starry eyes

सितारों से मैंने पूछा
आप दिन में कहाँ चले जाते हैं
वो बोले बस आस पास ही
तुम्हारे साथ ही रहते हैं
रात वाले सारे सुन्दर सपने
दिन में हम पकडे रहते हैं
रात बंद आँखों के बाहर बैठ
दिन में आँखों में ही बस जाते हैं
कुछ रात वालों के साथ
दिन के सपने भी दिखाते हैं
क्योंकि खुली आँखों से देखे सपने
हाथ की लकीरें बनाते हैं
और तारों को पाने की राह
तारे ही बता पाते हैं

lonely at the top

he tried walking away
from everyone and everything
that was hurting him
but no matter how much he tried
and ran himself breathless
he still ran into
some of himself

and so he decided to fly
wings of desperation
fueling him on a journey
to the heavens and beyond
leaving all hurt grounded
searching for happiness
in a handful of stars

and then he sat there
looking down on the world
and everything he'd escaped from
head hung down in thought,
the acrophobia returned
the stars were hurting him now
burning him with a desire

he had wished to be alone
all he now felt was loneliness
all his life he wanted to be
the superman himself
now he longed for some eyes
to stare at him in irritation
as he cried his tears

he returned
to where he had started from
today he braves his way through
all that life throws at him
and everytime there is hurt
and he stumbles and falls
he holds onto one of himself

बात का बतंगड़

बोलती बातों की
बकर से बच के रहना
बातूनी शैतान हैं वो
बेकार की बेकारी दे जाएँगी
बस रह जाओगे तुम बरबस
बसा कर बयारों की बस्ती
बढ़-बढ़ के बकना बस फिर
बेसिरपैर की बातों से बौराना
बगैर बगलें झांके इसलिए
बंद करो ये बकर की बहस
बचकाना बचपना है ये बस
बतियाने से बदतर नहीं कोई बदमाशी

the lonely prince

painted walls around
a brick veil to hide
and then he wonders
why no one hears him
words are always weak
when thrown against walls
and it always ends in
the bricks smiling

appearances deceive

was watching the credits at the beginning of the movie ghatak:

special appearance
om puri

sensational appearance
mamta kulkarni

friendly appearance
amitabh bachchan

white and some light

उजले हाथों से
उजले बादलों की
उजली चकाचौंध छुपाते
उजली आँखों में
उजली परछाइयाँ उतर गयीं
उजाले में डूबे
उजले नीरस सपने
उजली रातों में
उजाले से जगाते हैं
उजले सागर में लिखी अब
उजालेपन की मौत है

bloody!!

Reliance promotional SMS:

Sabko hota hai Apne Khoon pe Maan! Apne Blood Group se janiye kya hai Apki Pehchan? Sms GROUP (Apka Blood Group) to 53131 eg Group A. Rs 3/sms

:P

वाह ताज :D

आसान होता होगा कहीं
शायद इस से मर जाना
किसी से इश्क करना
और कुछ ना कह पाना

half-baked ideas

सारे वादों को पूरा करना
अपने बस में नहीं होता
पर मन तो हर वादे को सोचे
काश वो पूरा होता
क्योंकि आधे छूटे वादे
दिल में घर कर जाते हैं
रोजाना की चीज़ों से जुड़
पल पल यादें बुलाते हैं
सोचा था मेरे सारे वादे
किसी दिन होंगे हमारे
याद आती है वो रात
जब कहा था देख कर तारे
आधा सा वादा कभी
आधे से ज़्यादा कभी
जी चाहे कर लूँ
इस तरह वफ़ा का

[me waiting for a weekend when jab we met doesn't come on the tv :P]

मेरा प्यारा तारा

रात के चुप सन्नाटे में
तारों का शोर होता है
ध्यान से अगर सुनो तो
तुम्हारा तारा कुछ कहता होता है
दिन में कितना भी रो लो
रात में हँसाना उसका फ़र्ज़ होता है

random notes

- i can't understand what urgent things people talk on the phone while driving their bikes.

- when you have to travel around in autos, then the arrival of change in your wallet becomes an event to celebrate.

- i pass two temples, a gurudwara and a mosque on my way to office. a church and it would have been mera bharat mahan.

- i don't know why people have to stare at someone dressed in formals munching a bada waala dairy milk.

- i prefer the spencer's layout over that of reliance fresh. because it has better signage.

