Colorless

She came with no colors
she was colorless
like water, like silver
like you can see
yourself in her

she came light blue
in the morning sky
wrapped an orange
in an evening sigh
and shone yellow
in sunshine dry

Do you see the colors
in the colorless, my friend ?
For Colorlessness is not
the absence of colors
but presence of all.

---------------

Whole day spent in bed...8" thick snow outside..dont really know what to do. I see snow.. I adore it..I step into it a bit..but then step back.. I dont have any shoes to move around in snow..Buses are not plying..I can't drive either with such snow laden roads..Remote login to office isnt working either..All in all I am physically cutoff frm outside world except for cellphone and internet. I do have minimal supplies of food to survive a few days.

Anyways, such a wasteful day gave me a chance to watch two gud movies - Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia.

A Slum Affair

It grew like a weed.
गली की गन्दी कीचड़
में उगता हुआ
वो नन्हा सा पौधा

लोगों की नज़रों से
बचता बचाता अब

बड़ा हो रहा था

नहीं ऐसा नहीं
की किसी ने उसे
कभी कुचला न हो
या शरारती बच्चों
ने कभी छेडा न हो
इनकी तो आदत
हो गयी थी उसे

झुग्गियों में जहां
पैर रखने की जगह नहीं
उसे अपनी अलग ज़मी
कोई कहाँ से दे

आज शाम भी
किसी ढोर से
बाल बाल बचा

इन्तेज़ार है रात होने का
जब नाले की बदबू में
ज़रा खुलके सांस लेगा
और सोये हुए मोहल्ले में
ज़रा चैन से अंगड़ाई लेगा

उन झुग्गियों में
इश्क की कहानी भी
कुछ वैसी ही है


Watched Slumdog Millionire a few days back. Among other things I was tempted to think how love survives in slums.

Ek Gumshuda Khwaab (A missing dream)

Hopped on to this movie called 'choti si baat' just by chance. Was surprised to find that the following song is from this film only.

Haven't finished the movie yet, but the rib-tickling bus-stand romance of Amol Palekar and Vidya Sinha is already making me want to toast a few lines.

एक गुमशुदा ख्वाब

है कोई ख्वाब
क्यों मुझे याद
नहीं आता है

किसी धुंध की
चुनरी में
दुबक जाता है

किसी फूल
की गोदी में
सिमट जाता है

किसी गैर के
कमरे में
सो जाता है

कभी हवा
कभी पानी में
घुल जाता है

किसी मर्ज़
किसी दर्द
सा तड़पाता है

जिस रोज़ तुम्हे
बस स्टैंड पे
खड़ा पाया था

बस उसी रात
वो गुमशुदा ख्वाब

मिल पाया था

Mob vs Individual

I am the mob
who suppresses
my individual,
so-called heretic,
aspirations
which talk of
change.

The mob in me
kills
the individual in me
every time.

My Experiments with Solitude - Living Alone 2

And here comes part 2, much better than part 1(i.e the first few days). I guess I had made a mistake by judging it prematurely before even passing a week :). Part of the dilemma could have been due to the house not being set-up , no food & grocery and hence it was somewhat uncomfortable and that too all of a sudden. Though house isn't set up even now ( am working on it ), things are already becoming better and infact setting up the house might be some fun stuff too :) . And I also need to start cooking soon.

Living with friends is surely fun..no doubt..and I do miss that at times. But still wanted to live alone for a while..may be just for an experience i guess..may be because I always thought that I should do it once.. .

Anyways, Looks like its going to be interesting seven months ahead !!

My experiments with solitude - Living Alone

[The following text is updated from the last time as are my changing views towards living alone. I guess its a change and every change deals with transients and changing opinions..that phase is still not over for me]

The more you try to find out about life, the more you get sucked into it .. when the whole exercise was actually to emerge out of it. Generally, you restrict your search to your imagination and your thoughts as to why we do certain things..why we feel good or bad or happy or sad about something..

But sometimes, You kind of take another step forward (for good or for bad you don't know) into some mysterious territories to gain a first hand experience of some scenarios which you don't get to experience in general.

