When its dark at home, go get some light...

It was dark at home.
and I went for a stroll.
Met these lights on my way,
and their stories.
I talked to one, it talked to me,
that night...
Like a ghost.
Mind to mind
eye to eye
light to light...

As I returned back,
I saw, the ghost came back home with me.
And, it lives right here,
in my mind.
In me.

Photo courtesy: Saurabh tupkar

On that planet in that galaxy...

वहाँ दिन खिलेगा; 

वहाँ रात होगी,

वहाँ हर डगर पर 

मुलाकात होगी।

वहाँ चाँद अम्बर 

के नीचे समंदर 

में आधा-सा छुपकर, 

बातें करेगा। 

वो आधी -सी बातें... 

वहाँ लफ्ज़ बिखरेंगे 

कागज़ से नभ पर, 

और पंछियों - से,

घरोंदों को अपने,  

लौटेंगे रातों को।   

वो आधी- सी रातें... 

वहाँ मैं नहीं मैं

वहाँ तुम नहीं तुम,

वहाँ कुछ न ज़्यादा 

वहाँ कुछ नहीं कम। 

कि जब वक़्त धागों- सा

जुड़ कर रुकेगा 

वहाँ रेत पर...

तेरी धड़कनों में 

संगीत मेरा,

पुकारेगा तुझको
तेरा नाम लेकर...

और चुप चाप छुपकर 
तेरी धड़कनों में, 

संगीत मेरा...

वो आधा- सा वादा 

कर देगा पूरा। 

picture source https://www.pinterest.com/pin/288019338642945452/

The unfinished painting you grow into...

All I need is a piece of paper,

and some charcoal or sharpened graphite,

to paint you,

in words.

Monochrome, my painting.

Conscientious my efforts,

as I try to draw,

the edges of your unlived dreams,

which rustle as leaves,

as they talk to me

and stare innocently at the white sky...

And then it does not end.

For you never stop there.

You expand.

You grow

and you become the forest.

I stare at my fingers and the charcoal.

dumbfounded.

picture source https://www.pinterest.com/pin/491525746809337279/

Essays on love (3)

The truth, the self, the essence

THE 'YOU'

उसको छू दो जहाँ से, सच बदलता नहीं। 

तुझको देखो जिधर से, तू रहेगा वही। 

तू रोज़ सुबह को जगता जहाँ से है,

उससे बढ़के, 

रोज़ सोना मगर... 

तू साँझ में, शहरों की भीड़ की उलझन में, खुद को, 

यूँ न खोना मगर... 

रास्ता न मिले जो कहीं, इन मकानों के जंगलों में... 

और लगे कुछ है टूटा कहीं, इन दीवारों के हौंसलों में... 

चलना, 

गुम न होना मगर। 

There is this doctrine of syadvada in the jaina philosophy. There's this very famous example which explains it, that someone touched the foot of the elephant in dark, and called it a pole, touched its tail, and called it a rope, touched its trunk and called it a snake and so on.. The TRUTH however was 'the elephant' whom everyone touched, but no one saw, no one understood. 

Has this happened with you? And, if it has that does not and should not change the truth of your existence, no matter from wherever they touch it, no matter how they stack it, no matter how they try to change it. 

This world around, is doing that to you continuously. Like, the wind and the river and all these forces try to even out, to erode the mountain, but that does not change the mountain or its core. The mountain and the magma inside it preserves itself, its core, like truth, and the mountain rises. It rises despite every effort of being eroded and peeled out. It rises because of what it is- its core, its essence, its truth.

Preserve it- your self, your essence, the 'You'. And preserving it does not mean changelessness or stagnation. It only means evolution. 

May you grow, may you evolve each day, without regrets. So, when you go to sleep tonight, before you close your eyes, may you have risen an inch higher from the place you woke up this morning.

Don't let anyone in this world, at home or in this heartless crowd, in this crazy insane city, erode that 'You'. For it is precious. You are precious. 