- the indian postal dept hadn't let me down. till now.

- i think a lot of people will be elated/overjoyed/.../.. if i grow a paunch some day in the future.

- suddenly i want to read harry potter all over again. and the foundation series too.

- right now, i want some chocolate ice-cream.

- the reason why the new format retail stores exist is because you enter one to buy a shoe polish and end up buying a bottle of shampoo, a packet of lay's american cream and salted onion chips, a packet of haldiram's khatta meetha mixture and a dairy milk.

- two office facts: food is a great instrument of unity. and the toilet is a great leveller.

- buying gifts is not an easy task.

- the end

enter sandman

i could say i love you
for the way you worry about me
thinking of me the whole day

i could say i love you
for the way you smile your smile
the dented-creased-cheek smile

i could say i love you
for the way you touch my heart
and i can cry my heart out

i could say i love you
for the rains you bring with you
embracing me like it's forever

i could say i love you
for the way you get angry at me
and then go back to loving me again

i could go on and on
a thousand reasons all night
why i love you more and more
but there's one reason
ahead of the million others
i love like i'm mad

i can sit beside you
hold your hand tight
and forget all my fears

[was watching 'definitely, maybe' on HBO and there was this dialogue:

"You know what's really cool?"
"I don't."
"We can just sit here and we don't have to worry about flirting or all the attraction stuff."
"Stuff."
"Very cool."]

कुम्भ का मेला

एक बादल आज मिलने आया था
कमरे में कोहरा लाया था
धुएँ की आड़ में गुदगुदी की थी
काले-कलूटे की नीयत अच्छी थी
हम मिल कर खूब हँसे थे
बिछडे दो साथी मिले थे

sepia struggle

i looked around and found myself
amid all my yesterdays
awash with a sepia wave
choking, drowning nostalgia

yellowish smiles and tears
and all the left-behind fears
a failure or two
and the stairs of success

it was a sepia edifice
that had grown over the years
feeding on experience
memory-painted, hiccups-dented

all that's seen and done
seemed way too much
and i missed a beat or two
for moments i had held dear

but then i woke up
today is blue and red and green
all the colors of the rainbow
except the sepia sheen

i'll go the sepia way
but of my own accord
no sepia ambush will overwhelm me
while i paint my todays

bye bye sepia tone
your times are long gone
you might be the biggest sea
you can't walk ahead of me

happy ending

they could feel the distance between them. the people were pulling them apart. he could see her struggling. so was he. but the more they struggled, the further they grew apart. he could feel every push of hers as it reverberated through the mass of humanity between them. an eerie kind of feeling. as if she had touched him through the distance. their eyes met occasionally. and they didn't know what to read in that split instant. fear? hope? desperation? or an aura of inevitability? they both knew that the instrument of salvation was almost within grasp. but what to do of the hundreds who didn't want them to escape, to be together again? time was running out. they had to make a last effort. their eyes met, for the last time before the final heave. meet you on the other side, was all that was said. they pushed through, clawing for success, giving it all they had. and boarded the train.

thirsty in an ocean

कभी बारिश होती थी
बूँदें कुछ हमारी होती थीं
कहते, सुनते, लड़ते-झगड़ते
हमसे ही आ मिलती थीं
काले बादलों के तले
बारिश गले लगाती थी
हँसते हँसते जाने कैसे
आंखों कि नमी बहा जाती थी

पर अब जाने क्या हुआ है
बूँदें परायी सी लगती हैं
हल्की सी बारिश की चुभन
अब अंगारों सी लगती है
जब से रूठी है बूँदें
हमने चुप्पी का घेरा बना लिया है
अब क्या फायदा भीग कर
हमने छाता खरीद लिया है

(पर दिल तो अब भी करता है
बारिशों में छाता उड़ जाए कहीं
जहाँ हम खो जाया करते थे
बूँदें ले जाएँ फ़िर वहीं
मन में बाँधी हर गिरह को
पानी की धार कुछ यूँ खोल दे
कि चुप्पी से सिले बिंधे लब
मन में सड़ती हर बात बोल दें)

विक्रम और बेताल

कुछ कहते हैं लोग
जब सपने टूट जाते हैं
कि इस रात की सुबह होगी
सपनों की कोई और रात होगी
पर सपने भी जिंदा होते हैं
मरने पे लहू रोते हैं
लाशों सी लद जाते हैं
कन्धों पर बस जाते हैं
पर कदम तो बढ़ाना होता है
ख़ुद को थोड़ा बहलाना होता है
कि कहाँ कोई अपना था
जो दिखा वो बस सपना था

too much zoozoo?

the zoozoos are brilliant, and creative and superb and all that.. but do they have to show it in EVERY ad break??? and just ONE ad repeating throughout a match??

grrrrr...

