यन्त्रवत

भोर के तारे को विदा कर
रोशनी खिलने लगी

ज़िद्दी सूरज फिर पूरब से ही उगा
और यूँ ही धूप चढ़ने लगी

दो चार जमुहाइयों के बाद
भूख भी लगने लगी

तुम

1
आये और चले गये
धूमकेतु की तरह
यादों के जंगल में
अब तो बस
एक जुगनू की तरह
 
2
कुछ हवा
कुछ खशबू
तुम 

ज़िन्दगी

ज़िन्दगी

कितना अच्छा होता
मुझे मिल जाती यदि
कोई खुशी तो
बांट लेते
तुम और हम
क़तरा क़तरा
कुछ थोड़ा कुछ ज़्यादा

होता यदि
तुम्हें कोई ग़म
बांट लेते उसको भी
तुम और हम
क़तरा क़तरा
कुछ थोड़ा कुछ ज़्यादा

कितना अच्छा होता
कि देख पाते तुम मुझे
जान पाते तुम मुझे
मैं पास आ जाता तुम्हारे
तो छू लेते
हम तुम एक दूसरे को
और पा जाते
एक अहसास प्यार का
कुछ थोड़ा कुछ ज़्यादा

ज़िन्दगी.
कितना अच्छा होता

रिश्तेः तीन कविताएं

1
स्पर्श आवश्यक है
एक रिश्ता गढ़ने के लिये
और रिश्तों में गर्माहट भी रहती है
पर उन रिश्तों का क्या
जो बिना छुए ही बन जाते हैं

2
वो आदमी जो तनहा था.
उसने कुछ रिश्ते उधार मांगे थे
(भला रिश्ते भी कहीं उधार मिलते हैं)
उसे कुछ मिले तो सही
पर उम्र पूरी होने के बाद

3
सब कुछ बेच लेने के बाद भी
मेर पास एक सन्दूक रह गया
रिश्तों से अटा हुआ
..... पर अब टटोलने से क्या फायदा
हर रिश्ते की तो एक उम्र होती है

The Palimpsest

This is a story. The story of a wanderer.  A wanderer knows that he is looking for something but what he does not know. He just looks. He just searches.

“Who am I?” He asked everybody. Nobody answered. Nobody knew the answer to his question. Nobody knew who he was and that’s why everybody was silent. The whole city was silent. He was bewildered not because nobody knew who he was but because everybody was silent.

He was thirsty. He asked for water. He got that. Still he was thirsty. He asked for more. He got angry on not being able to quench his thirst. Everybody saw him angry but nobody knew why. Nobody asked for the reason. Everybody was silent, the whole city was but everybody looked intently. He became conscious. He got angrier.

The King heard about him and asked him to appear in the court. The King asked the reason for being angry. He was speechless. He was speechless because he did not know the reason. The King asked again and again. He was speechless. Now it was the King’s turn to get angry. You know all about kings’ egos. Kings do not like defiance. Ultimately he yielded and told about his thirst. The King did not like it either. Kings do not like if anybody complains about anything in public. The King asked about his unquenchable thirst. Only if he knew the reason, he would not be standing here before the King and nobles. Thus he was silent again. The King passed an order and all the nobles agreed. “His head will be submerged in water until his thirst is quenched and the state will bear all the expanses. Any thirst should not go unquenched. It is not good for the state.” That was the order of the King and nobles.

He was sad. Sad, sitting near a drying oasis. The whole world knew that he was sad. Hearing about his thirst, hearing about his anger and sadness a few wise men came looking for him. They talked amongst themselves about his unquenchable thirst. They debated, they discussed. They spoke to him – “We know the reason of your thirst and we also know why you are angry.” He stared at them. He stared at them blankly. They continued – “We can  give you the keys  to all your questions.” His eyes flickered. “Just repeat what we are saying and by God’s grace you will also become a wise man like us and then you will not have any more questions”. He repeated what those wise men said. He repeated those words with full conviction as those wise men asked him to do. He repeated those words with full faith as those words of faith demanded. The wise men smiled. He did not. The wise men congratulated him. Now he could answer all his questions, those wise men told him. Now he could quench his thirst, those wise men told him. The wise men sat around him singing in joy. But now he had more questions – “Why should he know answers to all his questions?” What had changed after meeting those wise men?” He could not find anything. From inside he was the same man as he was earlier with same questions, with unquenched thirst but instead of silent men of the city there were those wise men singing and dancing in joy celebrating his enlightenment. That was the only change he felt. The company of those wise men. To feel changes he needed to believe in what he was told or being told. Word by word. There was no negation only acceptance. There were no questions only answers. Answers with questions within but he could not frame them. He was not supposed to.