And when, some evening, you can't find your way back to yourself, and you feel lost like a child in this concrete jungle of houses and homes. When you feel disowned, like a broken favourite toy, crushed by the colourful walls and their chains, just keep walking. But, don't lose the 'You', the essence. Keep walking with your head high and your heart believing.

Keep walking.

photograph source https://www.pinterest.com/pin/494973815272612540/

What brings me to war... and wars kill..

What disturbs peace?

There is a question.

"What lies between the illusion you see

and the real, you know?

Whom to trust?

The star or its light?
The light can guide you in dark.

But the star can be an illusion,

lost in space light years back.

Whom to believe?

The train or its whistle?

The whistle you hear loud,

the train might not just stop at your station,

even if it does, it might not be 'your' train."

What you see

may exist

may not exist.

What exists,

you may see,

you may not see.

The more important question then is-

What you want to see existing

and why?

Practical wisdom says, if you don't have the answers,

draw back

before the dam bursts

and cause destruction.

If you have the answers, go on...

The question is:

Do I have the answers?

That disturbs peace.

That brings me to war.

And wars kill.

picture source http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ancient_Monument_TCG_by_Cynthie_Sheppard.png

Inside of You...

खो रहा है जो तू,

मिल रहा है कहीं। 
-----------------
We must always be full,
never half.
For whenever in this world
 you are half,
half-known
half-loved
half-accepted,
still trying to smile through...
you are not just lying to the world,
but to the self,
to the'You'

When you are half,
you are lost in this world, 
and in its ceaseless clatter.

In another world somewhere,
you want to be found.
That world is here,
inside of You.
Its your parallel universe.
talking to you.

Smile through it
Become its light.
Its not just dark matter.

picture source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/491525746809524430/ 

Essays on love (2)

रुख बदल जाए न,इस हवा का कहीं... 

तेरे हाथों में सब,है भी ,है भी नहीं... 

तू आसमानों-सा,

क्या ढूंढ़ता खुद में है 

रंगों-सा.. 

तुझमें तूफानों-सा,क्या बह रहा है जो 

जंगों-सा.. 

तुझसे रोज़ लड़ता है 

फिर भी प्यार करता है। 

तेरा नहीं है क्या ?

तेरा कहीं है क्या ?

बसेरा। 

तू रौशनी-सा है; 

कहता क्यों है फिर, तुझमें है 

अँधेरा। 

मुझमें जो तेरा है; 

तुझमें भी कहीं क्या है, 

मेरा।  

photograph source https://www.pinterest.com/pin/464152305319738543/

Essays on love....

प्यार बंदिश नहीं 

प्यार ख्वाहिश नहीं 

प्यार सौदा नहीं 

ज़िद या ओहदा नहीं। 

कुछ भी नहीं है 

प्यार बस एहसास है।  

तू रोज़ सुनता है इसे 

तेरी आवाज़ है...

तू अनसुना जिसे कर के,

ढूंढ़ता रहा जिसको...

तू छोड़ कर सौ रास्ते,

फिर आ मिला जिसको। 

तेरा प्यार तो तुझमे है, तेरे पास है। 

picture source https://www.pinterest.com/pin/491525746809375415/

Between the numerous silver pebbles...

Between those numerous words said,
or written, 
or sung to you in your sleep
and those umpteen words unsaid, 
never written, never sung
lies 
a nothingness
raw, untouched, naked
You can't hide it.
And you can't share it either.
You can't lie about it.
And you don't want to face its truth either.

That nothingness is the essence.
That nothingness is me.

These words I sing or shout 
are porous
like these pebbles.
But the pores connect
make me permeable.

If You call me your aquifer.
know, that it is this nothingness,
these gaps,these spaces
which make me what I am.
May be You have known them,
May be they are too narrow to reach.
May be You have known me
May be I am too far out of reach..
picture source https://www.pinterest.com/pin/491525746809456656/