What time is it?
the day’s pale blue blood
spills across the horizon
impregnating the dark
a new moon is born
chuckling in silence – not crying
the breeze hymns some verses
Rumi probably
the sky smiles gently now
what time is it?
Tag: Life
There’s a war out there..
So you’re a happle dapple kiddo
paintin a star out there
And then ya snappy crappy teenie
see a bar out there
When you get out of ya teenie,
there’s a gloomy droopy office
smoking cigar out there
There’s flesh on a wound
and a scar out there
There’s a war out there
Gamble
And then
He lost everything to her
She was a lovely gamble
फिर
तेरी आंखों से जो बह गई होगी
फिर वो गज़ल हो गई होगी
गहरा कोहरा है
गहरा कोहरा है
नुक्कड़ वाले मोड़ पर आज भी बैठी है वो बुढ़िया,
खाली आँखों से आसमान टटोलती
हाथों में उसके लकीरे न होंगी शायद
चेहरे पर ही वक़्त ने जैसे नक़्क़ाशी जड़ दी हो
उस चाबी वाले गुड्डे मे चाबी भर मुस्कुराती
दिवाली पर दिलवाया था उसे, बड़ा खुश हुआ था
मेरी अच्छी माँ कहकर खूब ज़ोर से गले लगाया था
वक़्त चाबी भरना भूल गया शायद
वो चलते चलते रुक गया
न कदम उठा न हाथ बढ़ा – अँधेरा हुआ था तब
आज कोहरा है, गहरा कोहरा है
पियूष कौशल (शिव)
The good old Malgudi Days – 1
There are some stories that you just can’t just forget, no matter how many decades go by…. Swami and his friends, The Mithaiwala, A Horse and Two Goats are some episodes from “Malgudi Days”, embedded like scriptures in my mind. I remember as a kid, how I used to wait for this very program with my friends and then we used to humm the magical tone “Tananananananaaa….tanannaaanannnaaa” in sync with the mystical flute. 🙂 🙂
What characters were those, so simple yet so everlasting! Stories of common people from a common village with extraordinary direction and acting, Mr. Shankar Nag did a very fine job there!
90’s was an era that was golden and twinkling, we just had Doordarshan and yet we have endless memories of the few options that were available.” Byomkesh Bakshi”, the detective thriller that had your mind’s eye running the James Bond way. “Mitti ke rang” showcased the reverberatingly different aspects of life, every single episode illustrated a new situation, a new story!
Sunday mornings weren’t a half-sleepy, half frenzied fiasco… Duck tales with Uncle Scrudge McDuck and his nephews Huey, Duey and Luey marked start of the day, swimming in a heap of gold coins to count wealth, new treasure hunts and what not!
This was followed by Talespin, with Ballu and his stereoscopic “Chakkar-ghinni udaan” and Madame Mahalingam. Then came the Jungle Book, and we were all lost in the expeditions of Mowgli “the chaddi boy”-as we called him, bhalu, bageera, sher khan, akdu-bakdu, leela, tabaki….. <3
Weekends had special paranthas on the menu, and not to forget sweets and cookies. Yummy! 😛 Overflowing tummies and an extravagant dream frenzy then led us to the favorite Indian time pass during the 90’s: CRICKET. If I say it in my buddy Avijit’s wordings “Bwoy we loved it!” 😀 This is one game that every Indian must have played through his childhood, and we would play this ad infinitum until the sun declared a ceasefire. 😛
Back home there were scores of fiction stories still waiting with Vikram-Betaal, The Little Mermaid, I Dream of Jeannie, Karamchand and Chota Jadugar… New movie songs ruled the dinner time with Chitrahaar and all the best. I still remember laying a bet on what would be the no.1 song for the week 🙂 Personal favorite being the invisible dancer song “Muqabla-Muqabla”, which inadvertently led the charts for over 6 months… : )
As a result I was always out-standing on Mondays, as homework never bothered me! 😀
Oh yes I forgot to mention “Taaro”, that came Saturday mornings, with a tagline song dragon ka beta taaro 🙂 simply loved it!
Crap, I forgot another one “Nukkad”, one of the most adored shows of all time! (Seems I am suffering from Ghajjinisia : ) )
Today we do have a large pile up of channels, but no story worth the talk, no characters that make us think “wish life was like that”, accompanied by scarcity of dreamland!
