• “तो ये भी क्या बुरा है” – Poem

    कश्मकश नहीं थी ज़िन्दगी,
    जो बनकर रह गयी
    इक जद्दोजहद,
    बस धुंधली सी तस्वीर रह गयी

    तूफां से बचते-सहते गर दरार पड़ गयी,
    तो ये भी क्या बुरा है।

    बारिश की कुछ उम्मीद थी
    छाता उठा लिया,
    ख़ुदा भी था रूठा सा,
    सूरज दहका दिया

    बूँदें पसीने की थी जिनसे हम नहा गए,
    तो ये भी क्या बुरा है।

    तन्हा हम इस सफ़र के
    मुसाफिर हो गए,
    कुछ साथ हुए, कुछ मोड़ मिले
    कुछ राह बदल गए

    तन्हाई गर एक हमसफ़र से ज़्यादा साथ दे,
    तो ये भी क्या बुरा है।

    दुनिया में सब निराले,
    अँखियाँ मूँद भ्रांतियां पाले
    इंसानियत से ना सरोकार,
    है अंधे आँखों वाले

    जब अंधे की इंसानियत आँखों पर भारी पड़े,
    तो ये भी क्या बुरा है।

     

  • TOWARDS THE SUNRISE

    “Wind is pretty strong here. Don’t you think so?” she said while facing the sun, eyes closed. “I just love the sunrise.”

    “You need to see it with your eyes open. Is that why you called me here? To see the sunrise? This early?” he grumbled, while squinting his eyes towards the sun with a disapproving look on his face.

    “Aww..! Sorry! Should have asked sun to rise a little late. Around 10 o’ clock would have been fine?” She looked back at him and let a smile slip by seeing his squinting mourning face. “Could you ever be less gloomy? Mornings fill people up with energy and positiveness, and then there’s you.” He could always make her smile, even without trying.

    “I called you, because I needed to tell you something urgent.” Her expression turned somber, as she shifted her gaze from him rubbing his eyes to the amber sun.

    His hands stopped midway. After a moment, his eyes stuck to the slowly rising sun, while completely avoiding her’s. “What is so important that I had to sacrifice my sleep for it?” He knew what it was. He got the news yesterday and since then his stomach had been churning.

    “The date is set. 4 March.” Her voice sounded clear, but distant.
    “That’s cool! So it’s finally happening.” He didn’t seem to blink.

    “Won’t you congratulate me?” She closed her eyes again to feel the wind rushing by her face. “I won. I got there first.”
    “So what? I knew you would win. I wasn’t even competing.” He smirked and closed his eyes too. The wind stopped. “Let’s go back. The sun has risen, and there is no wind.” He stood up and started walking.

    “Will you meet him?” She didn’t move from her place a bit.
    His steps halted. “Nah.. I have no interest in guys. Do tell me if he has a sister, or cousins!”
    “That you can see for yourself at the wedding.”
    She looked at his back, still waiting for him to make eye contact.

    “You said 4 March, right? Aah.. The project I told you about, I think I would be in New Zealand around that time regarding that. So don’t forget getting their pictures clicked, and save a copy for me!” He spoke hurriedly, looking above at the sky with bluish hue. He seemed to be trying to find something, but got nothing. He knew it was going to happen. He had made peace with it.

    “Your project doesn’t start before may.” She said while still waiting. “You can make it..”
    He turned back and looked straight in her eyes. “I won’t.”
    She couldn’t say a word.

    “But I know it would be awesome! So do hire a professional to get the video done!” He laughed shortly before continuing back to his bike. She quietly stood up and started to move after him.

    When they reached near the bike, he stopped again, turned around and said, “Hey listen!”
    “Ya..” She said while continuing walking without looking up.
    “Thank you.” He smiled while sitting on the bike.
    She was surprised and looked up at him smiling. “What for?”
    He grinned. “I’ll be out of the Friend-zone, anyhow.”

    Her face was in a fix, as her lips were smiling but her eyes weren’t. She tried to see his, but he immediately covered it with the helmet. She sat behind him, as they drove off towards the rising sun.

    A new morning.

     

     

     

    Image Courtsey:
    http://orig05.deviantart.net/b824/f/2012/002/c/6/poon_hill_sunrise_by_shedofsteel-d4l1ev8.jpg

     

  • HUMANITY OF HUMANS

    I have often wondered where we are going, as humans. We had our ancestors from the missing link which resulted as a split between us and our distant cousins, apes and monkeys. But what is the next step of the evolution for us? Humans are known to be social animals. In the future would this still stand to be true? To understand about this textbook human, we need to move out of metro cities. To a city, where human history had flourished and the traces of the human civilization could be found easily.

    The city I’ve been recently to, Agra, is pretty ancient. There is something about these cities, these old, congested, haphazard structures of wood and bricks woven by narrow lanes, shabby markets. It brings forth a certain charm and sends calmness through eyes to the brain, finally reaching and soothing the heart. Suddenly, I started feeling as if I am home. Yes, looks can be deceiving. Though the heart can resist the playful visuals, what reinforces this homely belief is, strangely, the people of this city.

