ahem ahem

quote of the day: if you really want to speed things up, stop looking at the watch.

pj of the day: how did the couple manage to stay on the same page? because the girl was miss-understanding.

mixed feelings

there's a river between
where we are and
where we want to be

लहरें शायद हमें
दो किनारों पे कहीं
पटक देना चाहती हैं

maybe they don't like
the way i hold your hand
the way we hold hands

लाख कोशिश कर हारी नदी
हताशा से अब भरी है
हमें अलग करने पर पडी है

and now all it can do
is make it hard for us
the bank keeps getting further

और हम यहाँ अटके हैं
दुश्मन समंदर में
मंजिल से बहुत दूर

but don't you worry dear
you are all the courage
i'll ever need
with you by my side
the black clouds around us
have a sliver of sunshine

हाथ ये मेरा तुम
थामे रहो बस यूँ ही
तुम्हारी कुछ लकीरों से
उलझी रहें मेरी लकीरें

[i know this is kinda incoherent and slipshod. but i was just trying to test the hypothesis that i think in english when i write in hindi and vice versa. i think it's true.
the pic is by Crazy]

it shouldn't end

हम तो चले जा रहे थे
आंखों में लिए सपने कई
फ़िर जाने क्या हुआ
अचानक ठोकर लग गई
चलने में ही हम खुश थे
जाने कहाँ से मंजिल मिल गई

two-in-one

i told them to stand in a line
all the colors of my life
and like boys who've been scolded
they did so with long sullen faces
each one tried to hide behind the other
vying to be the very last in the line
i counted them all and found some missing
colors i had lost somewhere on the way
but for every lost one i found many others
not like the ones i lost, but no less
i gave them a hard look, all the reds and blues
the bright yellows and the chirpy greens
and then i realised what i'd been missing
there were no absent colors, nothing lost ever
i had let them be themselves, setting them free
and they had played together and mixed well
and of all the emotions and fervour and glee
there had risen some entirely new colors
so now i had my brilliant purples and lazy browns
colors enough to make a thousand-colored rainbow

------


मैंने अपने सारे रंग सहेजे थे
आंसुओं और मुस्कानों को
अलग कोठरियों में बंद रखा था
दिल-दिमाग के बीच एक खाई खोद
ख़ुद को बड़ा समझदार बूझ रहा था

पर फ़िर बारिश हो गई

भीगे आंसू गीली मुस्कानों से जा मिले
दिल-दिमाग की खाई पानी से पट गई
सारी समझदारी धरी की धरी रह गई
सारे रंग मटियामेट हो
जाने क्या से क्या हो गए

बारिशों में जाने
क्या जादू होता है
मैं कुछ सोचूँ
और वो कुछ और ही
तस्वीर बना देती है
क्योंकि मेरे पास
बस थोड़े ही रंग हैं
और मेरे सपनों
के सारे रंग
बस बारिश ही
बना सकती है

अब लत लग गई है बारिशों की
उसकी बूंदों में घोल
रोज़ नए रंग बनाता हूँ
कोठरियां टूट गई हैं
आंसुओं को भी अब मैं
मुस्कानों का राग सुनाता हूँ

[both pics by Crazy. the second one is the reflection of colored boats in a lake.]

before and after

कहते हैं बातें करो
किसी ख़ास से तो
वक़्त थम जाता है
बातों की गली से
कुछ मुस्कानों का
रास्ता जाता है

कुछ बदनसीबों की
बातों का मतलब
कुछ और होता है
खूब बातें करते हैं
क्योंकि आंखों के सामने
वक़्त जाता होता है

----

अपने हिस्से की खामोशी
हाथों में थामे
वो चलता रहता है
बातों की यादों से बातें
गुमसुम सी फरियादें
वो करता रहता है

बातों भरी मुस्कानों की
गली में अब चुप्पी का
पहरा सा होता है
किसी से ना कह पाए
उन बातों को ले
पगला बस रोता है

all alone

सूनी बाहें फैलाये
सूखा दरख्त कहता है
भूरेपन के पीछे
इक हरा रंग बसता है

कुछ यादों पे अपना
बस ना कभी चलता है
जब भी शाम आती है
अकेलेपन का अँधेरा खलता है

[photo by Basu. this poem is kinda incomplete. i know what will complete it and still it doesn't fit.]

