green one, the red one and the sweet smell of new rubber. My parents were greeted by the salesperson who brought them a brochure of their most successful car- The Maruti 800. The elders got busy and I went around the showroom to explore the cars. Everything was so shiny and so new. I remember sitting in every seat of the car and then the driver seat. The driver seat was something else. My hands could barely fit the steering wheel but I imagined it to be so much more. I imagined so much more back then. Captain Vyom had just started to get famous and I was stunned by it. I was intrigued by the stories they showed and the effects they used.

My Maruti was my Spaceship and I was the partner of Captain Vyom.

I tilted the steering in every way possible with all my force and steered it across the galaxy fighting the ugly aliens. I was the Galaxy’s Protector. I was interfered by mother who called me back to her. She told me that the one in white would be ours. I was ecstatic. The salesperson even took me to the car where it was being prepared. It was being washed and I remember how the light falling on it created a rainbow. I could see my spaceship prepare for flight. The formalities were complete by the end of the day and we bid our goodbyes to the dealership. My father didn’t know how to drive so it was my uncle who took the steering wheel. I sat in the front touching everything that was ours. We reached the home where my grandmother was ready with a coconut and lots of molly or red ribbon. She applied a tika on the car, tied a molly to the steering wheel and my father cracked the coconut in front of the car. Everyone was so happy and why wouldn’t they be, it was the first car in the family!

It was treated like a family member and even a single scratch would make my father run for repairs. My brother and I always played inside it. Sometimes he would be a driver and I would sit at the back and sometimes vice versa. We played for hours inside until my mother would come and grab us by the ear.

It went with us wherever we went and has travelled the same cities we have lived. The model we owned didn’t have an air conditioning system as the time of buying it was out of our budget. I remember spending afternoons of summer, sweating profusely in the blazing heat of the North Indian summer but never did we complain because whatever happened our car was our pride. It showed us what hardwork and determination brought you. It tells you to appreciate, prepares you for future, makes you respect your roots.

I remember not much of my childhood but this car is something which has so many memories attached to it. It has seen all the good and the bad days and stood by us like a friend would, like family would.

I have always termed myself a practical man. Not believing in anything that has not been perceived. Writing this story gave me another perspective of me. I am a lot emotional that I thought I was and the best part is that I am not ashamed of it. What is a man without emotions, without the respect of things that has touched his life.

Being sensitive I think is a gift because the day we stop thinking about anyone except us, humanity would die.

Our 800 took care of us, shielded us from the rain and the elements of weather and has served us for almost two decades. It deserved this. It deserved a teary eyed goodbye.

कभी आना….

कभी रोशनी बन कर आना तुम,

अंधेरे तो ज़िन्दगी ने बहुत दिए,

आसमान बन कर आना तुम,

दिलासे तो ज़िन्दगी ने बहुत दिए…….

मजबूर…..

मजबूर हूं तेरी इबादत से ए मालिक,
वरना तो जिस्‍म यह मिट्टी ही है…….

I am chained to your worship,

This body is nothing but sand…..

लकीरें…..

कुछ लिख के गया था मैं,
बारिश के मौसम में कभी,
शब्दों ने कुछ रूप लिया था,
कलम ने बहाई स्याही सही,
ना जाने क्यूँ कई लकीरें मीट के भी मिटती नहीं,
समय के साथ धूल में मिलती नहीं,

कुछ लिख के गया था मैं,
ऐसे ही किसी दिन उस काग़ज़ पे तेरे,
जो दिया था तूने मुकम्मल यह साजिश सही,
फिर शब्दों ने मेरे जब रचा था आशियाना मासूम,
मिलके तुमने बुना था कुनबा तभी,
थी रोशनी, थी कोई कमी नहीं,

कुछ लिख के गया था मैं,
उन दीवारों, उस अशियाने में कभी,
कुछ लकीरें मीट के भी मिटती नहीं,
छोड़ जाती हैं निशान कई ऐसे कभी,
हम तुम तो ज़रिया हैं,
एक कश्ती जिसका कोई किनारा नहीं,

चलो आज उठा कर एक पन्ना नया,
शुरुआत करते हैं ऐसी कोई,
जिसमें तुम तुम हो,
जिसमें मैं मैं हूँ,
जिसमें दिखते तुम या मैं भी नहीं,
मिटा दो वो लकीरें सभी,
बारिश आज तो होगी ही सही……

कत्लेआम….

आशियाना….

कभी आईना देखा,
तो कभी झाँका गेहराइयों मैं,
आसमानों की मुलायम पर्दों मैं देखा,
तो कभी समुन्दर के अनंत मैं,
घर ढूंढ रहा था मैं,
ना जाने कहाँ,
ना जाने कब,
अक्स जो तेरा गिरा था मुझ पर,
वो सर्द किसी रात मैं,
ना जाने कैसे,
ना जाने कब,
इस काफिर को अपना आशियाना मिल गया……