लकीर

एक लकीर की बात है

एक लकीर का साथ है।

मोडो तो दिखती ऐसी,

पलटो तो दिखती वैसी।

चेहरे पर दिखती

तो लगती मुस्कान।

आंखों के आगे

देती उम्र को स्थान।

सीमा पर खींची

तो ज़मीन हुई पराई।

दिलो में खींची

तो दुश्मनी जन्म ले पाई।

ज़िन्दगी की दौड़ में

शुरुवात दिखाती।

अंत का अंक भी

वोही ले आती।

किस्मत अजीब

लकीर ने पाई।

देहलीज़ पर रख दी

तो मर्यादा कहलाई।

लकीर ही जोड़ती है,

लकीर ही तोड़ती है।

किस्मत है लिखती,

लिखी को मोडती है।

नई पहचान है देती

पुराणी पहचान मिटती।

विधाता का शास्त्र है

इंसान को नचाती।

है तो वोह इतनी

मतलब इसके अनेक।

समझ पाए ज्यो इसको

वोही तो है वोह एक।

Dated: 21st January, 2004

जय आंबे

A few years ago, we had a competition on Female Foeticide... In lines of the same, we were supposed to present charts and stuff... A newspaper article spoke of ' जय आंबे ' as a new word coined to let the parent know the gender of the fetus....

Here is the mother talking to her unborn child in her womb...

"माँ" तुझसे ना सुन पाऊँगी
शुन्य लोक जाना है तुझे ।
कोख तक ही जीवन था तेरा
जन्म से पहले मोक्ष पाना है तुझे।

तू ही सरस्वती, लक्ष्मी तू मेरी
देवी का निराला रूप है तू ।
लेकिन गृह में मेरे प्रवेश
कभी ना ले पायेगी तू ।

मज़बूरी मेरी है
समाज का चलन है ।
कभी न कभी जुदा तुझसे है होना
लड़की आख़िर पराया धन है ।

तब भी में रोटी, अब भी रोउंगी
जन्म तुझे जो ना दे पाई।
जीवन देकर तेरा तिरस्कार ना करुँगी
होने दूउंगी ना मुझ जैसी फिर एक रुसवाई।

इस माँ की अब बेटी ना होगी
हो सके तो मुझे तू करना क्षमा प्रदान।
तेरे जीवन के द्वार पर कर रही हूँ तैयार
बेटी, तेरी अर्थी का सामान।


Dated: 27th November, 2004

Love Actually!!!

What is it that today I heard in your voice,
Was it magic or was it love at first sight?
When I look at the skies with affection,
There comes along no star under detection
Your laughter fills my silence,
Our memories together, when apart brings me pain..
I promise you, you always make me smile
It is my fear, which gets that sheen in my eyes.
I wonder what makes my eyes, sometimes, shine so bright
Is it magic or love at first sight!

Your presence lightens me up
While your absence darken my days
I wonder if I mean the same to you
Or is it just another passing day.
I want to look into your heart
And know who there, in that little corner resides.
You’ll know all the answers you want
Should you look into my eyes.
I know not what words to say,
But I know all that is true
I know we both need time,
And come what may,
You can be certain, that I love you!

Created on: 17th February 2008

Market

Okies, here is one of my previous writes.. Re-captulating time in one capsule again... Read On...

There were cartons of dates, wild olives, grapevines, figs, ivory and dyewood. There were also cooped up gazelle, rabbits to accompany us. All of us were kept together. Each one of us looked disparate yet we all had something akin between us. We were all getting transported from one soil to another; our soil to another.

For once man had not distinguished between the creations of God. We were never made to feel that we are different. They treated us with parity. The only point where we were discriminated was on our color; WHITE being superior to black. I too am a black from my BLACK soil.

This was perhaps the longest journey of my life. It took us more than a month before we could reach our end. As we neared the port I felt something perforate right inside me. I knew what I had to expect yet I couldn’t prepare my self for it. The ship docked at the port. They checked the goods first who had been with us all the while. Once they were done with their counting, we too were unloaded from the ship. We were brought out in a queue, all trussed together. Each head was crossing the well armed soldiers who were ready to exterminate even the slightest thought of impudence. We were too tired and weary to even think about something like that. As I swaggered out of the ship, I turned back one last time to capture the vision of that vessel which had changed my life, forever.

The ship was surely a huge one but with the passage of time it now looked emaciated to me. I had heard the crew swank about the ship being one of the best vessels in the world. It had managed to accommodate more than a 700 people.

The ship was divided into five decks. Each deck had a different use. The lowest deck was meant for the machines on which the ship ran. The fourth deck was for the ordinary non-human cargo. That was the place where the animal cages and food boxes were set; one upon the other. The piles were neat with no space between each of the carton for optimal utilization of space. I was one of the people who were sent to empty the cargo.

