रिश्ते सामान जैसे

रिश्ते सामान जैसे

वो कीमती सा सामान

जिसकी चमक कुछ भा गई थी

कुछ सोच कर

तो खरीद लाए थे

बहुत संभाल के रखते थे

लगाव से 

खो जाएगा फीका पड़ जाएगा

डरते भी थे,

फिर कुछ दिन गुजरे

जीवन की आपाधापी में

भूल गए

वो सामान जैसे कुछ जगह ले रहा हो

ये सोचके

बक्से में बंद कर 

पीछे कहीं कोने में रख आए थे,

समान धूल खाता रहा

कभी तुमने वो मिट्टी की परतें उतारी भी

पर जगह खाली नहीं मिली

और वो उसी कोने में रखा रहा

कभी मुद्दतों बाद

तुम्हें याद आता

तो फिर उसी कोने में जाकर

कुछ देर उसे देखते कुछ चमकाते

फिर कई रोज 

तुम उसे भूल जाते,

धीरे धीरे वक्त के साथ

ज़ंग लग गया

अब उस सामान 

का मूल क्या लगाओगे

कब तक उसे कोने में रखे रहोगे

या बाज़ार से उसकी जगह

कुछ नया ले आओगे,

अगर जज़्बात होते समान के

तो एक सवाल करता तुमसे

क्यों लाए थे मुझे?

वो सामान अगर एक रिश्ता होता

उस बिखरे पुराने रिश्ते का क्या करते

क्या दिल से निकाल कर

बीते कल को बेच देते?

पुराने सामान जैसे

CS 

Ode to time

An ode to time

They say time wears wings
So it flies
As if it were a wanderer
With no place of its own
To stay and stay
Rest as does a child in mother's lap

But ask me and I will give you a secret
That belongs to us;me and time
I earned a deal
I have siezed time
Unlike in the frames they do
Captured are smile and stillness
I have my time encaged somewhere in my heart
I pull some strings, the moments dance

One tune of love is ours (me and you)too
Beneath twinkling stars
With the touch of a mild breeze
Our time spreads like the fragrance of a night flower
The dew drops from heaven befall
Each moment it turns into memories as precious as pearls
Time with just us
And words in endless spirals
I am closer to our time
Than I am to you

Beyond the expanse of our time
I hardly know you
I have sketches of our time
Painted in brightest strokes

I see your smile
And the rest of you
In other frames
I lighten up with happiness
I made bargains with words
Silence is only what i possess
But you once made a promise
That you would always listen to my heart
Would comprehend all feelings
And wont need my words

For everything else is an extension of our time
The bond we share, you and I
I have an eternal gift for you
A promise to love you forever
Before and beyond our time.

CS

शहर

इस  शहर का अस्तित्व

ये बड़ा शहर
बड़ा अकेला है
तब्दीली समय का मिज़ाज है
ये शहर इस लहर में
अपना वजूद खो रहा है

ये शहर उस शख्स को ढूंढ रहा है
जो इसे अपना कहे
इस भरी आबादी में भी
ये बड़ा शहर
बड़ा अकेला है

जिसने इस शहर के साथ
अपना बचपन गुज़ारा था
वो तलाश रहा है
वो बड़ा पेड़, वो टूटी चट्टान
वो कच्चा रास्ता, पुरानी एक तंग गली
समय की धूल ने
सब मिटा दिया है
कुछ नई इमारतें
खिंची हुई है अब ज़मीन से आसमान तक
वो रास्ता जो
जंगलों में गुम हो जाया करता था
उन रास्तों के जँगल
गुम हो गए हैं

इस बदलाव की आंधी में
इस शहर का दम घुट रहा है
बदलते मौसमों के साथ
इस शहर का मौसम भी बदल रहा है

ये शहर गुहार करता है उनसे
जो अपना शहर छोड़ कर यहाँ बसे थे
कि जिनके लिए ये बदलाव किए
वो तो इसे अपना लें

पर वो लोग भी इस शहर में
अपना ही छोड़ा हुआ गाँव ढूंढ रहे हैं
होली पर चराहों पर उड़ता गुलाल
दीवाली पर मिट्टी के दियों की रोशनी
संक्रांत पर पतंगों से भरा आसमान
ढूंढ रहे हैं

इस शहर के नयेपन में
सब गुज़रा हुआ कल ढूंढ रहे हैं

ये शहर क्यों बदला था?
किसके लिए?
ये शहर अपना अस्तित्व ढूंढ रहा है
कि कोई  तो इसे अपना कहे

ये बड़ा शहर
बड़ा अकेला है।

छवि(21.01.2019)

Awareness

I was wondering what would happen if I went near the nest of the house sparrow hanging on the cable wire in our veranda and start whispering to the baby birds(in the absence of their parents of course), “You can’t fly”. Think. I will whisper this many times in a day and for several days. Nothing will happen. They will still fly when their wings develop. We have this lovely cat at our home that spends time with us every day but we have a deal where she is not bound and freely roams exploring the neighbourhood. She has delivered a dozen kittens in the past two years at regular intervals. What would happen if I whisper to the kittens everyday numerous times that they can’t jump off the balcony wall. Nothing. The kittens will eventually learn to jump when its time. I have neither seen their mother rejoice when they attempt their first jump nor have I seen her disappointed if they trip. They observe and follow. Even if one of the kittens dies in the early adventures of crossing the road, this does not deter the other kittens from embarking on further. They are unaffected by any externalities. Why? My personal hypothesis is that they have an inbuilt awareness of their capabilities. More importantly this awareness is unaffected by any influence. A sparrow will certainly never start swimming no matter how often I whisper that “you can swim”. We humans, each one of us have an infinite capability that is why we lack that inbuilt awareness. Unfortunately, we depend on others to tell us our capabilities. A soft continuous whisper that you can’t do it succeeds in limiting us from undertaking a task which we wanted or even believed we could do. The pool of power within us goes waste and we allow others to shape our lives and mend our destiny the way they want. We let ourselves be driven by the beliefs of those who possibly themselves spent their own lives under the weight of that soft whisper. The only realisation worth is the awareness of an infinite potential. If any of us had limited capability, we would have been aware of it. If all the other creatures could be then why couldn’t we. The secret is “you can do everything that you can conceive, provided the purpose isn’t led by negative intention”. The only whisper that should ever influence us should be our will power.