Living Alone has been my recent step in that direction. And it has been very funny since then. Every day has been like omg!! So this is what it means to live alone. Ask friends, u might get conflicting views. You were getting conflicting views even before you started living this way. Infact, that was the reason you went ahead and tested the waters yourself (though i agree that always isn't the wisest thing to do). Anyways, sometimes you've got to do some things.

So, coming back to what how I am feeling. Yes, living alone is boring a bit .. but only initally ., But unlike what i was told, the boredom is reducing as each day passes. And I am kind of getting used to the surroundings. Part of the reason which makes it a little bad in my case is that currently I don't know anyone in the neighborhood. Anyways, now that I am face to face with solitude, lets befriend it. :)

अब जब तू रू-ब-रू है मेरे

तुझसे ही दो बातें हो जाएँ

The CountDown - Day 0

OK..HERE IT COMES.. Happy B'day to me...
Also, I end my week long 'zindagi' series today..
Its evident that I didn't touch quite a few topics that are so quintessential to life.. For e.g Batra complained all the while that I m not talking about 'love'.. He was totally right. And in fact I had asked this question to myself too while thinking what all things I want to write about. Love is indeed very hard to escape when you are talking of life. But, and unfortunately, these days I am quite disillusioned by 'love'. It seems out of my mind, out of my thoughts. And I don't want to bring it in atleast for a while. So, I don't think I would have done least justice to this wonderful institution had I tried to write about it. All I could say to him was ..

आज दिल की बात हमसे न करवाओ
बात दिल से नहीं आएगी

-------

Anyways, so my sis told me 28th sept is also 'daughters day'..
Now, listen to this..
Mummy made a cake for my B'day and took it to my sis. Sis pulled her leg saying "today is daughter's day. And you made a cake for your son!!" What did mummy say ?
Any guesses ?

OK..she said "Its sunday"
..
..
..
..
..
got it ?
(read 'sunday' as 'son-day')

I thought omg!! ma u r smart!!
(I know sis is going to kill me for blogging this :-) )

-----------

Birthdays after Birthdays we grow older and older.. keep losing our innocence..keep learning this world..
But for ma, we are always where we started..

माँ तो अब भी वैसे ही पालती है हमें
और वो कहते हैं हम आज पच्हीस हुए

Two lovely songs r coming to me. Am embedding them below. Can't resist listening to them again.

So bye bye..
Thanks for reading this series.

The CountDown - Day 1

Opened my palms and stared at those deep engraved lines. They stared right back at me !!

Found this piece lying around that I wrote in Austin on a similar note..

छोटी सी एक हथेली

छोटी सी एक हथेली
हथेली पे घुद्मुद लकीरें
लकीरों में छुपी
एक करारी कहानी
कहानी ऐसी कि
चिल्ला के बोली
ना ना ना
मुझको ना पढना
अगर पढ़ लिया
तो किसी को न कहना
राज़ मेरे
ही हैं मेरा गहना |
सुन ओ मुन्नी रानी
तेरी प्यारी हंसी
नहीं मैं भी कोई
मामूली छड़ी
बड़ी चुलबुली मैं
बड़ी बावरी,
कभी जो चटाऊँ
मिर्ची का दाना
कभी घोल दूं
मिसरी की बड़ी |
मेरे साथ चल
करेंगे शैतानी ,
बुलाते हैं सब
मुझे ज़िन्दगानी |

-----------------

[BTW, I ll end this 'zindagi' series (which started with Day 6) with one more post .. that for Day-zero (the intent was to have 7 posts in total - one for each day of the week..). So ek baar aur aa jaana :)]

The CountDown - Day 2

After Laughter come tears
So next time I cry Don't ask me why

----------

Thanks to Batra for telling me about this movie that we watched in hostel .. Gegen die Wand.. Heres a song from it .. u ll know why



Now, I have lots of sleeping debt to repay from this past week..
so gudnight!! c u tomm..

