Lifeboat

We are all sailing in a boat. Someone's boat is big, someone's is small, someone's is light as it has less passengers to take along the journey, someone's is heavy.In between you will have many experiences- anxiety seeing a big obstacle,turbulence, anger,constant heat,happiness and finally that zest to keep your spirits up all along the way to help you reach that point.So, The only job that all we have to do is.. jut reach to that point. That one point that seems far off because of the distance (from the start to the finish) and the obstacles in between but we need to keep the courage that we can make it.. We can make it happen- at our speed. The only thing we forget is that to reach to that point we don't have to run. I agree this life has become a rat race but sometimes we should think about ourselves than thinking about this race. Don't run, just make sure that you are making an effort-an effort every day! Be the turtle, you don't need to be the rat. Its Ok.
Just get on the boat and start sailing. Everyday sail a little and one day, dhire dhire dhire, you will reach across and then, when you will look back and you will be surprised at your own self...
Remember to find the suitable boat and the right kind of companions in it and you can make it!
3-2-1...and start cleaning your boat as you have a long, beautiful, way to go!

It's all about loving

What if a 1st standard student falls in love with his class teacher??
I was reading a short story on it and I realized 'god!! I mean how would one handle such a situation?' A grown-up also cannot handle such situation well and this small child...How would he? What to tell him when he says "I don't want to go to the next class and don't want to have a new teacher?" When one day he comes from school and tells his mother, "Preeti ma'am wore a red Sari today. She always gives me a star for good handwriting. She gave me a kiss today on my cheek". When every day he gives a deeply observed description of hers to his mother then what to do? Just laugh at it or become fearful of his future heartbreak- the very first love bond he had made in the outside world can break any day? The whole day that little kid spends with her that you can't take the teacher out of his mind! I guess because children understand love, not the feeling of 'not-meant to be'! How to make them know that love can also be dangerous? Alas, such a naive age!

In the mid of today’s ‘I like you and break –up’ expressions, we don’t realise this form of love – tender, fresh, pure love; the heart that only knows love… Which has no confession and no break-up.  It starts with offering the favourite food which his mom gave that day, to his beloved teacher, with the expectation of just a smile from her in return!

If any day you lose faith in love, just go and experience the love of a child and he will reestablish your faith.
In fact, all of us have been through it!

Were you that child too, once upon a time?

Being Candid

 

It is very amusing for me when I have to argue with my parents to get what I want in life, to fulfill my interests...as my interests are very different from my parents' expectations from me....from the passion for reading,writing to  choosing the career. This amuses me as it not only shows how different I am from the people with whom I live but also shows which thing I badly want,and truly believe in and have the courage to support and stand for it against the odds!!
I just think, wouldn't have it been boring if I had gone to them, asked for something and got it? I would have never realized what I like and what I desperately like and what I can achieve by standing for myself- my views, my thoughts and my conscious. Argument gives you the power to have reasons and the way to realize your strength!
I never wanted to be that obedient child who lives like her parents told her to, saw the world from the eyes of her parents and made the typical practical decisions....
Its better to try, live,argue, love, be crazy than to lead a typically ideal life in the eyes of your parents...
Its not that I don't love my parents... I love them to hell... its just that I don't want to gift them years of a boring regular child........... !! ;)

Contemporary or Modern- what's more important?

Today, I just asked myself a question. Which art form do I like most- contemporary or modern? Which art form is more relatable?
The answer my mind gave was quite interesting.
Both the art forms are important.  On one place contemporary art form calls for symmetry in reflection i.e all the people get the same information from what is projected through that particular art. No 'different people,different views' concept exists. It teaches how much discipline is required in creating that particular image/model/presentation/painting so that everyone perceives that piece in the same manner. How can we bring precision in our tasks, is the quality that is taught by the contemporary art form piece.
Whereas modern art calls you to just go with the flow, go with the stroke.You need not worry what you started with, what you must have thought before creating it and what people might perceive it as individuals. It's something thoughtful you have to come up with as an artist and viewer individually every time you make and understand the modern art.Also, as an onlooker you just have to use your eyes to see and understand what you have seen and need not think about the creator's understanding of it...
Also, I could relate it with our life. Everything is imp. Nothing exists in this world which can be discarded. You need to understand both the sides of the life. Your contemporary version, where life has to be more balanced, careful and precise and your modern version, where you need to loosen-up; where 'different people, different eyes, different minds' concept is very imp. to understand.