He got bored. He was a curious baby. He was an eager-to-learn child. But now he was not supposed to look for anything anymore. Those wise men told him about every and anything. He felt like a convict, convicted by the commitment that he did not own. There was no freedom; freedom of asking questions; freedom of seeking answers. He started suffocating. He felt thirst rising within. He saw around him. He could not find any of the wise men but the crowd. Everybody was behaving like a wise man. Mouth shut, eyes subdued, no questions and everything understood. He got scared, scared to the core. He tried to run away from the crowd but he could not. Crowd did not allow him to do so. He started walking with the crowd and when he was near the limits of the city, he started running, running towards the horizon. He kept on running till the end of time.

He was so preoccupied with his indulgence with questions that he has forgotten what it feels to be just a human being, a compassionate human being. He saw blue sky above him. He smiled. He felt cold water touching his feet. He smiled. He heard himself asking, “What makes me whatever I am today?” And he again heard himself telling – “Your beliefs makes you whatever you are today. You’re a man of your own beliefs. Your beliefs, for you, could have only psychological value but that you have to decide, as you are the chosen one. At some point you will find beliefs, which cannot be established by reason but then you have to choose the right one, as you are the wise one. Some of those beliefs might satisfy your desire but would that be reason enough to accept those beliefs true? It is up to you because truth is no more than what is verified and perception is no more than what is felt. You are a man with answers to all your questions. Do not ever visit a temple, never ever utter any holy words, never visit a priest, never pay homage to any sage when you are looking for answers just listen to yourself. Remember you do not know answers for questions that you do not own”.

Kabir once laughed when he heard that a fish was thirsty. Kabir laughed at the irony. Kabir laughed and laughed on all those who were in stress to quench their unquenchable thirst. Now he was laughing. And he was still a wanderer.

दास्ताँ

उम्र से लंबी रात में भी एक पल का न गुज़रना
अजीब दास्ताँ है यारों उम्र का इस तरह गुज़रना

एक बार हाँ करके उनका बार बार मुक़रना
हसीन दास्ताँ है यारों उनका इस तरह मुक़रना

उनका तसव्वुर, उनकी ही  बातें और उनका ख़याल
दिलचस्प दास्ताँ है बेखुदी में कायनात का ठहरना

नज़रें मिलीं जो उनसे, तो फिसली और ग़ुम हो गयीं
तारीखी था विसाले-ए-यार, तारीखी हुआ बिछड़ना
 

The white noise of life....

That constant hum
Life's hum drum
Drumming in the ears
With no respite
The white noise of life.

Ear drums constantly fluttering
Neurons tiredly uttering
Eyes stare into no where
No end in sight
The white noise of life.

The koels song over the din
Happy laugh of children
A little seed struggling to sprout
A fleeting fight
Drowns in the white noise of life.

                                   - Richa

चाह यही

चाह यही
बन पराग उड़ जाऊं
खुशबू संग
बस जाऊं तेरे मन में

वैराग्य न लूंगा
तप अवश्य करता हूँ
नाम तेरा ही सुमिरन कर
जप करता हूँ
चाह यही कि विघटित हो जाऊं
कण कण में
बस जाऊं तेरे मन में

मैं मृत्युञ्जय!
चाह नहीं बनने की
ना ही कोई
नया इतिहास रचने की
चाह यही बस कवलित हो जाऊं
पल पल में
बस जाऊं तेरे मन में

एक खुशी चोरी की

एक जेब में धूप
एक में पानी
टोकरी में आसमान
लेकर मैं खुश था


एक सुबह लेकर निकला
एक शाम लेकर लौटा
दिन भर जो व्यापार किया
शाम की अंटी में बांध लिया


एक सुबह नम थी
आसमान थोड़ा सा झुका था
मैंने उचक के सूरज तोड़ लिया
दूसरा सूरज उगा या नहीं
यह तो पता नहीं पर मैं खुश हूँ

Raag Darbaari (State of Affairs)

One could classify Indian society into three categories viz.