The CountDown - Day 3

kabhi kitni ajnabi si lagti hai zindagi
saath baithe hue bhi baat nahin karti

The Count Down - Day 4

zindagi itni bhari bhari si hai aaj
ki haath ferne ki bhi jageh nahin
aapke liye koi kahayal kahan se nikaloon

------------

Pretty busy day...sorry no stuff..still had to put this up to log for today :)

The CountDown - Day 5

Na jaane kyon ye aadat si ho gayi hai
Bhatakte hooe zindagi ka mazaa lete hain
Manzilein dekh kar bhi raaston ke aashiq
Khudi se dushmani nibha lete hain

Whenever I see my destination approaching, I do a u-turn and and wander off in the roads again .. (and i like to go different one everytime :))

--------

Don't know what the ambition or the real purpose of my life is. Do I have a role to play in this world? Or just time pass ? Or is time pass in itself a pretty important significant objective? Even if we talk about short term ambitions or professional aspirations, even they keep changing. Kal mein kuch aur karna chahta tha, aaj mein kuch aur kar raha hoon, kal mein kuch aur kar raha hoonga.

Wandering off like this,a few days before I found myself waiting at a deserted bus stop on a freeway somewhere between redmond and seattle after midnight hours, hoping to catch that last bus. There was this interesting artwork on the inside of the bus-stop. It read "The real meaning of life lies in not needing to know it in the first place" caught me thinking for a while. I am not sure if I agree with that totally..nywaz..whenever it get very confusing, like now for me, leave it for another day :)

The Silver Jubilee CountDown - Day 6

Thanks to Anu for asking me about my b'day plans. That made me remember, in the first place, that my B'day is approaching and just a week away. This being my 25th B'day, I ought to do something about it on my blogland. I wish to plant a few lines (some of my thoughts about turning 25) everyday in a countdown to Sept 28th.

GUZRA HUA WAQT

guzre hue waqt ko sametkar
potli mein rakhte rahe hum
aaj use khola bhi to kya
ek zaraa si hasin nikli

The whole span of 25 yrs .. seems no more than an ephemeral smile .. when u look back.

Noises

I guess i m crazier than i think i am .. Thats why I do such things .. Alright .. Alright .. I know you all are going to have a great great laugh .. So be it ..

Voice & Lyrics : Aman Rathi :)
For lyrics, see here

Jai Hind !

15th August..
May our country progress and prosper
May it be green and greener
Its people be happy and happier
Its skies be blue and bluer
Its waters clear and clearer
Its air pure and purer

खुदा अपने वतन को अमन बक्शे ! आमीन

I don't have anything to say at this late night hour .. anyways I am already two days late in this post..lets see if i can put up some verse ... ammm... doesn't look so ... am too tired ..
Oh Wait.., there was this poem that I had composed in reply to an email by some friends. I think it should fit the matter. Let me see if I can pull it up from old mails......

OK, so here it is ..

But before that, listen to this nice song which was the subject of those emails. [You might want to ignore the politically motivated opinions there]

I BELONG

Chatting with myself
yesterday in bed
I wondered why
I don't sleep anymore.
Why that silent night,
outside the window
seemed like an abyss
so dark and deep
that there was no echo.
Then when I got
a glimpse of the moon
who yesterday would
have shone over home
seen by my people
prayed by my people.

I cried aloud
without any voice
I sighed aloud
without any choice.
To sleep to death
where i woke up to life
Is all I want...
Because I belong.
I belong to my country.
I am a patriot :)
_______________

And on a personal note, 15th August also marked my completion of two years in US. Happy anniversary to me :)

Its already 2 at night. And Ted's mom said nothing goes well after 2. So am about to hit bed now. Just returned from an Indian Ocean Concert in downtown Seattle. Needless to say awesome it was.

Jai Hind !

All The World's a Stage

WHY DO THEY LEAVE

so many people
come and go
i am the only one
who remains
in this strange
world of mine.
____

I was talking to a few friends today each one of whom came into my life at such distinctive phases. Some, whom I played with about fifteen-twenty years ago when we were small urchins running around here and there. Some, whom I met in middle school and high school and senior grades - we all grew up together - stepped into adolescence together. Some, whom I met during Undergrad - we all slogged together, had fun together, stepped out of our homes together - became independent and stood on our feet together. Some whom I met being a grad student - we all worked together - laughed together - realized that we were no more as young as we used to be - shared nostalgia about our childhood, school and undergrad years. Then some whom I just met in the last few weeks on my new job or as late as yesterday before they left, are leaving or will be leaving to different places, to their own lives.

