ये जो है ज़िन्दगी…
आजकल कुछ बदल सी गयी है ज़िन्दगी चलती तो है मगर कुछ थम सी गयी है ज़िन्दगी मानो मुट्ठी में सिमट ही गयी है ज़िन्दगी साढ़े पांच इंच के स्क्रीन में कट रही है ज़िन्दगी इंसानों से स्मार्ट फोनों में बढ़ती भीड़ के तन्हा कोनों में लोगो की बंद ज़ुबानों में कच्चे या पक्के मकानों में बस अब अकेले मुस्कुराने का नाम है ज़िन्दगी संग हमसफ़र के एकाकी बीतने का नाम है ज़िन्दगी आजकल कुछ बदल सी गयी है ज़िन्दगी चलती तो है मगर कुछ थम सी गयी है ज़िन्दगी आजकल बच्चे पड़ोस की घंटी नहीं बजाते गुस्सैल गुप्ता जी का शीशा फोड़ भाग नहीं जाते स्कूल बस के स्टॉप पे खड़ी मम्मियाँ आपस में नहीं बतियाते दफ्तर से लौट दिन भर की खबर मांगने वाले वो पापा नहीं आते अब फेसबुक पे लाइक और चैट-ग्रुप में क्लैप करने का ढंग है ज़िन्दगी फुल एचडी विविड कलर में भी बेरंग हो चली है ज़िन्दगी आजकल कुछ बदल सी गयी है ज़िन्दगी चलती तो है मगर कुछ थम सी गयी है ज़िन्दगी
Walk With Me
Long walks on moonlit nights Hand in hand on sandy shores On the hills on an upward climb Tearing down the slope Ambling on lazy winter days A careful trudge through a muddy puddle Even on a blazing afternoon No matter where we are How hard or long the journey My all weather friend, my other half It's you I'd want to walk with me
Alive
I remember my first outing as a child Vivid memories of riding pony on my father's back I remember getting caught with my hand in the cookie jar Or how I howled on my first day at school And getting a whack for my constant chatter My bloodied lips and black eye My victory marks from a back alley fight Pining to sit next to the prettiest girl Shared lunches and shattered crushes The first kiss and the heart break Being lost when asked to make a career choice The pain of failing to make the cut Not giving up despite the hurt Dusting myself to fight again Finding love and a friend for life Losing buddies along the way The twinkle in my first-born's eye The littlest tightest grip of my second one Barely a score in a four decade life Picture frames on my memory wall Good and bad bitter and sweet Fleeting moments frozen till eternity Each one telling me life is alive Now I can worry about what's in store Or just step out today and create one more
The Value of One
Someone very dear became a statistic For the world a number got added to a count What the number had added to our lives Could never possibly be expressed and quantified The value of one is just so misrepresented Never fully understood till a life has ended What has perhaps been unleashed upon humanity Is an irrefutable, irreparable, surely irreverent curse One where a loved one who’s sick cannot be tended to Left with a gut wrenching feeling of sheer helplessness No conversations, no get well soon s, no visiting hours No pallbearers, no reassuring hugs, no shoulder to cry on The wise shall always say that this too shall pass Nothing good nor for that matter anything bad ever lasts Wisdom of the world sadly doesn’t help fill the void There’s a vacuum sans emotions, no release, no closure A father, a husband, a brother, a friend to some is gone forever Those who are left behind living, live on knowing the infinite value of one
We (I) Owe You
Could have said these words any other day Not for tokenism but now is better than never they say So here’s to the women in our life To our mothers, teachers, friends, daughters and wife For all the times you were taken for granted For not always knowing what you wanted For the love you’ve unconditionally showered For all those tough times you were brave and someone was the coward A simple thank you cannot repay For holding up our world yesterday tomorrow and today
A River Called Hope
There’s a river that flows eternal its called Hope From the zenith of optimism and down its mountainous slopes It runs the deepest along the valley of despair The currents dismissing obstacles like it just didn’t care Ever accommodating in its spirit It carries within it Streams of negativity, even the past Meandering along teaching you nothing lasts To opulence from penury To contentment through misery There’s a panacea for problems one can’t cope It’s a river that flows eternal and it’s called Hope
The One
Life oh life! Mysterious are it’s ways How and when Who knows and who can say It doesn’t matter How brilliantly the light shines Is and was Separated by a moment, literally a matter of time If only, only if There just could be a last summer of song Chances passed around To maybe correct things, all that went wrong Oh! Cruel tide It favours not and it waits for none This much is certain Everyone is in the queue, just unaware about the (next) one