The survivor of an assault

How do I feel everyday
In the little garden
In the front of our home
Each day is lovely
As if life is an
Unceasing melody
The first band of the birds
And night a concert of wolves
Still too young,
A little lamb
My name is Maria
I love the morning breeze
And the starlit sky
When I began to grow
Out in the fields
I was playing with mates
Every passerby
Passed a gaze
As if an advance mourning
Of an upcoming calamity
Their eyes seemed to communicate
Beware of the hawk!
Soon they started whispering
As I advanced farther
Into limitless fields
One day while I was chasing a butterfly
I heard the flapping of a giant pair of wings; some distance away
Then I heard a shrill
After a moment
My eyes witnessed the deadliest horror,
Clasped in the feet of the hawk
I saw my bunny friend Eva
I cried out her name
And everything else came to a halt
The sound and the picture of what I saw
Painted upon my memory
Scroll down in vivid detail
Whenever I close or open my eyes
They say the hawk lives far away
But once in a while, when he is hungry
Flies down
To claim his prey,
What I never tell them is
I see the sky replete with hawks
Sometimes all I see are hawks
In the dead silence of dawn
I everyday hear the sound of flapping wings
Then one day when the picture and sound fainted
The lustful hawk came again
In desperate search of the catch
The thunderous sound was too close this time
And I felt the claw clutch me
For a moment I thought I had lost all conciousness
But I was alive
I struggled,
But the grip was tight
The hawk wont let its prey free
For a moment the grip eased
I struggled
The battle continued
Till half drenched in blood
The hawk dropped me
Amidst the field,
Torn and helpless
I moaned in pain
None of the gazing eyes
Came near
They wanted me to lie there
So that the hawk would come back
And reclaim its prey,
I asked myself, if the hawk owns my life now
I have survived a battle
Would I let myself be eaten alive now
I decided then ,I do not deserve the pain
I deserve life,
My friend Charolette and Selena
Broke barriers and dragged me home
Nursed me with love
And we had a paradise of our own
They say sheep follow and fall off the cliff
But we decided we will chase the sun
And then our mates might follow us
Towards light and strength.

The deeper language of love

I was watching this reality show where one participant confessed that her father had never hugged her and she wants that he once does so that she be assured that her father loves her. After her performance, her parents were invited on the show(a surprise element)  by the producers. The father kept saying that he never thought any less of his daughter and loved her the most but he was lectured by all that he should behave as a proud father. I was saddened to see the drama. Wait, I was sad for the father. In our traditional family setup, the bond between a father and a daughter is very special that doesnt require the testimony of words and gestures. Saying with words but without heart or hugging someone everyday are easy but arent necessarily the proof of love. We are inheritors of a rich and revered value system that believes more in profound aspects of a relation and isnt built on foundation of superficial gestures. Fathers are supposedly less expressive but there isnt a single one who doesnt hold a special place for a child. I do not take charge of all such fathers in the world. My father is someone who likes me to be independent but cannot be witness to a single instance of hardship for me. If someday I have to prepare tea for people more than the usual number, he will stand beside and ensure that I face no difficulty. He anticipates my needs and demands in advance without me having said a word. These are the nuances. For the bigger picture, he is my lighthouse. Whatever good he has earned or earns through learning, he transfers to me. What bigger treasure can one imagine of than the pearls of wisdom. We understand each other. But I dont expect him to hug me and write cards to me telling what I am to him. The relationship stands on a higher level where our hearts are connected. There is a communication thats beyond the scope of words. I therefore think that it is unreasonable to weigh every relation on the same scale. We should have eyes to see the beauty of heart and not be expectant of gestures. So enjoy the sweet and dont be fussy for the dish in which its served.

The metaphor "animal"

In common parlance we often use the word “animal” to imply a rather rustic behaviour displayed by humans. I was pondering over the reason for such unduly symbolism. I couldn't find one. I assume perhaps animals do not hinder to the man made order and abide by the universal law of Mother Nature, man has conveniently assigned this connotation. Animals by far (excluding humans) are the very obvious replica of nature’s incontrovertible intelligence. Having never attended schools, read books they dexterously lead their lives nailing every task from hunting for food to rearing young ones with utmost perfection. We have a pet cum stray cat at our home. She recently gave birth to three kittens. She found a protective place to give birth to her young ones on her own (without any medical assistance). Now every day since the kittens have grown, she is training them to climb trees, defend themselves and all that they need to know. Two days ago she got injured. The wound is grave. We would have ran to a doctor immediately and got multiple dressings for the same but animals rely on self healing. Amidst all the pain, nothing deters her from climbing the grills and fighting with the dogs. She is a fiercely protective mother. She feeds her kittens too. She is in extreme pain but who can she complaint to or cry before. This is animal behaviour, a little piece extracted out of the magnificent marvels that nature is replete with. It is unmindful of us to denote brutal, uncivil, loutish and vulgar behaviour of humans with animal behaviour. Don’t you agree it is unfair to disgrace nature’s beautiful creation through our oblivious use of words?

Respect wildlife. Respect nature. Respect environment. Happy Environment Day.