Dad had a transferable job. So when he used to get transferred, we used to shift to a new place, a new town, a new city or a new state. All my friendships used to get snapped. Yes, there was this excitement of going to a new place but also this challenge of making your place, again from the scratch, in that new group of kids that would be found there. So if till yesterday, in your old locality u were the team-captain even though u didn't know football, today u have to know football to even get to play with these folks. All those years, I kept on making new friends and losing the previous ones. It was so painful. So much time it used to take to discover & forge a close friendship and then suddenly you have to let it pass. Not until the social networks came to the web, could I actually have the option of reaching out to my old pals. So today when I talked to a few of these people from various times across the spread of my life, I made a U-Turn and went down the memory lane for a while, and remembered those times some as old as decades back and some as fresh as yesterday.

And all the while the question in mind was : "WHY DID THEY HAVE TO LEAVE ?" I know there might be new friendships waiting to blossom, that there will be friends we'll spend our youth with, friends we'll get old together with, friends who'll accompany us to our deathbed. Some of them would be new, some of them might be old. But for those who left (or will leave) us, why did they have to leave. I know that we can call them any time we want to. But essentially, they seem no more in your lives ? Don't they ?

What A Wonderful World !

Among some beautiful pieces I have been hearing today, this one is still lingering ('what a wonderful world '- penned by George Douglas). I don't know why. Ah .. i guess this song and its melody identifies so much with today's day. Thats why I want to hear it again and again today. So I 've got to do something about it. A blog post .. may be. So let me tell you why it has been a wonderful day today. But before that, listen to these.

Thanks to Batra for talking about his imeem playlist today. I found it there.

Then there is this another beautiful version by Louis Armstrong which I heard back in Austin when Chinmayi played it to me.

And after all this lovely stuff, you've got to read this jibberish from my side.

A WONDERFUL DAY

i see sun rising gently
and breeze coming along
children skating outside
as i lie in my bed
snuggled in my quilt
i smile to myself
what a wonderful day

i see snow on mountains
and clouds clearing aside
buses trickling in
and people going by
as i stretch on my bed
and take a deep breath
i say to myself
what a wonderful day

i hop onto internet
and read my mails
check out the chat
and see friends in green
i roll on my bed
put chin on my palm
i type to myself
what a wonderful day

i play some music
play irish says friend
the sound of the violin
and flutes flow by
i get up for a while
and take a swing
i sing to myself
what a wonderful day

i make some tea
and do some chores
do the laundry
and dishes and stores
i sit on my bed
slurp some tea, look outside
i think to myself
what a wonderful day

i lie down again
pull up my quilt
chat with friends
watch some shows
then listening to songs
dozed off again
i dream to myself
what a wonderful day

A blast here A blast there

GOING ON

a blast here
a blast there
well, it happens
we tell ourself
and go on

and people die
and children cry
well, it happens
we tell ourself
and go on

then one day we lie
in the streets of ahmedabad
bathed in blood
seething in pain
and soul parting apart
why did this happen
we ask ourself
as others go on
___

BOOM! and everything is gone. Your aspirations, your relations, the work that you were on ur way to do, the boyfriend/girlfriend you were to meet, the exam you were going to take or the homework you were going to do (thats a favorite) and so much so else. You whole life is gone. And as you lie torn and burnt, what you really have are just a few seconds and a choice to either use them for that last desperate attempt to survive and possibly die in chaos and haste and a frown on the face OR just sink in and reflect for one more time on how life has been good to you, the people you loved, cherishing those moments and die smiling at how you small you are in face of the larger design of ... the time. I am not sure what I would do.

Anyways, talking of something more useful, one compelling pattern (if at all there is) that can be inferred from these two blasts is that the BJP led states are being targeted. 'cause there should be no other convincing reason to hit bangalore. States like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan should be on high alert.

Lord of the Flies - Capital's Unofficial Traffic Handbook

Driving in some suburban parts of Delhi, NOIDA, Ghaziabad etc. is like an exercise in unlearning the traffic rules. Everyday one or the other intersection would have its traffic light broken while on some others they would be well functioning but 'courteously' ignored. By 'courteously' I meant that you just slow down to acknowledge the traffic coming from the other directions and then proceed ignoring them until they come close to you within a dangerous distance at which point you MUST act.

