Sunday 30 October 2016

सूटकेस

कल दोपहर मिली
मुझे उपर के माले 
में रखी एक सूटकेस|
धूल की एक परत 
जमी थी उसपर|

उसके काले रंग पर
चमकता सफेद सा 
वी.आई.पी का लोगो,
जो आज भी वैसा था,
जैसा सालों पहले कभी।   

उसे निचे ले आई मैं
और बस लौट गई।
कहाँ?  बीते कल में।
खो लिया खुदको
अपने उस बचपन में।

फिर खोलकर उसे बैठी,
और सामान सारे पसार कर
ढूढंने लगी कुछ-कुछ।
फिर मिली मुझे कविता मिरी
लिखी थी जो मुस्कुराने पर।

पन्ने मिले मुझे जिसपर
आड़ी-तिरछी लाइनें थी।
कुछ शब्द भी थे, और
रंगीन आकृतियाँ थी।
सच कहूँ तो बचपन था!

फिर क्या ? फिर सामान समेटा।
उस काले बक्से में रखा सबको।
फिर हैंडल पकड़ उसका धीरे से
मैं ऊपर के माले में  ले गई उसे
और पीछे शेल्फ पर रख दिया ।

उफ़्फ़! बहुत भारी था वो।
आखिर एक अरसा ढो रहा था।
स्मृतियाँ कैद थी उसमे
वह तो कई राज़ छुपा रहा था।
भीतर अपने बचपन बचा रहा था।

 
कल मुझे उपर के माले 
में मिली पुरानी एक सूटकेस 
जिसे साफ़ कर दुबारा मैंने 
वहीँ ऊपर छोड़ दिया।
सदा के लिये मुँह मोड़ लिया  






Wednesday 19 October 2016

And then...

And then the metal clenched around my wrist, in a way it never did before. I looked around, taken aback by such a weird way in which the bracelet has responded. it was the last thing you gave to me, I still remember how you stood there at the doorway looking at me half asleep, half awake, trying to get done with the awful day i was having. you whispered my name, I know it was barely audible, but you know right, the heart hears what it wants to, and so turned around, just to find you gawking at me, a sheepish grin spread across your face. the way it always used to I took a step towards you but by then you had almost leaped at me, pulling me in you embrace in one swift motion. I don't remember how long we remained like that, lost in each other's embrace, waiting for the latter to pull away, but yes, this much I do remember that by the time we pulled apart, you had already put the bracelet around my left wrist. and now when I look around to catch a glimpse of yours, perhaps standing in the doorway, though I know odds are against me and the possibility is next to none, I still smile foolishly.

Wednesday 14 September 2016

प्रिये!


तुम मेट्रो के ए.सी. डिब्बे से,

मैं लोकल की टूटी सीट प्रिये।



तुम जार हो फ्री न्यूटेला के,
मैं जैम की सीसी खाली प्रिये।



तुम कोलाहल के आंधी से,
मैं मुट्ठी भर बरसात प्रिये।

तुम उजियारा दिनकर का,
मैं निपट अँधेरी रात प्रिये।

तुम बोतल सील पानी के,
मैं दो टके की गिलास प्रिये।

तुम रास में डूबे गिरधारी ,
मैं गोपी तुमपे मतवारी प्रिये।

तुम उड़ते नभ् में रहने वाले,
मैं माटी में सनकर राख प्रिये।

तुम हर रिसिव्ड मेसेज से,
मैं खाली पड़ी ड्राफ्ट प्रिये।

तुम ओस की पहली बूँद से,
मैं धुप की तपती आह प्रिये।

तुम मंजिल कोई दुर्लभ वाली,
मैं उस तक जाती हर राह प्रिये।

तुम भीड़ सोफिस्टिकेटेड से,
मैं देहात की अल्हड़ बारात प्रिये।

तुम ब्रेड किसी महँगी बेकरी के,
मैं मिथिला की मखान प्रिये। 

तुम मेट्रो के ए.सी. डिब्बे से,
मैं लोकल की टूटी सीट प्रिये।

दौर दफ़्तर-दफ़्तर दौड़ का |

किस दफ्तर अब मैं जाऊँ
कहाँ अपनी गुहार लगाऊँ?
किस अफसर के बैठ सामने
मैं घंटों तक रपट लिखाऊँ?

किस मुंसी की जेब में डालूँ
नोट करारे एक से पाँच? 
किस टेबल के किस कोने में 
रख दूँ थोड़े भेट-सौगात?

अब याद नहीं हूँ कबसे बैठा
इस खिड़की वाले बेंच पे मैं|
साथ मेरे है ये टूटी चप्पल
रोज़ बनवाता हूँ मैं जिन्हें| 

भौंहे चढ़ाया था जीवन भर
हर बार बदलते शासन  पे
था अबतक मैं हिस्सा जिसका
अचंभित हूँ उस प्रशासन से!

