Kuch yaadein .. kuch baatein

ek bund mutthi mein ... kuch saath laya hoon ..
dekhogi ? dikhlaoun?
boojhogi ? batlaoun ?
woh jo dekha tha tumko
pehli baar ...
ek kaale 'top' me ...
Metro ke bahar ...


aur bhi kuch hai ... is bund mutthi mein ...
dekhogi ? dikhlaoun ?
boojhogi ? batlaoun ?
woh bus ka mera safar ...
tum thee saath... phone par ...


aur bhi kuch hai .. .
jo tum peechey chhod aayi thee ...
saath laaya hoon ...
dekhogi ? dikhlaoun ?
boojhogi ? batlaoun ?
woh tumhari bindi ...
mere kaandhey pe reh gayi thee ..
sambhal ke rakhi hai...
us din pehli bar, tum kuch keh gaye the....


meri aankhon mein, aur ek yaad bund hai...
dekhogi ? dikhlaoun ?
boojhogi ? batlaoun ?
woh raat ko dar ke sapney me..
kiya tha mujhey phone ...
sirf main he yaad aaya ..
itna pyaar karega kaun ...

aur bhee hain yaadein ... aur bhee hain baatein ..
poochogi ? sunaaon ?
muskaogi ? batlaoun ?
chalo jaaney do ...
milogi toh bataunga ...
tumhey sharmata dekh ...
main bhi muskaunga ....

Khamoshi ....

Kal se dil parishan hai, chaayi hai aaj udaasi,
jo zubnan na bol payee, shayad kehti hai meri Khamoshi...


kabhi hai inkaar, kabhi hai ikraar khamoshi,
aaj teri nazar ki madhoshi, se hai chaaye, khamoshi...


ek jaam, teri muskaan aur ek tera ishaara khamoshi,
kal chod gayi, mere kaandhey pe ek teri zulf, teri khamoshi...


teri ada, teri haya aur tera husn khamoshi,
teri aankh se ek katra gira, aur chaayee khamoshi...


na tu bol kuch, na mein bolun kuch, bus thaam mera haath,
aur rehney de, pal do pal zara, mere yaar, khamoshi


mere chaley janey se na padega kuch fark,
yeh tera kehna.....aur yeh meri khamoshi...


kehna tha bohot kuch, par zuban ne na diya saath,
tu samajh mere dost, yeh meri khamoshi .......

Roz masjid ke farsh par sar maara,
jo dekha aaj nazar jhuka ke, khuda dil mein baitha tha ...

Travel Tales - Surat, Gujrat

After the extremely slow train journey in the Janta Express, I get down at 1 in afternoon at the Surat railway station. I am welcomed by long forgotten gujrati script and uncountable Narendra Modi's posters (I have never been able to respect him for anything).

The city is as hot as it was in my childhood memories of Gujrat. I hop on a bus and reach my friend's house in Bardoli about 30 kms from Surat, I met him in November last year after 15 years and he hadn't changed a bit. I wanted to visit him again.

In evening I get to know he is doing his PhD on how people change by traveling ( though he is focusing on Nehru, Gandhi, Ambedkar and Khan) and I have already started loving him more.

We go out for a walk in late evening, mostly to experience local food and get a feel of the city and lifestyle. I see jhoola (cradle/swing) in front of almost every home here. Feels good to see the entire family sitting on it and enjoying the evening together.

At local roadside joints we eat a few things and I notice there is no Racism here or ''language barrier or hatred'' here. There are no eye-brows raised when I ask the guy something in hindi instead of gujrati. I mention this to my friend and he tells me the 'equation for hate' in gujrat is ''enemy = muslim'' & ''muslim = enemy'' and after all how much hate can you have within. So Bihari and U.P walas are not hated here. Gujrat doesn't have racism it has communalism like Bihar has casteism.

Gujrat seems so happy and progressive after murdering a few thousand muslims, people praise Mr.Modi for the work he has done. Now there is nobody poor, there are no beggers, all the kids go to school, everybody has enough food, there are rivers of milk flowing and everybody has a smile across their face. And if there is something missing, I am sure it would come after killing Christians, and even after that if there is something missing, we can murder Sikhs and after that we can murder every ''non-hindu'' and what after that........ don't forget we have the scheduled castes and tribes left, their elimination would surely make this world a better place to live and worth loving.

We eat a dinner and end the night arguing how the people growing food are dying and how the people selling food are becoming rich.