• If you think that you will pass before the other hits you or vice-versa, speed-up or slow-down accordingly.
• If what you thought went wrong, then bring your vehicle to a complete halt right in the middle of the intersection where you are. You will notice that the other vehicle will do the same. Infact not just the other vehicle, but the all the vehicles surrounding you two will halt. This state is technically termed as 'Traffic Jam' and locally as 'Jaam'. In this state, it is customary to keep honking even though its crystal clear that it won't do any good. You will notice that not just you but all your surrounding vehicles will be honking too. If yes, you are going good. Next, you have to hand-signal the other driver or he will signal you (depending on who is weaker) yielding you the right of way.
• At times though not occassionally, the drivers of the critical two vehicles who caused the 'Jaam' might desert their vehicles and come out to 'physically' decide who should get the right of way. In that case, just sit back, relax and enjoy the flight (oops! fight). If you like to see the real action going on, you may walk to the fight scene but I would suggest sitting in the car and if you are with family - spending quality time with them, calling loved ones or even catching up on the day's paper.

What amazes is the fact that on one hand all this is caused because everyone is too impatient to wait for the green signal, on the other, you will find a heavenly calm on the drivers faces whose have gotten face to face in the rush. Whosoever's fault it might be, its forgiven (may be because both of them are at fault). And what you get see after that is an incredible display of coordination between the drivers to release the deadlock while the trafficman stands afar wondering what to do.

[statutory warning : Ofcourse, everything was intended to be a satire]

Anyways, wrote something after a long time. Do read below :-)

BLINDS




Seldom after dark
when he took a walk
in the woods on the hill
the chill of the mist
in lukewarm moon
covered with shroud
of thick white fog
I did never realize
that he was blind.
He walked with
quiet assurance
in such a stead
and such a tread
all by himself
I never realized
that he was blind.
Only when today
he stumbled aside
by chance by mistake
and fumbled like crazy
in haste and waste
and cried thru silence
"help me someone
I have no eyes".
I rose up from lair
"Calm down man
but keep talking
even I can't see"

Leaving Austin..

My time at Austin draws to a close :-( . And this feeling is inescapable. Its like reading the last few pages of a novel. There is this quiet excitement of the new one u are about to pick next but also a strong nostalgia about the atmosphere it had created all this while. Austin would always be special to me as my first habitat out of India. Made even much more special by such a hilarious time spent with friends. One by one, many of them have left by now and I am left to roam through these streets we drove through, these restaurants we ate at, these movies we saw together, those jokes we invented, those songs listened together, sung together and these dead leaves which were strewn by the hail storm a few days ago. Very soon, I too will be gone. But Austin, you will be .. will be.. remembered.

AUSTIN TIMES

Slang on tongue
No one sober
In Austin we were
In Austin we were

Film : Indian Democracy, Starring : The Supreme Court

Three cheers to the Supreme Court of India for re-instating Prof. Venugopal as AIIMS Director. If you are unaware of the issue, the Central Government had, about 6 months back, terminated Dr. Venugopal's tenure unceremoniously with a Parliamentary Act. With the first hand information that I happen to have in this case, I agree with the reports claiming that all the reasons cited by the Govt. (read as 'The Health Minister'), were lame and that the real issue was just some personal differences between our Health Minister and the AIIMS Director. Should our premier institutions run on personal whims of our politicos? Is the primary duty of AIIMS/IIMs/IITs etc to serve the ego of their so-called man in the cabinet?

Link to a related article.

Dr. Venugopal, an internationally acclaimed surgeon, performed first successful heart transplant in India. He enjoys a great rapport among the students and the faculty. Students think he voices their interests and concerns up to the Govt. The whole community, including the students and a majority of the doctors, were very disappointed with the outrageous sacking of their favorite director. They tried to oppose, wrote letters, did strikes, but all the resistance was astutely crushed.

Anyways, the Supreme Court's judgement brought a welcome respite in AIIMS' life. They are very excited about having their mentor back (their wikipedia entry on AIIMS was updated the same day to celebrate Venugopal's homecoming) and their morale is high (which is very important in a doctor's case. You can't risk your doctor's anger :-) Can you? ).