Here is how the last day ends........ends for a new start...!

My last day at internship about which I had written few days back:

PublicFriendsOnly MeCustomClose FriendsFamilySee all lists...BHARATI COLLEGE DUNew Delhi, India AreaOgilvy & MatherGo Back

Since morning I was happy...rather both...happy as well as sad..Sad for all those happy chirpy moments spent with few of the most amazing people (Adi, Ayesha di, Mithila, Ankita, Lalit sir, Aishwarya, Sakshi, Lasna, Jiten, Sandeep, Devika, Saumya) were coming to an end.They were the only reason because of whom (except work, of course) I always wanted to come to the office ...to enjoy with them-- morning hi-fies,afternoon lunches & evening metros..But I was happy..a big time happy, "because of the obvious reason". Everything was going well and it did go well,and even if few things didn't,let's not give importance to them, till came the evening phase,when I had to bid good bye..which I am bad at.

In the evening,after all the byes &adios and making friends wait till I do all the cyas and pay my last respect to all those people who taught me,advised me and guided me in this journey, I headed towards the metro.I reached the metro station, & the doors opened and I suddenly realized- I had forgotten my register in the office-the last bang was to happen and it was this!!! Though the register had few of my imp. things but another most imp. thing was that it was the only physical memory I could treasure(I know I am too fussy). I ran towards my office again...and again for the last time. I guess this last was not only for the register, but for my last goodbyes to Adi,Ankita and Shankar..Jaate same unhe bye nahi kr payi thi as they were very busy and I just cudn't interrupt and say,"you know what,bye"...
Finally then, I took my register, did some more goodbyes and came down the lift, 8-7-6-5-4 stop-3-2-1-0. I was walking,moving towards the metro and suddenly I realized, I was looking at the building again .. "har baar ek last bar mudkar dekhna zruri hota hai na!" 

But all this didn't end here and nor did the gush of emotions.I reached the metro station, but didn't board the metro which was right in front of me with open doors..yes, ONCE AGAIN I MISSED IT...What a dja vu feeling was that! A sheer repetition of what had happened 15 minutes back.The only difference was,that I was alone here with my memories..The moment I missed my metro, I started giving myself a reason for it.Though the reason was genuine that the metro was too stuffed for me to even stand at its gate.But still I knew,I didn't even try;just to stay at the metro station for the last two minutes.The important two minutes!!!! The 2 minutes actually took me for a round..revisiting the memory lane-when I had started my journey,when I had met people here,when I had met Ayesha di and every meeting with her was like family meeting...when I had met Adi and "pakaoed" him, took his desktop & my conversations with him and all the bad things that had happened to me.
These two minutes were the absolute two minutes...! In deed, a beautiful journey.

RECOLLECTION

One of the two short poems I wrote which is dedicated to one of the most important and memorable persons of my life- my mentor, Mudita ma'am...



Few hours have passed by,
since the last time I had bid you goodbye.
But my mind is still unsettled,
fighting with my feelings, almost a battle.
I wish I could stop you with my cry,
hold you and say, “no, I won’t let you pass by.”

I am seeing your photos to feel at ease,
but they are also not giving me peace.
I have emptied my box of words out,
but I am not getting words, I feel stocked out.
After a long time its happening like this with me,
and I guess the only solution is-I should let it be.

दिल-मुहल्ला

दिल के मुहल्ले मे देख आई,
तेरा घर आज भी वहीं बसता है,
वो सजी हुई पतली-सुन्दर सी ग़ली के मोड पर,
खड़े होकर भी तेरा घर दिखता है।

बाहर निकल,
आगे आ,
नज़र उठा,
देख थोड़ी दूर पर तुझे कोई घर दिखता है?