We do have the TRP doodling, so-called “Reality Shows” where there is nothing bona fide! Khoadies, Raakhi ka khatam-var, Rahul ki Vidaai, Spits-ville, Big Loss…Man!! All big bhoolshit…
The other Soap operas we have are the likes of Saas bhi kabhi Bahu thi, utran, bartan and more such crap where almost every “Gharelu” lady has 3 husbands… one dies, another comes and then sometimes an additional lover…or it’s the other way round the “Perfect Pati” has 2 or more wives along with a complimentary girlfriend sometimes kids. Gimme a break!!! A spiced up vamp with overt makeup and some unreal acting (unreal as in fake), accompanied by some futile camera moments and off-course some horror-ifying music make it a perfect “Hogwash Package”
That’s it for now, had enough beep-beep… We’ll take more digs in the next post : )
Just to make sure that nothing goes beyond limits, this has a part-2 : ) So, if you think you loved the euphoric 90’s and that my Ghajjinisia has missed some memorable stuff… Do let me know, it’s surely going to be there in the next part!
Till then “Tananananananaaa….tanannaaanannnaaa” 🙂
A Hope
A flickering hope in despondency,
like a rebellious flare in the womb of a storm,
and the afflicting Déjà vu of failure,
pulling thy across the lines of anticipate…
The lightning strikes a chord,
with the strings of despair and anguish
while thou navigate the conscience
To the beats of an effervescent life…
The thoughts break autumn’s monotony,
to the resplendent light of springs
and the blossoms meet cacophony…
Just like a dewdrop kissing the earth,
the touch of whose makes the hoarse periphery,
a delight to walk on…
Just like the sun oozing out of his siesta
from the deep blue sea…
The insight outshines thy desire,
and thou command an enigma of sanguinity…
The naked half-moon exposing
its shining bare skin,
across the bed sheet of clouds
and the stammering gloom of night…
The darkness makes the shine more affluent,
like happiness leaping amidst a masquerade of gloom…
A hope is more than
a few fluttered words
it is the fortitude of forbidden times,
and the reformation of finesse…
a hope is more than just “A Hope“
A Wandering Thought
Alone in the night,
descending the stairs,
I desolate happiness,
out of scars
The scars of past,
and present and future,
And the happiness of a wandering thought
In the broad daylight,
when I fade out
My shallow heart
confines desires…
A blurred vision,
and numb nerves
A wandering loafer soul
And a wandering thought…
I leap mountains,
and walk through the seas
Across the wind,
trimming the fire
I let myself breathe,
and calm down
I surrender my ego
To a wandering thought…
The Oak Tree
He stood alone on the hill,
through dusk to dawn
His roots dug deep,
deeper into thoughts
Thoughts of sunlight,
and the rays of hope
For his progenitors,
for the leaves, the branches
Thoughts of monsoon,
when summers pinched
And of winters,
When rains soaked his tears
He was always thinking,
for he was The Oak Tree
He was proud of the leaves,
that spawned his shadow
He endowed branches,
that unified his euphoria
The roots were his strength,
his indelible self
The only hope,
that touched his revere
He always loved them,
for he was The Oak Tree
He braved ages,
and the swindling time
He fought the storm,
the drought and the quivers
To strangers he bore resilience,
a resilience against the blistering swelter
He was always like this,
for he was The Oak Tree
His leaves changed color,
much like the weather
The branches tore his skin,
he wanted them to brave his age
Deserted he stood,
with his shadow
For his good days,
for leaves and birds and greenery
He always waited,
for he was The Oak Tree
There was a friend, a brother
a father, and a lover
for there was “The Oak Tree…”
What a Beauty-Full Life…
Beauty is in flowers, and the petals
Bathing in the early morning dew
Beauty is in the eyes of a father
When his son takes the first step
Beauty is on the face of a baby,
Sleeping in mother’s lap
Beauty is in freedom,
When you fly high on the wings of hope
Beauty is in the expressions of a poor man
When he gets food after eternity
Beauty is in the pride of a teacher
When his student supersedes
Beauty is in the compassion of a devotee
When he finds solace
- Beauty
Beauty is in the innocence of a child
When he asks you questions
Beauty is in the sips of laughter,
You share with your friends
Beauty is in the springs of desire
that arrive after a prolonged autumn
Beauty is in the cry of a woman,
Whose womb succeeds
Beauty is in the silence,
When you don’t speak, and you say a lot
Beauty is in the warmth of passion
That builds around the arms of a lover
Beauty is when those small fights,
End with tears of joy
Beauty is when the first raindrop,
Kisses your cheek
Beauty is in perseverance,
When the world’s showing off
Beauty is in the enigma,
When everything’s certain
Beauty is in a poem,
Where poetry meets prose
Beauty is in little chunks of life,
Filled with joys and sorrows
Beauty is in your eyes,
your heart, and in every single breath
Beauty is when you say,
“What a Beauty-Full Life...”
