Slice of life..

‘Same old routine’ – The omnipresent complain about the repetitive chores we perform in our daily lives! The boredom is not totally uncalled for, especially for people who commute for long hours to their work places - like me. Clock takes over right from the morning it decides when I walk, bath, do breakfast and get off to work! But as I think about it, I wonder what an amazing thing time is!

As I ride to my workplace around the same time and on the same roads almost every day, I notice many people - complete strangers – but tied together with this thread called ‘routine’. There is this shop on one of the narrow alleys, which opens almost at the same time as I cross it. An old Muslim vegetable vendor (whose face looks similar to that of Naseeruddin Shah) carrying vegetables on his hand cart would be around the same sharp turn that comes my way. Then there is this bald and stoic policeman who deftly manages the traffic at an under-pass. He would always be smiling even when everybody around him is honking aloud!

Among many such people and places that I see as I travel to office I can never ignore a special set of people. Nearer to my office and on a long straight stretch of the road, I daily notice a group of small girls who must be around 13-14 years old walking past me and in a direction that is opposite to the vehicular traffic. They belong to the same school, as their uniforms indicate and are remarkably bold! How can I say that?

Well, the girls are all blind. They walk in groups of three, with one girl holding the stick, countering the potholes and dodging the incoming traffic while the other two huddle close to their leader! There are some three or four such groups that I notice daily. The apathy of our society is appalling when you see lack of even the basic infrastructure for such differently- abled. It won’t take a genius to figure out the tremendous stress these aspiring little girls must be undergoing as they walk past the violent and unruly traffic. I have seen them getting scared of honking, stopping suddenly to the sound of breaking tyres, probing the ground hastily with their stick and yet continuing their journey one step at a time, daily.

 

What amazes me and also puts me to shame is an often visible smile on their faces! The smiles are amazing because they convey hope. Despite all the odds, there must still be some hope in them that pushes them to try harder each day and lets them smile! What’s shameful is that we as a society do so little to help such hopes.

I don’t know where they come from; I don’t know which school they walk to. But I know their lives wouldn’t be easy. In a society filled with millions who worry about their inability to buy the latest mobile phones, cars and luxurious homes – these girls dare to swim against the tide. These complete strangers, much younger than me, daily teach a lesson or two as I ride past them. I salute you girls!

 

 

ये नया चलन है

सुबह-सुबह सूरज से पहले कुछ परिंदे आये,

पता नहीं किस भाषा में पर खूब बातें की मुझसे।

सुनता ही रहा मैं। मेरी बातें तो उन्हें समझ नहीं आती न!

शाम होते तक एहसास हुआ - परिंदे नहीं,  फ़रिश्ते थे!

आगाह करने आये थे आने वाले दिनों के लिए।

सुनते रहो ज़माने की, खुद की बस अपने से कहो।

रोज़ बदलते ज़माने का ये नया चलन है।

मेरी ख़ामोशी

खामोश लफ्ज़ हुए मेरे यूँ बेवजह नहीं ,

चुप हर वो शख्स है जिस्से मैं गुफ्तगू करता।

किसी में दुनिया नहीं रहती, कोई दुनिया में नहीं रहता !

'Business As Usual' - short story

Oh damn! Is he coming here?


Looks like he is!

Run behind, let’s hide into the corner! Let that fatso go first, she has been eating and crying all day!

You bet! But what if he picks one of us or both?

Hmm it’s scary! But I would prefer that to happen than just sitting and waiting here for the dreadful moment to come.

Well, you are actually right – we sit here lame and helpless, hearing our peers cry loud before the eternal silence and then secretly thank God that it wasn’t us this time! Well aware of the inevitable, we still hope for the impossible! I think we are already dead in our spirit!

Yeah! Why not change this monotonous routine of waiting and crying?

What do you have in mind?

Well, I still remember some old songs, the ones my mom used to sing when we could actually watch the sun rise from the hut I was born in. Lets sing a few of them and make better use of whatever little time we have!

Not to mention – I have a pathetic voice, but who cares? Let’s Sing!!

The environment inside the coop changed from gloomy to gay in moments! The bleary eyed group of birds looked at these crazy stupid duo.

One of the big mouths yelled what shame! Who sings at place of death? Times have changed. Others agreed in unison and frowned at the madness of two.

Suddenly the ruckus calms down. All eyes turn towards the pathway. A pot-bellied man wearing a light blue vest and a checkered lungi walks in.

‘Babu Kasaai is here!!!’ screams the youngest of the lot.

‘Who is the guy next to him?’ quips an observant fellow.

‘How does it matter? They are all the same.’ comments an understandably resigned soul.