उसकी छत पर ज़रा नज़र डाल,
मेरा दिल तुझे देखने के लिये वहीं खड़ा रहता है।

जब भी तेरे घर के आगे से निकलते हैं,
संभलकर निकलते हैं फिर भी गिर जाते हैं,
रास्ता बदलते हैं, फिर भी तेरे घर की ओर मूड जाते हैं,
कोई तो बताए ऐसा क्या है तुझमें ,
की तुझे देखने भर से होश खुद-ब-खुद उड़ जाते हैं?

दिल के मुहल्ले मे देख आई,
तेरा घर आज भी वहीं बसता है,
वो सजी हुई पतली-सुन्दर सी गली के मोड पर,
खड़े होकर दूर से भी तेरा घर दिखता है।

वो अधूरे पन्नों की अधूरी पंक्तियाँ

ये कुछ पंक्तियाँ हैं उन अधूरी कविताओं के नाम जिन्हें  मैं कभी पूरी नहीं कर पायी और वो कागज़ कहाँ गए, पता नहीं.

कुछ अधूरी कहानियाँ  आज भी हैं कागजों पे,
बस यूँ हैं लिखी पड़ी,
कुछ गयी है कबाड़ में इस तरह,
जैसे कभी थी नहीं उनकी औकात कोई.

न जाने क्यूँ पूरी नहीं वो हो सकी मुझसे कभी,
शायद अधूरी रह जाना था उनकी किस्मत में,
 या उन्हें पूरा करने कि,
थी नहीं औकात मेरी.

कiश उन्हें उनका कवि मिले,
जो उन्हें ऐसे शब्दों में पिरो सके,
देखकर जिसे मैं कहूँ,
अच्छा,बन नहीं पायी थीं ये मेरी तभी !

सत्ता और समाज

आजतक सत्ता और समाज कि परिभाषा मेरे लिए कुछ और थी। पर हर रोज़  के गिरते भाषा के स्तर  ने मेरे  सत्ता के मायने बदलकर रख दिए है। पहले तक सत्ता को एक ऐसी शक्ति माना  जाता था जिसके दम पर हम देश को आगे बढ़ाने , उसमे बदलाव लाने और दुनिया  के  सामने एक सशक्त  देश का उदाहरण  बनने में सक्षम होते थे और सत्ताधारियों  को उसका ज़रिया मानते थे।  पर हर रोज़  सुर्खियाँ  बटोरते ये सत्ताधारी - एक दूसरे पर तानाकशी, घटिया  इल्ज़ामात और एक दूसरे को पागल करार देते पाये जाते है।

हर रोज़ शर्मसार होती इस  सत्ता का गवाह बनते है-ये अख़बार ,मैं  और आप।
 समाज को सुधारना तो दूर ये लोग, जो एक दूसरे पर ऐसी छींटाकशी करते है कि  वो इंसानियत बरतने के काबिल भी नहीं है। 2014  के  मतदान जैसे-जैसे  पास आ रहे हैं इन लोगों  कि एक दूसरे पर शब्दों कि गोलेबारी तेज़ हो गयी है - वो भी "ज़हरीली" गोलेबारी।
मैं  कभी कभी सोचती हूँ कि क्या ये है इन्सानियत का स्तर कि एक दूसरे को समाज के बीच बाज़ार में ,हर रोज़ नंगा कर दिया जाये ?क्या ये लोगों  में से ,जो अपना दिमागी  संतुलन खो चुके है, मुझे एक चुनकर अपने आप को ,अपने देश को और अपनी  आने वाली पीढ़ी को चलने कि ज़िम्मेदारी देनी है,जिन लोगो ने सत्ता को पैसा,शक्ति, अमानवीय और अस्वीकारणीय बर्ताव का बाज़ार  बना दिया है?यहाँ हर रोज़ एक इंसान दूसरे को पागल करार देने,आईएम से मिले होने कि डिग्री प्रदान करता है। इस बात का क्या प्रमाण  है कि   जिसे मैं  वोट दूंगी या ये देश जिसे चुनेगा वो (शक्ति ) हारी हुई (सिर्फ शक्ति हारी हुई,इंसानियत को बदनाम करने में तो वो भी अव्वल दर्जे से पास हुई है ) पार्टी   से एक प्रतिशत भी बेहतर है ?
अपने समाज और अपने देख कि कल कि छवि सोचकर मन दुःख और चिंता से भर जाता है और शब्दों  कि आवाजाही वहीं ठप हो जाती है।