  थके पाऊँ अब चलते-चलते
इस गलियारे से उस पथ को
हर केबिन में खोज चुका हूँ 
पर मिलते न हैं मैनेजर वो|

कभी सुना था बड़ा बाबू से
अक्सर  दस से दो वो आते हैं| 
पता नहीं फिर किस मंज़िल के
किस केबिन में छुप जाते हैं |

क्या खुलेगा कभी वो काउंटर
जहाँ हो जाएगा काम मेरा?
टूटी चप्पल भी कहती है मानो,
"नहीं प्रिये अब कुछ मोल तेरा|"

क्या बची है कोई कतार अभी भी, 
जिसमे अब तक लगा नहीं ?
या फिर है कोई ऐसा फॉरम,
जिसको अब तक भरा नहीं?

कम रोशनी से मोतियाबिंद तक 
सब हो आया इन आँखों को| 
मिला नहीं सौभाग्य इन्हें पर 
कि देख ले कन्फर्मेशन आर्डर वो| 

बता किधर अब जाऊँ मैं?
कहाँ दरख्वास्त लगाऊँ मैं? 
किस मुंसी  या अफसर से,
   ये काम अपना करवाऊँ मैं ?

(...अगले भाग मे ज़ारी)  


Tuesday 26 July 2016

मेरी मुट्ठी

मेरी छोटी सी दायीं मुट्ठी ,
और इसमें बंद बड़े से तुम|
तुम्हारे ये बड़े-बड़े ख्वाब
इन ठिगनी उँगलियों में उलझे|
और इनकी नाज़ुक सी गिरफ्त
जिसमे कैद तुम्हारी जिंदगी|

पकड़ ढीली महसूस कर,
फिसल जाते तुम्हारे अरमान|
और गिरते ज़मीं पर ''धप्प!''
दबोचकर फिर उठाती मैं उन्हें,
हौले से सहला उन्हें बहलाती
और मुट्ठी में बंद तुम्हे सौंप देती|

तुम छिटपिटाते बाहर आने को 
पर लोरी गा तुम्हे मैं सुला देती|
मन मसोस, तुम सुस्त पड़ जाते
और निहारते दरीचे से दुनिया को|
हाँ कभी फिर दिल पिघलता मेरा
और तुम्हे ज़रा सा बाँट लेती मैं;
शाख से टूटे सुर्ख लाल पत्ते से,
सड़क पर खड़े अबोध बच्चे से|