The third deck had the black men who were arranged like spoons with no room even to turn. They saw to it that they accommodated most of us without wasting any available place. We were precious; we were black gold for these white men. Yet if we dared to contravene them we were beaten up till it had a deterrent effect, at least on our accomplice.

The second deck had women slaves. They were not chained like us and could move about freely on the higher decks. The whites probably found them less revolting when compared to men. These women took care of the cleaning and cooking for the crew. We never got to meet them but their situation was not hidden from us. They had to pay a higher price for this “Transitory Freedom”. This was usually in the form of sexual harassment; more often than less it would end up in the form of rape; physical and mental.

The first floor had the kitchen and the other rooms for the crew and the captain. Their cabins were well decorated. It did not have exquisite carpets or pliable cushions. There were no beautiful drapes too for their cabins. It was not grand yet it was better than what we were made to stay in. Their cabins were not dirty or botched. They were very clean. More than anything it was not shared by more than three to five people unlike ours which even if had a wall between two was of another human being.

The topmost deck was from where the captain controlled the ship. The deck had a splendor of its own. It was only while boarding and disembarking the ship when I got to experience the deck, only for a few moments though. While leaving the ship, a bird went past me. It was our captain’s parrot. When I saw it saunter about freely, I could feel my repugnance towards that feathered creature.

I was pushed from behind by an infuriated white gunman. My immobility had immobilized the queue. I was marched ahead in the file. I was now out of the Great Ship. We were all standing in a row. “One, Two, three….” I could hear them count. Finally he smiled on having accomplished the wearying task of gauging his profit. But a lot of people were missing; yet it didn’t seem to impinge on them. How could it? They too could no longer help it, they were long ago dead!


One of them was a close friend of mine. They had slain him simply because he had denied obeying them. He denied eating food. He was one of the mutinous people on the deck. The white man could not stand it. The white ordered his men to batter him till he would succumb to eat. He was screaming with pain. Yet he was unyielding to giving up. I could do nothing. He was beaten right in front of my eyes. My hands and legs were fettered. I had long ago lost sensation. All that I could feel was my tears. I could not stand this torment; not at least on my friend. I saw him turn from black to red. He was beaten so ruthlessly! We all saw his body move robustly like a fish that is thrown out of the water. He gradually went inert. Now there was neither sound nor motion. His soul was at rest.

The whites now denied even touching his carcass. A few of us were made to lift his corpse. I could feel his cold cadaver in my wobbly arms till I finally gave his sodden body to the quiet waters. It splashed right into the ocean. When I touched my face, I wonder if the water on it was that which had splashed from the comatose ocean or was it what had just left my eyes. We saw the body of rebellion drown deep into the ocean.

The only other witness to our agony was the silent ocean on which our ship sailed. The file was now moving out of the quay. I bid farewell to my friend and the deep waters where he now lived.

Time Space and Life...

Here comes a dedication to some of my friends...

Time, Space.... & Life!
All it took was your voice
To get that smile on my face again
Lost was I in the chores of life
In the traffic, job issues, and some other little pain
It was your chuckle
Which re-ignited that spirit I believed was once lost
Brought back our good times, in a toss.
It delights and intrigues me & my mind as well
Should I take it as an omen or is it the devils door to pain
I want to believe again in it
And re-live the life I've dreamt with you
But am no longer sure,
If that is for both of us to gain
I am finally moving on,
And there you walk straight
Into my life, once again
I am overwhelmed with memories
The sensations, the voice,
The good, the bad,
The smart and the times in vain
I stand today at a point
Where I'm looking at the sun rising so bright
You choose what a time to come out of your shadows
And make me loose myself again in your light
It seems like never before
I've moved back once again in time
I can see myself stand
At the corners as a different person in time
I've evolved so much,
I can not change it back again
It's not something I'd want to loose now,
It is your gift, which now I hold.
I'm glad you were a part of my life
I wish it was so much more
I know it can not be true
However good we had a ball!
To move on, me it scares
Am not sure if you are waiting for me
I want to look back sometimes
And know you will be for me right there....
- 24th October, 2008

Gandhism - Relevance today

A rich topic for discussion in any forum. There is so much that we have read and heard about this man and his philosphy, its like knowing the empty world... you know it all and still you know none of it!

Coming to the point, we had a debate in our college some days back.. pardon my choice of word.. it was more of an elocution than otherwise stated.. Anyways.. so there we were standing, contesting our views and opinions on the existence of the ideology... Gandhism!

One after another, each one spoke about the man... what good he did, how he harmed the country, what is his value and so on...

Enters me on the stage... nothing revolutionary.. but different from the rest.. So friends it is from here where the real stuff worth reading begins....

Gandhism - Relevance today!
How many of us believe Gandhi is same as Gandhism???... I do not... Where one is a mortal man, the other is an immortal set of ideas which have lived for centuries...