जागरण

कहा था मत जोड़
तारों के संग नाता
सारी रात बकबक करें
उनका क्या जाता?

वो शैतान आसमानी हैं
पर तू तो संसारी है
उन्हे तो बस खेलना है
तुझपर जिम्मेदारी है

संगत क्या रंगत
देख आज लायी है
नींद तेरी आँखों से
कब से शरमाई है

आँखों को चुभती हैं
सूरज की किरनें प्यारी
रात तो जगा खूब तू
अब ऊंघने की है पारी

अब भी समय है
जग जा ओ भोले
तारों से नाता तोड़
रात थोडा सो ले

उल्लू रे, काहे जान गंवाई
रात इतना जागा तू
अब बेमौसम बरसात सी
दिन में नींद है आई

:P :P

the bucket list

a hesitating tear
hope-heavy
pauses for a second
glistening in glee
then rolls down
to deafening applause
dreams congratulate
the graduating one

happiness. check.

:)

eternal enmity

they fight each other
jostling and shoving
and just when you think
it's over and one has won
the fight starts
all over again

one has time on its side
while the other swears
on the cycle called life
one says there's but death
at the end of it all
the other says
we die to be reborn

you see it everyday
in the changing of seasons
the death of an old man
or the birth of new ones
the setting of the sun
the rains and the droughts
there's this fight everywhere
from dusk to dawn

and yet this is all
that's there to life

the fight between green and yellow

[photo by Crazy]

random

=> i think i've lost the patience for reading. there are so many books left unread. i'm no longer a reader.

=> i hate people who keep honking even when they can see there's no way the person ahead can move faster. it's as if they want the horn to clear the road ahead.

=> ever noticed how adding coriander leaves to anything with a curry works miracles to the taste? i've discovered two more magic ingredients for noodles/pasta : cheese and chaat masala.

=> i think i would have made a good cook. but now i won't ever be one.

=> like melvin of as good as it gets, i sometimes try to skip over tile boundaries. i never thought i had OCD. coz i can live with a squalid room. but my cleaning campaigns are very thorough.

=> i read the following comment about drangonball Z evolution somewhere : This is the story about goku's newest evil enemy - Hollywood. The evil hollywood butchers, rapes and murders him. now i know this for a fact.

=> dragonball Z and two and a half men are the only two series i've watched, i think.

=> i've been eating chicken twice a day for almost two months now. the path to obesity isn't as tough as many people would think.

=> i really couldn't make out what the hullabaloo for kaminey was about. to me it was just the two footballs - guddu and charlie - being passed around a bunch of thugs with the director trying to weave the semblance of a story between shots.

=> watchmen is one of those rare movies wherein the good guy dies in the end and the bad guy lives on and yet you feel there couldn't have been a better end. personally though, i feel, the movie would have been much better if all of them had some real superpowers. not just dr manhattan.

=> the gandhi parivar is the thing that separates BJP and Congress today. i don't know if it's a good/bad thing but having an unquestionable authority actually works wonders sometimes. because people are not good at being guided by ideals. they need physical things. no wonder why almost all religions of the world who've denounced idol worship still have ended up giving their followers something they can bow their heads to. it might be a religious book, a photo of a religious place or a number of other things.

=> ganesha is my favorite god.

=> the sri lankan army has offered military training to pakistani soldiers. the course will impart their learnings in countering insurgency. they say even india can avail of the offer. i think india will benefit tremendously from this training. but only the day it becomes an island and its terrorists have no outside support and the sea escape routes are manned by a bigger, more resourceful nation.

=> there's a song in what's your rashee - jao na. when i heard it the first time, i interpreted it as 'why don't you go?' . but the rest of the song didn't click into place. on the second run, i realized that he meant 'don't go'

=> i wish xkcd came out everyday!

inconvenience

शैतान तारों को कहना
अपनी लुकाछिपी का इंतजाम
कहीं और करवाया करें
शाम होते ही हर रोज़
बचकाने से खेल के लिए
सूरज ना बुझाया करें

dislike/hate/ho-hum?

i wonder why the opposite of 'like' in google reader is 'unlike'.

