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A tete-a-tete with my ache

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  Ache: Hey there, honey! Me: (I look up glumly) Ache: One of those days that you're invoking my transformational powers, eh? Me: About time you stopped making fun of my lows. Ache: Lows? You call them lows? I provide free-of-cost revelations to you, and you label them lows? I mean, people hire fancy consultants for unearthing those nuggets of gold. Me: Not all your revelations are pleasant, you know. Ache: If they were, you wouldn’t have developed the ability for compassion, would you? Me: Agree. And I’m also human, and I also need compassion. Now do you mind leaving me alone? (I choke)   Ache: There, there…I would leave you forever, if that’s what makes you happy. I am not an unsolicited guest anyway. Me: Is it? When did I invite you, I don’

Misanthropy

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  I think I have begun losing sanity, You see, I now hate humanity! The uncle who wears an overcoat In just the same shade of fawn He makes my heart go racing I wish he never was born The officer who now does your role Tries hard to fit into your shoes Wears it like a big bad cloak Misfit, lax, and loose Then there’s this army officer His hair cut just like yours He makes me fall to the ground I wish he returns to his force Now most of them can be borne Except that one special guy Tall, broad, and strong Turning heads as he walks by His voice is also deep His demeanour known to be sweet He even matches your gait Nearly stops my heartbeat Every day on that street That you’d walk by each day Tucked in the corner in my car For just one look at you, I pray There’s a crowd that walks down that road The officer, the woman, the boy Yes – I hate everyone that’s not you My love, my life, my joy.

Moony

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Pic Courtesy: Manish Kumar from  https://www.ek-shaam-mere-naam.in/ Every time I have stood there and gazed at you, I have felt there is stillness in the world. Within and without. You, too, have been rather committed in communing with me. You have returned my admiration with fondness. You have calmed my agitated heart. You have centred my mind. And as if it was not beautiful enough to see your glowing countenance, you have run a slideshow of people who long for - just as I long to see you in your full glory. Telling me that we are all united...through you.  Standing there on the terrace, holding you in my unblinking eyes, I have known what it means to breathe comfort. You are just one of those phenomena that prove perfection exists. You stand there as a constant reminder to us lesser mortals to be more than lesser. Way more. You tell us that the idea is to be this beautiful, this comforting, and this graceful, no matter who we are.  How do you do it? Making the breeze mov

205 के भैया

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मटमैले रंग की सलवार कमीज पहने , छीजी सी चुन्नी ओढ़े , अधेड़ उम्र की मुस्कान कुल छे घर करती थी। गठा हुआ शरीर , टनकती आवाज़ और तेज़ चाल - मुस्कान दिल्ली की दबंग कामवालियों से अलग न थी। उसने बहुत पहले जान लिया था कि शहर के अमीर गिद्ध की भांति होते हैं - कमज़ोर को नोंच खाते हैं। वैसे तो काम उसने झाड़ू पोंछे से शुरू किया था , पर पैसे और हुनर बढ़ने के साथ उसने पेशे में भी तरक्की की थी। अब वो शर्तें साफ़ रखती थी - कपड़े मशीन में ही धोएगी। बर्तन गर्म पानी से ही साफ़ करेगी। खाने में एक सब्ज़ी और एक दाल से बढ़कर कुछ नहीं बनाएगी। महीने में दो छुट्टी करेगी। ये सब उसके अनुभव का निचोड़ था। सालों पहले , कई बार उसने कोशिश की थी कि बहुत अच्छा काम करके , किसी और के परिवार को अपना परिवार मान के , मैडम लोगों का दिल जीत ले। तब हाथ - पैर भी दबाये थे। सराहना में दो - चार शब्द हाथ लगे और दस - बारह पुरानी साड़ियां। तंगदिल लोगों को खुश करने की हज़ार कोशिशों के