    Strangely, not because this is something unexpected, that genuine human beings who live as a community cease to exist. Just because we don’t get to see it pretty often. Specially in the kind of cities I am living in, metro cities. Again, not because the people living in metros don’t have the humane touch any more. They just don’t have the time, to be in touch with it. Its funny and ironic at the same time, that the cities which pull people in, breathe aspirations into them, seem to seep away the humane tendencies of humans itself.

    Many might argue that I am wrong. And I might be, if we see it from their perspective. The humans of metros have set a humanity standard for themselves according to which they measure their own humanity. It’s like the coffee you store in your fridge. You use it in tiny quantities, and use that standardized quantity to measure the number of servings you could squeeze out of that tiny bottle.

    But don’t you think that humanity was supposed to be like a seed? To plant it, water it, nurture it and get more seeds, thus the cycle continues. The usage should lead to its increase, instead of being used miserly as something on the verge of extinction. The evolution of humans have been going in a different way. We have been evolved from animals. Using a broader term because it’s not the physical aspect I am trying to focus on. Therefore, from the existence of raw instincts and emotions, to a refined being with logical and intricate emotions and thought processes. The next step of evolution however seems to have taken a direction which involves the lack of emotions, more of rational logic, which are guided by circumstantial environments.

    To use simpler words, animals > humans > robots.

    And the more interesting part is that the society today could also be divided into these three categories, just on the basis of their societal quotient. Maybe that is the reason of the social unrest and an increase in level of dis-accord, because on a fundamental level, we have started to be different from each other. Just due to different level of compassion levels towards others.

    Now when I read it out loud, it is more funny than interesting. Because this variation of level depends upon the geographical location of a person. The humans are merely adopting in accordance to their environment. It’s the geography that has been evolving. With the majority of young aged population moving to the metro cities and their expanding boundaries, the quantity of robots over humans is going to increase. Not only that will boost the number of robots, but the expansion of metro cities in to neighboring suburban areas would lead to a slow conversion of the geographies into metropolitan culture, and the evolution of the society in the entirety.

    Maybe, the Agra I know today, won’t exist tomorrow. Or similar cities as such. The structures would be there as a reminder of the timeline to which it belonged, but nothing to remind the kind of humans that once existed. Some scientist will just come up with a hypothetical theory, regarding where these new breed of robots evolved from.

    But then U.S is going to have a new president soon enough. That result debunks this entire robot evolution thought and lets me sleep peacefully at night.

  • “WHAT WAS IT AGAIN” – Poem

    Did I drop it?
    Maybe I left it somewhere!
    Did I even have it in the first place?
    God, I wished so hard,
    for it to be there.

    But it never was,
    What was it called again?
    I did get some bits and pieces,
    Some bloomed early,
    some left in vain.

    A To-Do List.
    Still hangs unchecked.
    Meant to remind me what needs to be done,
    Still hangs there.
    Ghost of all things left unsaid:

    Saved mobile balance,
    did top-up recharge
    to last all night for long conversations.

    Ended up using it all.
    “Your main balance has been depleted by internet”,
    was the mobile phone notification.

    Asked friends for loan
    against property – mobile
    to collect pennies
    for imaginary date nights.

    Honed creativity,
    each skill in subcategory,
    gave splendid demonstrations
    resulted in friendly favors.

    Dropped hints to my mom
    that her son has all grown.
    something might be cooking,
    which would end him getting disowned.

    Supposedly held revolver,
    loaded with blank,
    Turned out, was a toy gun,
    sprays water and shoots from opposite end.

    I had it all ready,
    A perfect runaway wedding plan.
    A magistrate, I remained in contact with
    Two set of legal IDs for witness,
    and a book named
    “How to start a new life in Japan?”

    I wish I could have done it all alone
    I seriously wish sometimes, I do
    But there was an absence of culprit, you see
    Whose name I could get painted in black,
    or dark blue.

    Someone whom parents blame,
    for my sleepless nights and high mobile bills.
    Someone whom friends despise,
    Label as gold-digger, friend snatcher or plain buzzkill.
    Someone who refuses to runaway,
    Because obviously, we belong to different cast and parental love.
    Someone, who acted wide eyed on the creative demo-gifts,
    Even though believed that diamonds are always a cut above.

    Had it been so,
    the life would have been a sparkling, perfect gem.
    Did I drop it? Maybe I left it somewhere
    Did I even have it in the first place?
    What was it again?

  • THE CANDY

    It made the faintest of sounds.

    *Crack*

    If you were not observing it carefully, you won’t ever figure it out. It wasn’t perfect anymore. It wasn’t shattered or divided into pieces. But it definitely wasn’t the same before.. It wasn’t whole. “Do you still want it?” the guy asked the girl. “It didn’t make a difference in the world to me.” the girl replied with a broad grin. “The candy would still taste the same.”