At night I am still moving, inspite of being off-the-train for 10 hours. The train was horrible, I mean

स्टेशन की पहचान होती है ''चाय चाय .. चाय गरम चाय".... ये साली ऐसे स्टेशनस पर रूकती थी जहाँ चाय वाले भी नहीं होते थे....

Next day early in the morning we head to Dhule, 5 hours journey by bus, to meet Mausi and Sayali, old travel time friends. The reception was nice and filled with love. We see each others travel photos and share thoughts. Mausi is one of those who have done the mother of all treks, the kailash mansarovar and wants to do everest, hope we both do it together. Sayali was as bubbly as she was last time and it once again felt good to be near her. She is a lovely girl but I missed Anuja(mausi's daughter) she is the sweetest of all of them. I spent few hours with them talking about the old times when we trekked together. It felt nostalgic. I think one of the best feelings of love shows up on face when you meet old friends. I wish we meet again and do some travelling together. In evening we bid good bye and I traveled back to surat travelling 5 hours but dozing off most of the time.

Next day, a late start of the day, a typical gujrati breakfast, some gujrati snack shopping and I board the train back to delhi. What better way could there be to spend the long weekend.

Getting back to Job ...

Coming back to the corporate life has been eventful .... It's like a love-hate relationship ...

Pros -

- I am getting money to save for my Coffee Shop
- Travelling is easy because of the money coming in
- I have started Piano classes because of having a routine now
- I am making new friends and still catch up with old ones
- I get to socialize more

Cons -

- If there is one thing that I am missing ... It's Peace...
- I hate the feeling of going to office
- I terribly miss being a nomad
- I miss the 'bag-on-shoulders' life
- I miss my photography
- I miss my motorcycling soooooooooo much
- I feel like I am a loser now...........
- I miss the mighty Himalayaaaaaaasssssssssssssssss
- There are just not enough leaves to meet friends far away
- I am changing from within ... I am again tempted towards "show-offs" ...branded clothes, branded shoes, better car, expensive alcohol ...
- And the biggest ...... I am not content ... I always feel .. I want more ...



I so deperately wish to get 'done' with this stage of life and start with my sabbatical again ... and if there is one thing that keeps me going ... it's the feeling that today's suffering is going to get me my Coffee Shop tomorrow ...

The vicious circle ...

A bus fumes black smoke
A car behind him honks
The red light turns green
The girlfriend on the bike tightens her hug
The faces in the bus move past him

He is tired and bored and mad in the hot sun
The dusty road is full of holes
The traffic on the road is less today
But the passenger is in hurry again

His face is battered and swollen
He wipes his brows with his blue shirt
The blue of his shirt has faded like memories of his wife
He gets ten rupees and drinks water for 3 rupees

He watches you smoke
A ciggerette of the money
You bargained from him
And says nothing, just a darkness in eyes

He sleeps under a flyover
With his leg locked with a chain to one wheel
He cooks a meal of boiled rice and lentils
Sleeping is past his dreams

He thinks of a better morning everyday
but the sunlight is too far
he is, who carries people....
he is the Rickshaw Wala....

The trek and the girl ....

"Had been on a trek and met a girl". How small can a sentence get sometimes. Well, I was on a trek for about 10 days and met this girl and we became good friends. After climbing for about 7 hours one day, we stopped at a really beautiful camp site. Had penned down a few lines for her at a camp site while we(the entire group) sat around a candle sharing thoughts and experiences.

After a few days I travelled again to the city where she lived and the last 2 lines were added then.

In dark I sit ... in this lovely night....
Next to you ... by this candle light ...
Day dreaming ......wondering about happiness....
feeling good ... with the warmth of your togetherness...
I am tired ....but sleep isn't near ....
Just want to be .... with you ... here...
Want to know why I found you ... always next ....
Whenever I stopped ... to breathe .. or rest ....
I have heard your story .. and so is mine...
don't know .... if that's a sign ...
I have got answers to many questions ....
but there is one ....destiny has to answer ...
and now I travel to see you again ....
Let's see ... this brings happiness.. or pain again ....

A little befuddled philosophy of existence

who am I ....
what is my existence...
what is my identity ...
and where does it lie within me???

If you cut my hand .. I would say .. me and my hand ... if you cut both my hands .. I would say me and my hands ..... If you cut my legs .. I would say ... me and my legs ...if you cut my head ... what would I say .. me and my head or me and my body ??

where is my existence? is it in my head or in my heart ?