MIST

A thick, all-pervading mist
Of people and places
Of voices and faces
Of twisted realities
and unending complexities

Trapped within is a free soul
Blinded by the mist
It shivers in the cold
Pure as the ocean water
If left all alone

But lost in the mist
It knows not what to do
There's a whole world to grab at
And myriad places to go to

Holding on to its convictions
it tries to weather the storm
But silent as a shadow
The mist crosses over......

A void
An emptiness so complete
It breeds on innocence
Frozen drops of hope
Falling, falling, falling............


And then a single ray of light
Piercing the heart of darkness
An invisible hand
Painting silver contours on the dark cloud
Rescues it from obscurity

Warmed by the light
Reassured of a presence
The faith returns
And hope rises from the ashes
Again !!

THE UTOPIAN LIFE

Some want power, others would die for fame....money ...love....lust drive others....What do I want from life??....A question I often ask myself and always come up with the same answer- A Dog's Life....to be more precise...A Lazy Pet Dog's Life. Now laziness is an attribute many people despise. But, like all good things in life, not everyone can appreciate the deapth and beauty of it. Only connosieurs and practitioners can understand the gravitas associated with this rare virtue. At the risk of sounding immodest, I would like to confess that I belong to that rare breed. My laziness is not exactly the stuff of legends but being branded "The Laziest Person I've ever met" on my Birthday card by someone with whom I've spent more than half my life does qualify as at least a token of appreciation for the all the hard work I have put in.
Returning to my doggy dreams, what attracts me to a dog's life is not just the laid-back lifestyle, the oohs and aahs that their cuteness elicits from us humans or the powers of intuition with which they are blessed...All these are important but what seals the deal for me is the sheer intellectual possibilities which such a life offers. Imagine having no care in the world about where your next meal will come from or how will you pay your home and car EMI's....Now that is FREEDOM...Freedom of mind and the time to think....to muse on the many questions and problems of this life....A domesticated dog to me is The Greatest Thinker...The modern day equivalent of Plato, Aristotle and Socrates...Look closely into those puppy eyes and you will see KNOWLEDGE....pure, unadulterated, incurroptible knowledge...and the power of Ideas....I wish I had the freedom to live that life...It was my secret wish but not any more....!!!

BOAST OF QUITNESS

Writings of light assault the darkness, more prodigious than meteors.
The tall unknowable city takes over the countryside.
Sure of my life and my death, I observe the ambitious and would like to understand them.
Their day is greedy as a lariat in the air.
Their night is a rest from the rage within steel, quick to attack.
They speak of humanity.
My humanity is in feeling we are all voices of the same poverty.
They speak of homeland.
My homeland is the rhythm of a guitar, a few portraits, an old sword,
the willow grove’s visible prayer as evening falls.
Time is living me.
More silent than my shadow, I pass through the loftily covetous multitude.
They are indispensable, singular, worthy of tomorrow.
My name is someone and anyone.
I walk slowly, like one who comes from so far away he doesn’t expect to
arrive.

- Jorge Luis Borges

The first page of The Inheritance of Loss. A poem with which I can relate so much, it seems I have written it. But of course, this one is way beyond my abilities....at least for now.....Maybe sometime in the future I can express my thoughts as clearly as Jorge Luis Borges....

Quote Unquote

To do is to be.
-Plato

To be is to do.
-Socrates

Do be do be do !!
-Sinatra

An Attempt at Shayari

Chaandni raat thi
Aur maekade ke jaam haathon mein
Hansi hothon pe thi
Par thi kahin kuch ranj baton mein

Kisi ki yaad thi
Ya thi meri tanhai ki aawaaz
“Mile do yar mehfil mein
Toh khoya ruh ka aaghaaz?”

Main aaya hosh mein
Mujhko gam-e-dil ka hua ehsaas
Liye botal bujhane ko chala
Jo thi adhuri pyas

Sheher ke raaste pehle kabhi
Itne hasin na the
Bohat guzra gali khunchon se
Lekin bolte na the

Magar us raat jaise tha
Farishtey ka koi farmaan
Juti thi kaynaatein
Pure karne mein mere armaan

Gali ke mod ke patthar pe
Maine sar jhukaya toh
Hua ehsaas teri roshni ka
Aur ibadat ka

Dikhaya aks mujhko
Aur bujha dir uh ki har pyaas
Tha gardish mein jo ik guncha
Use bhi kar diya aazaad

My Fascination With امریکا ، کینیڈا یوکے کا بڑا اخبار

I have always been fascinated with the Urdu language. It began with looking at the Urdu newspapers at my grandma's house. The beautifully moulded writing, the sharp turn of line, the bend of the alphabets....all held me enthralled. The ebb and flow of it was so much more interesting than the straight, rigid- looking Hindi and English which we were made to write at school. It seemed more like Art and less like a language. Then came the revelation that it's all written from right to left and I was awed by the originality of the language. Growing up, my imagination was captured by some of the Urdu words I heard in Hindi film music and dialouges. Be it the deep throated kh or z sounds or the mysticism of words like ibadat and kaynaat, it has so much more meaning and weight(vazan) than any other language. There is a certain effortlessness about spoken Urdu which makes the best Hindi words look laboured in comparison. Its ability to convey the exact meaning of a thought in a single word is unparalleled. It is the language of poets and artists because of its inherent politeness (tehzeeb) and elegance.....which can be best expressed only by one word which sums up the language itself- नजाकत !

TO BE OR NOT TO BE

To be or not to be
That is the question
To be or not to be?
Is it right?
To be a prisoner of one’s own thoughts
To accept everything that fate decides
Without any tears, without any complaints
Is this what life is?
Just a forced silence
Which doesn’t let you breathe
Which doesn’t let anyone know a thing
Be careful, for time might lose it’s hold
Or life’s perfect ending may not occur
Where thou shall govern thy destiny!!

DRIFTER

Standing alone on the edge of the cliff
Looking at the crowded valley below
He wonders aloud to himself
Why amongst the fast he moves so slow

As the sun rises on the horizon
His mind’s eye wanders far far away
Deep into a world of dreams he falls
Where fish can fly and mountains sway

He belongs to nobody
And there’s none he owns
So he just drifts along
All alone he roams

Drifting in and out of reality
In and out of relationships
In and out of lives
In search of his pleasure

Few strums of a guitar
The yellowing pages of an old book
Drops of dew on a winter morning
Mist on the mountain at dusk

They talk of ambition
He craves for satisfaction
As they make a dash for the finish line
He ambles along smiling

For some, the journey is the destination!!