मेरी छोटी सी ये दायीं मुट्ठी,
जिसमे कैद तुम्हारी जिंदगी|

❤️

Thursday 12 May 2016

My obsession with 2 AM people

Earlier, well like two seconds ago,the title for this post didn't have 'people' at its end. Why did I add it? Well to simply make it clear what I mostly mean when I refer to 2 AM. Though it's the quietest part of the night and the most peaceful too. Lights are mostly out. Birds don't chirp around like the way they do, say at 4 AM or something. Even the sky is completely black, not of the bluish tint it starts getting after 3:30. By the time I had finished writing this unfathomable time period in the above paragraph, yes those last two words being specific, I ran out of thoughts, I couldn't recall possible ways to describe, dignify and define the reason and severity of my obsession to these least or most noticed souls. So let's talk about those sapiens whom I classified, according to my own basis of characterization, into the 2 AM peeps. Well they are the writers,the poets,the readers, the lovers, the dreamers, the drunk drivers,the world lost in sleep, the bouncers, the watchmen, the call centre chaps, the docs., the jocks, the ''what'', and the "what not's". Last but not the least, it's the very people like you and me. Yes, you in particular. I can clearly see the real '2 AM self' of yours, no matter how much you try to hide it from the world, I can see it all. You are an open book to me. I am well capable of looking up the pages of your past, shuffle and read the last few seconds of your lifespan. I can even tear away the 66th  or 174th  chapter of it. I can do it all. Well no. I can't. I don't know any kind of sorcery. If I did I sure would have known before hand that my brothers will  spoil the 'game of thrones' experience forever for me. Don't start judging, I haven't watched a single scene yet. So yes, as I was saying, I can't look up into your life and neither can you Google everything about me. Why?  It is so because I simply don't care. It's not that I am a carefree soul wandering in the mysterious depth of the world., I am just a careless person. So I care less about other persons. No matter who they are. Always a little less. I met a poet once, instead of falling for my eyes or my wickedly cute smile, he fell for my name and eventually with my work on words. Perhaps he fell for the little mindless stupid things I talked about too.  Things I often said and laughed at  myself, totally ignoring his views on it, being biased in my very own ways. But I am not sure about it. I never asked him. He never told. He wrote in verses, like real verses, rhyming and beautiful to their core. Using the little knowledge I had at that time, I used to reply in verses too. Soon it became a ritual. He became a habit. But people change and so did I and thus changed the way of  my talking and the time we spent together.He was my favorite 2 AM man, he still is, and maybe he is the most talented as well. I still very well recall myself rushing into his confined presence, feeling safer and  sane enough to cope, pouring out each and every detail of the day I spent miles and miles away from him, and he doing the same. From what we ate to what we studied and whom we read to why we hurried. Everything. As in everything.The weather.The silence. The chaos. The government. The aches. The dreams. Literally everything. He is a man with a little logical brain as compared to the over proportionate slippery heart, with my name etched on one of its corner, he carries within his ribs. I guess you can find my initials below his left mitral valve. Why left? Oh it's so because I am left handed and thus I gladly connect with anything which is left. Oh no,  of course with exception to the 'Left Front', I am a believer of the centralized  way of governance after all. Then there are always the watchmen, as a child of 6, I was sure that the guy shouting 'keep being awake' in my Muhalla is busy in plotting a massive robbery, ready to mutilate us all, if ever the need arose. But as of now, I find it really difficult to doze off without listening to his monotonous  whistles and rhythmic thumps.  God!  Time really changes you a lot. I have noticed that he comes around 11 and lazily takes a few round of the block. Then he leaves by 1 to return exactly at 2. Quite an amusing schedule he has. Well, I might inform the committee members about his usual absence. What if we really get robbed?  That would be disastrous.  They might take away the copy of my Harry Potter edition and ruin it. And of course, don't feel left out. Apart from these highly remarkable  men with such an inspiring caliber,  I am fond of each and every admin of the Facebook pages I had liked ages ago to fill my wall at the ungodly hours with such godly stuffs. Even if you people think that you are an useless and jobless fellow, bringing shame to the society and incapable of doing anything worthy, (perhaps they might be right about it too) each one of you is doing a great job at being an admin. Such skills. It's so appreciable. And of course get a real life, so that I can focus on my own. Now, it's time to wrap it up. That poet of mine, yes 'mine' must had have posted something. I have to check it. This virtual world I tell you. The era if social networking which though shortens the distance but widens the gap between two individuals. I  have to hurry so that I can keep his words stored in my sub-consciousness, so when I am in my lows,  his words will give me the strength  to reach out and help my very own self. Being practical,  I must prepare to sleep now. It's time I should crawl into my bed,  cover my tiny frame with sheets,  get comfortable, for the watchman  will arrive any moment now. And since I  am obsessed with his weird tunes,  I need to listen them peacefully. Go find your obsessions till then.

Saturday 12 March 2016

लौट यहीं फिर आना तुम

उन क़िस्सों से जब थक जाओगे
लौट इस दर पर आना तुम|
बातें करनी सीख ली होंगी
तो दिल का हाल सुनाना तुम|


क्या-क्या खोया क्या है पाया
सब मुझको बतलाना तुम|
गर इश्क़ किया था सच्चा हमसे
तो फिर से छोड़ ना जाना तुम|


बीते बिसरी बातों को बस
लबों पर ना ले आना तुम|
ख्वाबों मे गुम हो जाने का
वो तरीका मत अपनाना तुम|

  
आँखों मे आँखें डाले
शिकवे सारे बिसराना तुम
अल्हड़ सूरज भी छुप जाए जो
तो दिल मे चाँद जलाना  तुम|

जो सीखा होगा इन सालों मे, 
वो बात पते की बतलाना तुम|
यादों की उन फुलझरियों से,
दिल की चिंगारी जलाना तुम| 


इन क़िस्सों से जब थक जाओगे
लौट इस दर पर आना तुम|
बातें करनी सीख ली होंगी
तो दिल का हाल सुनाना तुम|


Wednesday 20 January 2016

Life Happens

"It's hard to Delete a number, Ignore a call, Deactivate account, Unfriend someone. Moving on and erasing that person from your heart seems impossible. But it isn't impossible."
Come out of your shell. Reach out to others. Wake up. Because its just a trance. All that dreams you saw was just an illusion. All that future planning of yours was just a distraction.
You have to realize that it was just a phase and it had to pass. Don't run away, don't rush yourself. Accept it and just move on. Its the best you can do to yourself.
Did you silently cry last night because you were remembering the times you spent with that person? When was the last time you cried because you weren't able to sit with your whole family and eat your dinner? Think about it. Give them what they deserve. Give them the smile they want to see on your face. Give them that happiness when you wipe off your tears and greet them with a hearty laugh.
What you thought? That person will stay with you forever? No that's not possible, right? even our very cells, the building blocks of our life die after a period of time so that new baby cells can take their place and keep us alive.When they can leave then why can't a person?
People may come and go from your life but you must go on forever. That's what makes you human after all. See that little girl playing in the park and that boy on the swing. Look at the tiny specks of tiredness in your father's eyes and try to understand what he must go through to keep his family together. One day you will take his responsibility. One day you will take care of your mother and your family. So be happy for that day. Prepare yourself for that day.