Wow, its fun to be judgemental :-)

Before I end, I am unable to ignore the Supreme Court's role not just in this case but in the larger context of Indian Democracy. If I am not wrong there have been number of times when the Supreme Court came out pro-actively, thrashed the executive, and took decisions which were seen as correct for a 'progressive' India. Of course, here, my definition of progressive would be influenced by what my text books or what the media taught me about how the progressive India should be. So, instead of labeling those decisions as correct or incorrect, lets say that they at least changed the course of the nation. For good or for bad ?, thats another debate. One of these was the land reforms on the Zamindari system, another is the AIIMS one and may be several others. What surprises me is the fact that how come Supreme Court is able to take such tough decisions against the incumbent govt, when the Govt. has a role in the appointment of Supreme Court's judges (i think thats what those civics textbooks used to say). Hmm... I guess it would be a good study to pick some of these landmark judgements, check out the composition of the bench which took those decisions and research on how those judges were appointed to the Supreme Court. I shall keep it for my next post.

Just like that

When creativity knows no bounds ..

Sometimes, I wonder, in scenes like this, whether the stunts director really thought it would give us a thrill or if he intended it to be a comedy only :?)
[ I saw it here ]

Earth Day (April 22)

इन सूखे काले पत्तों से
कुछ आवाज़ आती है सुनो
किसे आग देते हो तुम
ढेरी हमारी या तुम्हारी चिताएं

Was confused..What to do on the Earth Day? Saw some videos about it..Read some articles...But thats it...Couldn't do anything more.... :( Finally I noted that i had "wasted"(yes, that was the word that came to my mind) about three hours on this. So, hurriedly got back to the looming assignments.
Lets think about Earth some other day। Earth can wait, assignments can't. I know I should be ashamed. I am, but why do I still carry on :-( ?

I still remember when we were introduced to the issues of air pollution in the Middle School. I always looked at the leaves of the plants that grew on the central verge of the road we used to cross to reach our school bus stand. The leaves used to be dark with the soot from the automobiles that if u just wipe ur finger over them, it came out stark black like an eye liner. Always, in those encounters, I did use to think about the pollution thing for a little while but would soon get engrossed in doing 'modern art' on those leaves by moving my fingers over them. Sometimes I used to wipe off the whole drawing board (a.k.a the leaf) and perhaps 2 or 3 others off that black film and used to feel that I am a warrior!!

So, I did nothing then and am doing nothing now. Anyways.. would like to hear if you all got to do something.

Lost in Translation

Five days is what something as beautiful as a butterfly gets to live its life. Five days is what can be enough for two strangers to make a beautiful odyssey (or 1 day in case of before sunrise :-)) which they shall cherish for life. Was watching Lost in Translation yesterday...Needless to say. Beautiful, it was...the movie, the direction, the acting, the actors....and the best of all..the evening blue tokyo. The last scenes just set the mood and I wrote a little song :) Do watch the movie if u havn't already.

Was just wondering how can u make a movie in which the story spans only say about an hour in real time. basically in which say ur movie is for 1.5 hrs but the actual action took place in say 20 mins. Generally, movies compress time. How would they expand time? Well, one way can be to play the Rashomon or the Vantage Point strategy. Play the same story from different perspectives again. What can be other ways ?

Here is the movie trailer.

And here is the final part which set my lines. But I would strongly recommend u not see this if you plan to watch the whole movie in the near future.

BEHOLD ME

Just behold me
Deep in ur eyes
and take me along
wherever u go

This night is so cruel
I look at u with asking eyes
And you don't have no words
And I must smile in pain.

I know, I know we can't be
But why does it have to be
phew..bye..
bye i say with failing voice

But behold me
deep in ur eyes
as u move back
and I remain here

Confessions of a dying man

O quiet river
lead me to ur depth
i m not worthy of sunshine

Take me in
dissolve me into ur green
and relieve the world from me

Holi Aayi Re

Here comes Holi. Really missing those gujhiyaas and dahi bhallas I have been eating all those years at home. Anyways, A few lines I composed on the occasion.