1.   Smart – these guys do not enter into the politics themselves. They are busy doing other jobs of national and international interest such as defense deals, land deals etc. They privileged class (described below) to work for them.

2.   Privileged – government machinery in general.

3.   Dumb – rest others – people like you (not me, I belong to the smart class... read the text below!).

If by birth or otherwise (read by hook or crook) you do not belong to the 'smart class', there is only one way to survive in the Indian society. And that is by becoming a member of the privileged class. Rest of the 'not so ambitious' junta belongs to third class, which is there to serve first two classes and requires no further mention here.

Politicians in India do village level politics in villages, and national level politics in Delhi. If in a foreign country, they are involved in that country's politics as well. I do not want to take names and make them famous (well, after Snowden’s exposure, I am always thinking of saving my rear end ;-)). You never know, I could be the next prime minister candidate (if Manmohan Singh (an Economist) can, Kejeriwal (as a bureaucrat), Narendra Modi (as a chaiwalah), I (an Engineer) could also be!! Why not?). Ambitions should not outpace the qualities/capabilities that one develops over time. However, this statement is not applicable to politics.

I have decided to take part in the next elections. No, not as a voter but as a candidate. I have not yet decided about the political party, but I am looking for the option where I can contest as an independent candidate. That would be fun. If you know what I mean, shifting loyalties to a party with better prospects.

Here is the speech I am going to give (and I am going to save this and will use in all elections in future).

In more than 3000 years (probably it more than 30000 years, who gives a hoot) of our history people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds and improvised our culture and made us civilized. We are thankful to them. We have not conquered anyone not because we could not do so, because we are excessively tolerant (Note: it is not good to use word 'coward' in public, it hurts our pride). We have not grabbed their lands, sullied their cultures, and distorted their histories and tried to enforce our ways of life on them. Why? Because we did not have time, as we were busy fighting among ourselves and we continue fighting. Kushans, Mongols, the Greeks, the Turks, the Moghuls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch - all of them came and enriched our cuisine, took over all our wealth and helped us in establishing truly a socialist nation (all the wealth gone out of the country, there was not much disparity left between rich and poor). And now see what we have done to ourselves. We are neither capitalist nor socialist. We need constitutional amendments every now and then to let the international community know what kind of country India is.

Everybody says let us make India a developed country. What do they mean by 'developed country'? For more than fifty years we have been a developing nation and by God's grace we will continue this process till the end of the time as we believe in consistency and also the day you are satisfied with what you are doing in life you are dead. We are an ambitious lot. We will never see ourselves as a developed nation. Why should we see our face in somebody else's mirror? No matter how sloppy our mirror is, it is the best. We are the best. Our GDP is low. So what? We will preserve our culture of Vedic age and rollback our GDP. Our poor are dying, that is a good sign of falling poverty level. So what if the rest of the world does not recognise our achievements, we have countries like countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan to compare. And then there is whole African continent.

Our country must stand up to the world at least on her knees (so far we have been crawling and see where we are). Because I believe this makes begging a somewhat respectable affair. And if we are not able to walk on our knees so far, the fault lies in the policies of the ruling party. We must be strong enough to stand on our knees not only as an economic power but also as a military power. Let us take some help from Baba Ramdev. I feel pained when developed countries deny spare parts for our defense equipment. We have to make ourselves strong so that those countries could not dare to do so. They should supply spare parts to all our fighter aircraft, tanks, cannons and anything related to defense including some hi-tech coffins not only out of compulsion, but out of fear too. These kinds of purchases are the only way to generate political funds otherwise all the political parties will go bankrupt and in that case, my dear fellow citizens of India, forget about elections and say bye-bye to free bees (you thought I am going to say “bye-bye to democracy”.. ha ha ha). Any denial by these developed countries towards such purchases is a direct attack on your right to have free bees (you though I am going to say “attack on our democracy”… ha ha ha ) and we will not tolerate this. We will not tolerate this at any cost.