polka dots

हर कदम हैरान करती ज़िन्दगी के
रंग हजारों में होते होंगे
आधी ख़ुशी, आधे ग़म, आधे ना जाने क्या
के लम्हे बेशुमार होते होंगे
पर सोचो तो जो घड़ियाँ
तस्वीर को कुछ आकार देती हैं
वो तो बस उजले और सफ़ेद
दो ही रंगों में रंगी होती हैं

हाँ-ना, ना-हाँ में उलझे कई प्रश्नों में
हम ज़िन्दगी के जवाब ढूँढ़ते रहते हैं
दो रंगों की कूची हाथ में लिए
बाकी रंग तलाश करते रहते हैं
उजली भोर से फिर काली रात तक
ज़िन्दगी का सफ़र चलता है
उजली ख़ुशी से काले द्वेष तक
भावनाओं का सागर उमड़ता है

अन्दर का कालापन कभी बाहर की
उजली मुस्कान से ढक नहीं पाता है
उजले बादल से सपनों को कभी
कोई काला अँधेरा रोक नहीं पाता है

मेरे छाते में भी कुछ प्यारे से
उजले काले धब्बे रहते हैं
उलझे लिपटे से एक दूसरे से
कितने ही सवाल और जवाब रहते हैं
छाते की उजली-काली परछाईं तले
मैं खुद में झाँक सोचता रहता हूँ
अपने आकाश में इतने सूरज रख
अन्दर उजाला खोजता रहता हूँ

[photography by basu.]

bad people

"We all have the potential to fall in love a thousand times in our lifetime. It's easy. The first girl I ever loved was someone I knew in sixth grade. Her name was Missy; we talked about horses. The last girl I love will be someone I haven't even met yet, probably. They all count. But there are certain people you love who do something else; they define how you classify what love is supposed to feel like. These are the most important people in your life, and you'll meet maybe four or five of these people over the span of 80 years. But there's still one more tier to all this; there is always one person you love who becomes that definition. It usually happens retrospectively, but it happens eventually. This is the person who unknowingly sets the template for what you will always love about other people, even if some of these lovable qualities are self-destructive and unreasonable. The person who defines your understanding of love is not inherently different than anyone else, and they're often just the person you happen to meet the first time you really, really, want to love someone. But that person still wins. They win, and you lose. Because for the rest of your life, they will control how you feel about everyone else." -quote by Chuck Klosterman

dunno if this really happens. but it's a bad thing if it really does. and i don't think it really does. i think this is something like a self-fulfilling prophecy. every person who reads this will try to find out that one special person in his/her life. and will construct one if the need be - giving someone the 'special' qualities mentioned in this quote. it's like every cancerian finding himself moody and arty, like his/her sunsign says. and anyways, by the time one reaches the age where such judgment can be made and the real 'one' found, there will be too much of dust and grime surrounding the occurrences of the distant past - all the more reason for reaching faulty conclusions. when there isn't even a reason to conclude anything. and the one place where this quote goes terribly wrong is it makes the need to love precede the arrival of the 'one'!

PS: btw, i'm so inspired by this quote that i'm thinking of going into the business of giving such quotes :P! shouldn't be too hard, i think.

PPS: idle times in office are a fecund ground for the propounding and exposition of all kinds of theories. :D

amnesia

ख़ुद से बातें कर हम
आंसू बहा रहे थे
धुंधली पडी यादों से
कहानियाँ बना रहे थे
अरसा गुज़र गया
बातें हैं बड़ी पुरानी
जाने क्या सच है
जाने क्या कहानी
पर फ़िर लगा
जाने क्यूँ रो रहे हैं
किसकी बातों को ले
इतने जस्बाती हो रहे हैं
धुंधलेपन की स्याही
हर तस्वीर रंग चुकी है
आँखों के अंगारों में
कुछ बातें फुंक चुकी हैं

सोचा तो फ़िर हंस दिए
की ये भी खूब रही
जिस चेहरे को रोते हैं
वो चेहरा ही याद नही

household banter ..