However, the singing duo seems to be least bothered! They continue to chirp, jump, singing aloud! Sharing smiles, dancing together, a peck here and a dig there – they looked like the happiest souls on the planet at this very moment!

Unaware of this foreign sets of feelings, language and society, two humans walk in and stand next to the coop.

‘Kaun si de doon saab?’ (Which one shall I pick for you, master?) , asks Babu.

‘Zara dekhne to do Babu bhai! Jaldi kya hai?’ (Let me have a look Babu, what’s the rush?) replies Chandru, the first time customer of Babu.

Chandru runs his eyes around the coop, watching each of the hens with his eager eyes. Like an X-ray machine, he would measure the amount of ‘flesh’ each of these would fetch him at his dinner plate. When he is done with his round of short-listing he turns towards Babu, points his finger and says –

‘Ye do murgiyaan nikaal do, taazi lag rahi hain! Kaafi fudak rahi hain!’

(Pick these two dancing ones; they seem to be quite healthy!)

Babu dutifully obeys – gets his hand into the coop and lifts the dancing duos by their legs. Hanging upside down, the duo is still unfazed by the now-visible death. Their song keeps echoing along the hall, then fading through the walkway as Babu and Chandru walk away from the coop into a separate room. The coop in its usual reaction, turns to a place of mourning but cannot ignore the songs reaching their ears, until they hear two continuous slices of the thick-edged knife. It’s business as usual for the coop. Just a little ripple of change brought about by two mavericks, nothing more nothing less.

‘Achha Babu bhai, chalte hain!’ ( Okay Babu, see you later! ), Chandru walks away with a bag full of chopped meat whistling away a song he heard long time back, sometime during the sunrise in his backyard.

तजुर्बा

न जाने खुद से रोज़ लड़ के वो क्या पाता है?

आदमी चंद लकीरों से मात खाता है.

तमाम किस्म के रंजों से नवाज़ा है मुझे,

उस खुदा से मेरा बरसों पुराना नाता है.

कभी बेजाँ, कभी दबा रहे पैरों के तले,

वही पत्थर भी कभी चाँद बन इतराता है.

ज़िन्दगी सोच के मानिंद कब हुई है जनाब,

ये बादशाह तुघलकी फरमान ही सुनाता है.

ग़म से दोस्ती करना ही अब मुनासिब है,

ज़िद्दी मेहमान है, बिन बुलाए चला आता है!

Professional highs and personal lows,

How long can I get hit and keep facing blows?

I put off all the lights and pain slows,

Somewhere far, a distant light of hope shimmers and glows.

To the Spartans !



Spartans 2012

It's almost a year ago that 300 dreams walked in,

Aptly named for tastes - Whisky, Vodka, Rum and Gin!

Induction made us gel together with a lot of fun,

Many tributaries joined together to form a force of ONE!

What started there-after was the taste of times to come,

KY trips, Micro Pre reads & mid-night group submission!

Friendships bloomed, inhibitions doomed and smiles shared,

We lived like one big family and even for the dogs we cared!

Guest lectures, empirical projects, assignments were tough grind,

Loopholes could not hide for long from brightest of the mind!

Came the placement week and we all scurried for jobs,

Huddled together shoulder to shoulder, smiles fought with sobs.

With success in our stride we ventured out for fun,

Trips aplenty to the beaches, pubs, Mahabs and Kanchipuram.

Like all good things in life, this year finally comes to an end.

We enjoyed the journey together, but the paths have twists and bend.

Go and claim from the world your rightful place under the Sun,

No retreat, No Surrender - You are a SPARTAN !

Photo Courtsey : Shiva



होली !

सफलता की छाँव हो या कठिनाइयों की धुप..
लगे ऐसा रंग सब पे एक हों रंग रूप!

होली की आग में भस्म हो सब के द्वेश और बैर..
मिलाओ हाथ से हाथ बढ़ाओ प्रगत दिशा में  पैर!

मदमस्त  झूम  के  नाचे सभी, ऐसी हो भंग की गोली..
रंगों से भर दें चारो दिशाएं, आओ मनाएं होली !

कश्मकश

यूँ जिंदगी की रफ़्तार के गिरफ्तार हम,

कुसूरवार वो पर गुनहगार हम!

कहाँ इतनी जुर्रत है नादानीयों में?

पकड़ते हैं राह अपनी दानिस्ता हम!

~

नहीं करती परेशान ये दुनिया की उलझन,

जो औरों की तरह हम भी सोचते कम!

करें कैसे सामना गैरत का अपनी?

बेअदब वो है और साइश्ता हम !

~