चार पंक्तियों  में मैंने इसे संपन्न करती हूँ :

भटक गया है समाज,

इसके सुधरने कि उम्मीद नहीं ,
हर रोज़ कि इस तानाकशी से,
आने वाले कल में कुछ अच्छा प्रतीत नहीं,
चिंता है और चिंतन भी,
पर इन सबका लाभ नहीं ,
क्योकि समाज बदल रहा है इस कदर,
जहाँ भाई भाई के करीब नहीं।

DEFINING THE UNDEFINABLE-Mr. Amitabh Bacchan

Yet another season of Kaun Banega Crorepati has begun.The most interesting and alluring thing about the show,of course other than the magical prize money which has changed and will keep changing the lives of the common man making them not so common,is the 75 years yet not so old human being-Mr. Amitabh Bacchan.
Whenever I think of this finest human being,I fall short of words.Such is the charisma of this gentleman.Being at this stage of age the persona and poise he has for his work in life surprises and mesmerizes me and makes me fall short of the various emoticons that run inside me.The man truly defining his statement "Buddha hoga tera baap."
The command he has on all the languages that he speaks is commendable. In fact,my fascination towards Hindi language was revived because of him.The romantic way with which he speaks the language makes you fall in love with the language.At times when he speaks Bengali,even if I don't understand a word I want him to go on and on.Though being the Shehenshah of Bollywood he is the most grounded,humble and well connected with his fans.
It doesn't seem strange to me when I hear the 1970s & 80s stories of people waiting for long in front of his house to just catch a glimpse of this "Biggest B" and shaking hands with him for someone can be the last wish on Earth.
The only thing I don't like is the way people have given him the place of God and taken the liberty and flexibility of being wrong.He has to and has to be correct and can't commit any human error in his speech,thoughts and daily living as he is the God father for many and is under constant scrutiny of fans.Though he is executing his responsibility perfectly by being correct but somewhere,sometimes I think that it must be suffocating for him to be bang on every single time.
Talking of "being wrong" reminds me of the phase when,based on the media reports,Amitabh Bacchan was highly criticised for falling in love with the yesteryear's actor Rekha.The time when various top magazines reported that even being married to Jaya he wanted to go with Rekha and disappointed his very loyal audience as they didn't expect their Vijay to be morally wrong.
But never the less,now he has double the fan following which he is very well managing and is continuing to be the Baap of Bollywood.

Searching the right path of life

Sometimes in our life we think so much ,put so much pressure by thinking about the bad phase that we might have gone or going through in our life-about the mysterious,unclear and foggy future.Where we are highly disappointed with the way our life is shaping up.So to rectify that we start thinking so much about our fate.
We ponder so much of "what will I get,what will I get",but we,many-a-time, don't get any answer.The only answer ,then,we give to ourselves is,"wait,only the future will tell of what you'l get.So there is no point meditating of how to set right our future by taking an appropriate step.The only step we can take at the time of confusion and chaos that is going in our mind is to keep mum,sit back and let destiny make the goal."We should only do whatever our gut feeling says and not by thinking about the right path...because the right path can only be checked after reaching the destination and not at the start of the journey.If the "end result" could be foreseen at the starting then it wouldn't have been tagged as "end" result.
So,in life,go by what you feel right and not what can make you reach the right destination as every destination can be right if in its journey you put hard work.Don't waste too much time thinking about it and go down the road and explore the path!
:)