सुनते हो जी?
अब क्या हुआ? कौन सा पहाड़ टूट गया?
अरे ! मैं क्या हमेशा बुरी खबर ही लाती हूँ?
नहीं, बिलकुल नहीं | वो तो मैं यूँ ही 'सुनते हो जी' सुनकर ही अन्दर तक काँप जाता हूँ ..
देखो जी, फिर से झगडा मत शुरू करो..
मुझे कुत्ते ने काटा है?
तुमने मुझे कुत्ता कहा?
अरे श्रीमतीजी, आप कुछ बोल रही थी शायद..
लो, तुम्हारी बकवास बातों में मैं असली बात तो भूल ही गयी..
हाँ तो कहो ना..
वो पड़ोस वाली मिसेज गुप्ता कह रही थी कि हमारा राजू उनकी बेटी मुन्नी को घूरता रहता है ..
भगवन का लाख लाख शुक्र है!!
गजब बाप हो तुम, बेटा आवारागर्दी पे उतर आया है और तुम भगवन का शुक्र मना रहे हो?
और क्या? अच्छा है ना, लड़की को ही घूरता है, किसी लड़के से तो नैन-मटक्का नहीं करता!!
छि छि!! कैसी बातें करते हो! हमारा राजू वैसा नहीं है...
हाँ तो अच्छा है ना कि वैसा नहीं है ..
वो तो है पर उसका ये मतलब है कि लड़कियों को घूरता रहे!!
राजू है कहाँ, उससे बुलाओ तो ज़रा ..
राजू.....!
हाँ मम्मी..
बेटा, पापा तुमसे कुछ बात करना चाहते हैं..
राजू, वो पड़ोस में जो लड़का रहता है, उसका नाम क्या है?
लड़का?? वहां तो पिंकी रहती है .. रोज़ सुबह नौ बजे स्कूल जाती है..
और आती कब है?
चार बजे, और हर बुधवार पांच बजे डांस सीखने भी जाती है..
देखो तो जी!!! पूरा टाइमटेबल पाता है लड़के को!!
राजू बेटा, कब से चल रही है ये छान-बीन?
वो पापा मैं ... वो...
देखो बेटा, अब समय आ गया है कि मैं तुम्हे कुछ बातें बता दूं ..
जी पापा..
सच कहूं तो मुझे तुमसे ऐसी आशा नहीं थी.. मेरा बेटा हो कर ऐसी हरकत..
मैं तो कहती हूँ दो चपत लगाओ जोर से..
मैं बात कर रहा हूँ ना, तुम बीच में मत आओ ..
पापा, मैं वो ...
तुम्हे ज़रा भी शर्म नहीं आई ? बाप का नाम मिटटी में मिलाते हुए...
गलती हो गयी पापा .. आगे से कभी नहीं करूंगा...
आज के बाद मुझे कभी ये सुनने को नहीं मिलना चाहिए..
जी पापा..
लड़की घूरनी है, शौक से घूरो.. पर आईंदा कभी पकडे नहीं जाने चाहिए
हैं?
हैं?
वर्ना मैं तुम्हारी वो हालत करूंगा कि खुद कि शकल नहीं पहचान पाओगे..
जी पापा जी, जैसा आप कहें..
ये तुम क्या अनाप शनाप बके जा रहे हो?
अनाप शनाप? तुम्हे कितने सालों तक घूरा था मैंने, याद है?
हटो जी, तुम भी ना..
हाँ राजू पर एक काम करना, पहले उस से झगडा कर के देख लेना..
उस से क्या होगा पापा?
उस से पता चल जायेगा कि आगे तुम्हे कितना बहरा बनना पड़ेगा..
चुप भी रहोगे!
अच्छा पापा, मैं अब चलता हूँ |
कहाँ चले?
वो पापा आज बुधवार है, और पांच बज चुके हैं...
जाओ बेटा जाओ, विजयी भव !
बड़ा शेर समझ रहे होगे तुम तो अभी खुद को ..
और क्या, मेरा बेटा भी शेर बनेगा ..
पिताजी की पिटाई याद नहीं?
हाँ तो मैंने कब कहा राजू की पढाई पूरी हो गयी है ...

surrender

i had swum for long
against the tides
and when i grew weary
i just let myself be
said goodbye to the seas
and reached the shores

and here i am
stuck in a mire
of my own making
my hands are tied down
by weeds growing on me
and i can only look
at the sad waves
that pass me by everyday

i had always thought
giving up would be easy
and i'd be at peace
after i've done the deed

but no, there's much more
the pang of guilt
and the watery expanse
reminding me every second
of what could have been

the swimmer is tired
but i shout out to him
don't you dare let go
here i am, stuck in mud
ruing the very day
i had given up
don't you dare give up