Lately there have been some loose talks, some kind of propaganda about my character and activities to malign my image. There is no truth in those. As a politician I am like an open notebook which is blank right from the beginning till the end. Nothing written. I am in politics since my days in university in India. That's where I learnt all the tricks of politics. I survived university level politics. This proves my character and its strength. Those years played a very important role in my life as a politician. I entered parliament first time as a visitor. God! Was I overwhelmed by the feeling of being inside the parliament. Somebody later remarked "This is the true sign of being a politician if you are moved only by seeing parliament and nothing else." It made me feel very proud as a budding politician. The fact that I was standing there was too much for me and at the next instant I was crying, tears rolling down my cheeks. I found a new love for my country and different kind of love for you, my dear fellow citizens and new meaning to my life. Since then I am a full time politician, what I intend to tell you is that, that was the day when I was reborn and since then I am at your service.

We as politicians have done great service to you people. Tell me in which country you are allowed to do what you want (leave neighboring countries out of the list). Spit here and there and throw things wherever you want? In which country you have freedom to park your motorcycle or car anywhere? In which country you have freedom to drive on left, right or center? In which country money talks as loudly as in India? In which country you are openly allowed to say 'Do you know who I am?' In which country you are allowed to draw your salary even without going to your workplace? All these things you can do only in India and that also because of politicians like me whose conscience is mortgaged to politics and only to politics.

Jai Politics! Sattamev Jayate!! (they cannot register an FIR for this :-))

Maggi and India (Norms vs Ethics)

It is good food inspectors have highlighted problems with Maggi. But it is unfortunate that these are the same bunch who have found nothing wrong with the (hormone laced) milk, (colored) vegetables, (chemically ripened) fruits, (pesticide laced) juices/water/coconut-water, (adulterated) sweets, (adulterated) spices... etc etc. The list is endless.

I remember an issue of finding house-flies in KFC (in New Delhi) a few years ago, but never there was anything against street food vendors who sell their stuff under the most unhygienic conditions. Maggi, Coke, KFC... are soft targets... fixing them changes nothing. If we think we have saved your children by avoiding Maggi, we are wrong.

And the last point - it is not always about norms. It should not be this way... some things (in fact most of things) should be driven by ethics as well. Even in a capitalist setup, there is always a scope of ethics.

भिक्षुक

जब भी आते जाते
लोग मेरा परिचय पूछते हैं
तो मैं हंस देता हूं
लगता है उन लोगों ने कभी
मेरे पदचाप सुने नहीं

मैं पहले भी आया था
कुछ खत लेकर
डाल गया था देहरी पर
सोचा था
जब शाम ढलेगी चुन लेंगे
पर लगता है उन लोगों ने
वो ख़त चुने नहीं

मैं न आऊंगा

तुम कितना भी पुकारो
मैं न आऊंगा


जो सोचा, वही बोला, किया
एक जीवन, तर्कों से परे
आसक्ति की मदिरा पी मन बाध्य है
नेह नैनों का तुम्हारे
मैं भले न पाऊंगा पर मैं न आऊंगा

छद गया तीरों से तन
बिंध गयी आत्मा
यह पीड़ा प्रेम की असाध्य है
मुक्ति माधव! तुम्हारी तरह
मैं भले न पाऊंगा पर मैं न आऊंगा


तुम कितना भी पुकारो
मैं न आऊंगा

कुछ टूटा कुछ गुम गया

पत्थर टूटा ­
आह छिटक कर
बह निकली
आँखों के समंदर से

नज़र उठी ­
नज़रों में उतरकर
गुम हो गयी
दिल के बवंडर में