What we educated people often do is mix up the ideals for the man. Agreed the preacher is questionable. But in this case, he was no prophet or some avtar. He was just another man who claimed to not be teaching anything new.

Why malign the dead man for his human limitations. Let him rest in peace!
The point here is that are the ideals he lived for relevant today or not? Period.
I think they are very much necesary for a maturing society. It is like the ground work of morals we all live on.

These ideals are: Satyagraha, Ahimsa, Honesty, Generosity so on and so forth.

Satyagraha: as we all know is about the element of truth! So much so that he strongly said that Truth is God. Is this relevant??? Looking from a humane point of view, certainly it is not an easy thing to accept. But look at it from your every-day angle - don't we get annoyed at people because they lied to us? Don't break-ups take place on the same ground, "(S)he lied to me!"

Another instance, how ever difficult it may be to follow this principle, but dont we like to appreciate someone who follows it. A person who is truthful and honest from the begginning will not have someone ever come up to him and say, "okay dude, you were hidding stuff from us."

We may hate him, but we can't not respect him! He is a scary person.. cause he is not afraid to let out the dangerous truth!

Rightly said truth is often painful. But it is one of the strongest weapon which no cannon or nuclear technology can replace! Imagine, I come up to you and say, "I'l reveal that little truth about you..." Depending on the intensity of that truth, you certainly would either want to shoot me or your self.

That my friends is the power of truth!

But then from what I state, isn't it going against the ahimsa principle???

Ahimsa: Now this is a very interesting one. It talks about non-violence. But it also states at the same time, that self-defence is an accepted form of violence. Also in lines with the satyagraha principle, if you strongly feel from the bottom of your heart that violence is the need.. go ahead.
The trick here is to know your limits and practise the virtues of patience and control.
In our defence forces are people taken merely on the basis of their strength??? Why you need strong people to kill... Correction.. you need strong and sane people to kill. Loose not yourselves to the animal in you. Learn to channel that energy that is what this ahimsa is all about. That is what the soldiers are trained for - CHANNELING YOUR ENERGY!

Another criticism would be the arms race - but my friends, the fact that those deadly weapons have not been used is because all the parties involved are using these very principles of restraint.. what would be the situation should these values not have been in place???

Honesty: Ya Ya.. how honest a person I am. It is more about a virtue which enhances the character of the person who follows it. It is as simple as being honest to the job you do or the task you take up. Did you give your best to that task when in your hand? or did you cheat and take the unpleasant roads, when you had the alternative??

It is something very close to your character.. something what you'd do in the absence of surveillance...

We can lie to others, but the skill is being honest to your ownself. Sure with the passage of time, even if we wish to follow it, we are taught how to conditionally lie. But there are levels to which you will not lie. Let that lie never touch that innermost part of you. Else you'll probably loose out on that clean child in you!

Generosity: Often a famous example to show how irrelevant this point is.. "Will you give your job to someone else in the name of generosity when both of you'll need it that badly?"
Point taken, I will not give up my job, but I could try getting that person another job, or offer a smaller help to aid him in his bad times. I certainly may be unable to do something that big, but I can certainly offer my seat to that co-passenger who is old, tired or weak or probably needs it a little more than me. Can't I be generous there??? Is it soo difficult??

Why make these ideas a super-human tasks where all you need to do is little.. to make your everyday life a better place to live in.

Interestingly, if you note these are the values pre-dominantly taught to us by all of our religious scriptures. If you say it is no longer relevant, are you saying that those scriptures too do not hold any relevance today? Think about it....

Once again my friends, it is not the old man we talk about here when we discuss the relevance.

Quoting examples from history will not be of much help cause we don't have a chauri chaura today.. but we do have a Godhra or a Ramjanmabhoomi or a Jaipur Blast.

Imagine the ordeal.

Like a coin, these too have their own ugly sides, but the point is we need to start moving towards the sun.. not too close enough to burn ourselves in the process.

It is easier to be critical than correct!

Closing thoughts: Can you cheat without any guilt? Can you hurt without a justifiable cause? Do you ask for only yourself without others??
If not...... Welcome to the world of Gandhism!

P.s: Please dont construe my points as for or against the man. I personally wouldn't approve of a lot of things he did. The point is simple, I like the ideals and stand for them, even if they are brought under one umbrella once again by the man called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi!

Jai Hind

Kick Start... Restart

Hello Friends,
Today, I resume back to something I did once upon a time with my heart and soul.. but suddenly quit...

I was out to acquire more before I could share my heart on my space...

So here I am... I think with a little more to offer, a little more to share, to share my mind and a heart to bare!

I feel too much, I speak so little.. ;)
Cant control my grammer, with words I fiddle!

So well here I am.. trying to get back to a habit once upon a time.. Blogging!!