[photo courtesy basu again]

rush hour

the two ads were placed one below the other in the ranchi edition of TOI :D!

bloooo

नीला आकाश सारा
आंखों में बसा कर
बादलों से उजले
सपने देखती हूँ
तारों भरी मुट्ठी
कस कर भींचे
सूरज की सारी
बातें सुनती हूँ

अब तो बस
मुझे सपनों को
सच करना है
आकाश के नीलेपन
की प्यारी चादर ओढ़
सपनों की नीली सी
घुट्टी पी कर
अपनी सारी दुनिया
आकाश सी नीली
कर जाना है

क्योंकि कल मेरा
अपना एक आकाश होगा
मेरी पतंग को उड़ने को
अपना नीला जहाँ होगा

[image clicked by Crazy]

life-saving advice?

seen on the number plate of a Karizma:

avoid girls.
save petrol.

:P :D

the bond

अपनी ढोलक से
मेरे पैरों को सुर देना
सफ़ेद दीवारों के बीच
हलके से रंग देना
इतना नाचूं मैं
कि अम्बर भी घूमे
इतना नाचूं कि संग
सारा जग झूमे
बाबा की बिटिया
आज मुस्कराएगी
बाबा को भी बस
अपने संग हंसायेगी

[image by Basu]

elvish he speaks

and the elf showed me the way
that i knew all i needed to know
there will be voices in my head
all that i've seen, and met
it will be difficult tying down
a myriad thoughts with logic threads
the voices will drown everyone else
and then deafen me, if i let them
but there's the good kid inside me
pressing his palms against his ears
eyes screwed in concentration
trying to reach out to me
the elf said that he was the key to
everything that ever was, and will be
the voices might end up making a row
all i should hear to is the kid's say

[photo by Crazy. was titled: 'kids' zone. and the elf is grinning from a distance']

random selection

सपने सुनने वाला
तारा दिन में
सो जाता है
तभी दिन का
सपना कभी सच
नहीं हो पाता है
दिन के सपने
आँखों में छुपाके
रात सो जाओ
फिर तारा जागकर
सपने सुन कर
उनपे खूब सोचेगा
फिर कुछ सपने
आँखों से चुराके
सच कर देगा

happy to help :)

i am superman and i can fly
but there are not many who know
you're the one who gives me wings
those and all my sweet little things

dreams just seem to roll on and on
all the time i'm holding your hand
i have my doubts every other day
all those dreams are colored your way

and when i wake up in the mornings
i'm just happy that there's another day
there's some sunshine at my door
and i can look at you some more

Everyday I want to fly, stay by my side
Everyday I want to dream, stay by my side
Every morning I wish I could just play
Wish the mornings would just stay…..

[the last para is the background song of the vodafone 'happy to help' ad.]

love aaj kal

socha na tha, jab we met and now love aaj kal. i think i've taken a liking to imtiaz ali's movies :P!

on another note, i think it's good that deepika padukone has been given very few dialogues in this movie. any more, and i'm sure the result would have drastically different :P! the tall lass looked out of her depth when pitted against the suave and witty saif. i really think kareena would have done a much better job. though there was a time when the only movie in which i thought kareena had a done good job was chameli. but jab we met changed that. that's what good directors can do to you.

waise, what's all this with a foreigner doing the role of harleen? couldn't they have found an indian punjabi kudi ? :D

flat world

when my parents came to know i had bought a 150 cc bike, they asked me why i had bought so heavy a bike (its weight also comes to around 150 kg). and i had replied: it's not as if i have to carry it. the bike will carry me [not my words. someone else had said this to me]

today i realised how it feels to pull/push/cajole a 150 kg mini-elephant - even though i had to do this only for about half a km. my day started with a flat tire. and when i finally managed to get to the puncture repairing shop, it turned out there was no puncture! the guy said that most probably someone had played a prank.

now, even after being drenched in sweat, i believe in the basic humanity of people. i still think this has something to do with yesterday evening when i had air filled at the petrol pump.

however, if i'm proved wrong at a later stage, i swear the culprit will be bludgeoned to death. with a 150 kg object.