मोहे सात रंग में रंगियो रंग रिज्वा
सातों ही मोरे मन को भाये
बेरंग भयी यो मोरी मैली चादर
आज तेरे रंग से धुल जाए

होली के दिन ओ सुर सखिया
रंगों में घुल रास रचायें
रंगे हुए ये हाथ मिलाकर
कोई नए नए से रंग खिलाएं

Don't forget to listen to this oldie as well

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How to read Ghalib

Attended a talk today by the Columbia Professor Frances Pritchett। The talk was titled 'How to read Ghalib'. Her claim to fame is that she has commented on each of the 1459 (if I remember correctly) shers that Ghalib wrote in his entire life and that shes now going for a second round. She tried explaining why the West is more smitten by Ghalib than any other Urdu Ustaad. The talk was more about how the language researchers should go about understanding Ghalib. She also explained a few of Ghalib's sher in this regard. I could hardly understand a few (until she translated them to English) due to my Urdu Illiteracy :).

जो खुदी को देखूं तो एक भीड़ नज़र आए
लोगों मे मैं नहीं मुझमे लोग नज़र आए

कहते हैं दुनिया मैं होना नहीं काफ़ी
वो होकर तो दिखाएं जो रहे कुछ बाकी

'अमन' ज़िंदगी से एक सवाल पूछे
तेरी मुझसे रंजिशी क्या है

Lead India Anthem

Arvind is very impressed by the 'Lead India' campaign. So am I.

http://arvindbatra.blogspot.com/2008/03/tum-chalo-i-had-to-blog-this.html

Not to forget this amazingly inspiring music video which flagged this campaign. Awesome lyrics (Gulzar Sahab! Shukriya), awesome music, awesome rendition.

Arvind especially liked the use of the words फलक and उफक and motivated me to use them in my next post. Here are some lines in the same mood.

रौन्दे आज फलक को ऐ दोस्त चल क़दमों तले
मचाएं शोर के उफक के भी कान सुने
उठायें हाथ के कब तक यूँ खामोश रहे
लगाएं जोर के पत्थर को भी पानी करें
हम हिंद, हमारी ख़ाक में वो जज्बें रहे
के सूरज की गरम धूप को भी सोना कहें

Am Florida Red

Am Back from Florida, the sun and orange country. The tan from the sun, the bruises from the sea bed and those spectacular views are still fleeting through the mind. The moisture of that eternal breeze can still be felt as I rest my face over my fingers. The trip was somewhat physically rigorous as well especially when we took to water sports in the Ocean. The body is still aching..aaarghh :-( But the pain is sweet pain and smells of Atlantic :-). Will come back with some snaps...

Gulps of sea water down the throat
By sun, my body, over fed
Burnt Bruised and Scathed with salt
I am floREDa Red

29th February

Well..Well.. Well.. Let me admit, I am just writing this blog to get on the record on 29th Feb..The day has always interested me... As a kid, I found it mysterious and elusive.. Even now, It does feel a bit different breathing on 29th of Feb. Anyways, heres an ode to this leap years special day...

Hey! How have you been
Long time no see.
Last time you came
We were playful kids.
This time you found
us more profound.
Next time you come
Do bring us some,
stories from your
native-dom.
Do people there
live a quarter-X life,
tell five in scores
and count in fours.

Its going to be 12
You must leave, sigh :(
May we see u again
Bye Bye, Bye Bye

Dancing on the Street

Yesterday night, jogging on the street
You found that You were alone.
You looked around once then twice
You made sure there were no eyes.

A mischievous smile rose on your face
And you danced in middle of the road.
Danced and danced, until my dog barked
When you, my fancy dancer, ran like hell.

