फ़िराक...

The biggest loss is the loss of innocence...

वही झरोखों पर पड़ी एक काली परत...
ज़िन्दगी के कुछ लम्हों से
उधार ली रौशनी तक नहीं झाक पाती है उन मैले कुचेले पर्दों से
रात की परतें मैं हटाती रहती हूँ अपनी हथेलियौं से
मंटो की कहानियों के शब्द आज भी मेरी पेशानियौं पे दस्तक दे रहे हैं
उसकी भू अब भी शायब मेरे जिस्म से ही आ रही है
एक वही स्याह परत फिर से थी दिल्ली की गलियौं में
अभी जैसे कल की ही बात हो
माँ चुप करा देती थी अपने घर के चौराहे पे
जैसे किसी की मज़ार पे नमन कर रहे हो
गुरुद्वारा हुआ करता था वहां पे, १९८४ से पहले
और फिर वही परतें
गुजरात की गलियों में
कहीं कुछ नहीं बदला
तारिकों के अलावा...

कुछ यूँ भी तो हो

कुछ यूँ भी तो हो
तेरे सामने बैठ कर भी हम कुछ कह पाएं
आँखों से टपकती बूंदों के
कुछ माने समझा पाएं
कुछ यूँ भी तो हो
दिल की जो आरज़ू कभी कही न गयी हमसे
इस बार तेरे हाथों पर
बे-झिझक ही लिख जाएँ
कुछ यूँ भी तो हो
अपनी गरज में ही सही लेकिन
इस बार तेरे कदम
मेरे दर पर आके रुक जाएँ
कुछ यूँ भी तो हो...

तेरे साथ...

एक डोर से बंधा है शायद
तेरे हाथों की लकीरों के साथ
तेरे माथे की शिकन...
तेरे होंटों की गर्मी में कहीं
गुम है मेरा आप...

मेरे कानों से होकर गुज़रे
तेरे कुछ कहे अनकहे शब्द
एक माला में पिरोती बैठीं हूँ
उसी डोर के साथ...बंधा है जिससे
धरोहर है एक तेरी मेरे पास
मेरे अन्दर कहीं वरना
गुम ही हो जाता मेरा आप

रिश्ता...

रिश्ता भी क्या चीज़ है? जहाँ कुछ भी नहीं वहां नज़र आता है

जहाँ नज़र नहीं आता वहां है...

अमृता प्रीतम

शायद...

शायद ज़िन्दगी आज कल में बंध ही जाती तो अच्हा होता…
शायद मेरी परछाई मुझ में ही समां जाती तो अच्छा होता…

आँखों के आलों में लौ जलाई थी तो सही
तेरे आने के इंतज़ार वो बुझ ही जाती तो अच्हा होता...

तुझे खुदा मान के मंजिल की तरफ बढे तो थे लेकिन…
गुमशुदा राहें शायद मिल जाती तो अच्हा होता…

ज़हन में मेरे फिर भी तेरी ही आज़ है…
वो दुआ बनके मुझ पर बरस जाती तो अच्हा होता

Strange nostalgia...

Blessings and regrets...

The biggest blessing God bestowed on me in the last decade was that though I had a very tough time many times, but I always had someone with me, to give support, to love to take care and to help me get through it. Whenever I think about the past ten years or so of my life, this is one thing for which I thank God every day and I feel really blessed. It fills me with positive hope and radiance.

My biggest regret – I haven’t been able keep all those people with me. Some out of my own stupidity where I was to foolish to understand the complexity of things and some just due to circumstances. Some people are still in my life but I am not a part of their remembrances. I know it’s selfish but that hurts.

Hopefully where relationships are concerned, this decade will be better.

A couple of lines, though corny, are still my favorite –

Are you a Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime?

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON . . . It is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. Sometimes they die.

What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. Your need has been answered, and now it is time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real!

But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.

Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Men in the last decade…

The thought occurred to me when I saw my roommate’s American friend lounging in my living room with her Indian boyfriend while my roommate and her mom were in one room and I was in the other…apparently the American has come all the way to India to find love and so the two couldn’t take their hands off each other…


Now maybe I am a prude and old school…but a guy who can make out on a couch in a stranger’s living room with an elder in the next room can hardly be the right sort with whom you can even think of spending a part of your life leave alone a lifetime…

Unfortunately apparently that’s what guys are these days…while I am all in favor of sexual freedom and promiscuity…but when it comes to the man I would want to even consider spending my life with…I really hope he has a little more sophistication and sensibility then that…and also I guess, is more of a gentleman…

I have met men in the past who make it clear in the very first meeting that all they are interested in is a fling and nothing serious…take it or leave it…then the other who would get into anything only if they are actually interested and look forward to an actual relationship…then those who cant make up their minds, dont want to put in any effort…the worst are actually who fool around-don’t want to commit-leave the girl hanging by a hook…the first and second types are the honest types whether straight or complete rascals and are worth having around but the later two are the ones every girl who can think her weight’s worth should stay away from…trust me everyone deserves to be respected…