ज़िन्दगी की कहानी

रोती रातों में, हंसती सुबहों में
बड़ी नखरेबाज है ज़िन्दगी
कल और कल की भूलभुलैया में
अनबूझ पहेली है ज़िन्दगी
राजा रानी की कहानी से कहीं ज़्यादा
चटपटी मज़ेदार है जिन्दगी
चहकती फुदकती गौरैया सी
चुलबुली शैतान है ज़िन्दगी
मैं किसी से क्यों डरूं
मेरी पक्की यार है ज़िन्दगी

love-ly advice :P

लड़की जब पड़ जाये प्यार में
और शादी कि खबर आए अखबार में
तो उसे चाहिए कि कठिन तप करे
रोज़ सासू माँ के नाम का जप करे

ravana's woes

the many-headed monster
is blinded by his many eyes/I's
sees too much for his own good
doomed eternally on a speeding train
the eyes dream too many dreams
and one heart and two hands fall short

seasons of reasons

वो कहते रहे कि वजहें और भी हैं
तुम से दूर जाने की
हम अकेले खड़े सोचते रहे
इतने बुरे भी हम शायद ना थे

election ads on tv

i pity the BJP. no, no, i'm not a BJP-hater or a Congress lover. i'm only commenting on the apparent difficulty that the party must have faced in designing its ad campaign on TV.

the BJP ads are centered around the theme of majboot neta, nirnayak sarkar. now there are a few difficulties in projecting this as the theme.

(1) the only time BJP has been in power for a full term was five years ago. and five years is a long long time when it comes to memory of the masses. so they can't project their achievements then.
(2) the neta here, i.e. mr. advani, hasn't held the prime minister post ever. so again there are no established records of his majbooti.
(3) with all this, the theme translates to a mere promise. and promises are aplenty in any election.

faced with this, the only thing BJP can do is bring out the negative points of the Congress rule. this translates to the economic slowdown, mumbai attacks, poverty etc etc. contrast this with the Congress's campaign which is positive in every sense of the word, made possible by the fact that they are the incumbents. on television at least, i think positive has a distinct advantage.

a point here. personally, i'm not in the favor of using the mumbai attacks as a political issue in these elections. if the BJP is saying that had it been in power, the incident would not have happened, then i'm sure even the staunchest of BJP supporters won't agree with this (unless he or she supports the party just because it is a party). it makes little sense, then, to take political advantage of the suffering of so many people.

back to the main issue. except for the black and white ad that has an impressive recital as the background (somewhat like the gulaal songs), i couldn't find any other BJP ads scoring high on the creative level. i think the dialogue-based ads of Congress score over the song-based ads of the BJP when it comes to talking about issues pertinent to the nation. with big bucks at stake, i think the BJP could have packed in more punch in its campaign.

reasoned logic

when the day's done
and i run out of places
i could run away to
and the dark is like
a blinding light
tearing through walls
of reasons i've built
i think of you

there are reasons
i couldn't tell you
all that i wanted
there are reasons
we could never be
together as one
there are reasons
you had to go
the way you did
there are reasons
i have to believe
we'll never meet again

but i wonder
how i never run out of
reasons to love you
despite all the reasons

random notes

## i've begun a new series of nursery rhymes. for the following (not exhaustive) reasons:
[a] they are easy to write.
[b] i got inspired by the charlie waffles act in two and a half men.
[c] i doubt the mental age of people who read this blog.

## i would have been dead if there had been no discovery channel on tv. honestly.

## i have a strong suspicion that my parents are on a mission to make me add weight.

## i've figured that i can't make do with any plan other than the unlimited one when it comes to an internet connection.

## i keep hiding all the quiz notifications on facebook and still, people keep discovering new ones

## i have discovered that i don't have the patience to read books anymore. but i'm not giving up yet.

## i cannot understand how the roadies and splitsvilla shows on mtv have gained the popularity that they have.

## sleeping too much is NOT injurious to health.