Rista Rista

कहीं से आती है आवाज़ रिस्ता रिस्ता
चलाचल राही, चंद कदम और भले

कहीं तो जा रहा है रास्ता रीस्ता रीस्ता
शायद उस चमन में ही आसरा मिले

आसमां की चादर में जी घुटता है मेरा
ऐ मेरे हमसफ़र चल इसे उतार चलें

Retakes on Love

मुशायरे में आप भी बोलिए

Meer Taqi Meer

दिल ये अत्फाल, जिद करता है इसे इश्क दिलाऊँ

बड़ा महंगा है वो खिलौना, तुझे कैसे समझाऊँ

Word Help ::
अत्फाल = childish

`Aman .. Retakes on Love

Sometimes I think that the way we think so differently about love at different times of our lives is really interesting and worth compiling. And as you can see, we have given it a name too :-) (Well, believe it or not ! but the joy of giving a name to the baby is a major reason people want to have babies :-)). Right now this compilation is one verse old. I invite all my dear friends and readers of this blog, if any, to raise it with their thoughts.

And the amazing thing is that, love, inspite of being the most touched upon topic in literature, is still going strong. Think of it, poets & writers have shredded and supposedly 'examined' every shred of this institution. Love seems to have been presented to us in every form ..be it compassion, or passion, or romance, or revenge..what not. Right from time poetry or prose got their meanings, love has always been in the vogue.

Anyways, why suddenly I am talking about love today is because I read about Meer Taqi Meer, an Urdu maestro from Delhi, who was considered as Ustad even by the likes of Ghalib and Zauq.
Heres what Ghalib said about him ..

रेखते के तुम ही उस्ताद नहीं हो "घालिब"

कहते हैं अगले ज़माने मैं कोई मीर भी था

Meer's father while on his deathbed asked him to walk the path of love. Most of Meer's poetry was inspired by love, life and things in between. Enjoy one of his 'kalaams' from the TeleSerial Mirza Ghalib.

कुछ मीठा हो जाये

छोटी इ की मात्रा

One frustating feature of Google's transliteration is its treatment of the छोटी इ की मात्रा. I am not sure if you too experienced this but whenever I try to put one on an alphabet, the मात्रा always shifts to the next alphabet. Surprisingly, on some days, these appear to be correct all of a sudden and then go back to being bad on other days. Their on-screen keyboard does help sometimes but not when the 'matra' is to be placed over the first alphabet in the word. I think that the fact that sometimes it appears correctly suggests that the transliterator as such registers them properly against the correct alphabet. However the renderer program might be buggy which displays it incorrectly sometimes (in fact most of the times) . Any Comments ?

Twenty Days of Childhood

Its been a few days now since I returned back from India. But am still feeling the hangover. A visit back home is like a visit back to the childhood. Sometimes I ponder if, given a chance, I would prefer to go back to my childhood? I am not sure. The irony is that today, when I have started realizing the joys of those wonder years, I am no more a child. And when I was, I didn't value them enough. So many things I took for granted as a kid! Being taken care of, by mommy, was undoubtedly the very essence of them all. Maa Tujhe Salaam.

Recollecting some thoughts from the last evening at home, I tried to pen them on the Airlines napkin during transit. If mummy sees this, a scolding for such a bad handwriting would sure be on the way :).

बीस दिन बचपन के ..

आज तेरी बाहों में जो
कल न जाने होगा कहाँ
आज तेरी आखों में माँ
कल से आखों का सपना

यह कुछ दिन थे जो तेरे साथ
जैसे बचपन लौटा बरसों बाद
वो बेफिक्री का अल्हड़ एहसास
बार बार आता है याद

प्यार का निवाला लीये
प्यार से खीलाती थी माँ
मंद सी पुरवाई सी
बालों को सहलाती थी माँ

नीवाई सी, माँ, वो तेरी रसोई
उसमें बैठ मेरा बातें बनाना
कभी काँधे पे तेरे रखके सर
नींद का वो करना बहाना
ज़रा सी चोट पे चिल्लाकर
तुझको डराना और सताना

पर कल से तो ये बस यादें होंगी
तेरा घर छोड़ उड़ जाऊँगा माँ मैं
आज रात भर तुझे हंसा कर
सुबह धुंध मे खो जाऊँगा मैं

वैसे तो सब कुछ है वहाँ
छूने को आसमान , रहने को बसेरा
पर न जाने क्यों तेरे बिन
जी नहीं लागे है माँ मेरा

हँसती बोलती उस भीड़ मे भी
खुद को तन्हा पाता हूँ मैं
बस सुन्न होकर पत्थर की तरह
जीये जाता हूँ माँ मैं