Rishta

मुझको भी तरकीब सिखा कोई यार जुलाहे,

अक्सर तुझको देखा है कि ताना बुनते
जहाँ कोई तागा टूट गया या ख़त्म हुआ
फिर से बांध के
और सिरा कोई जोड़ के उसमे
आगे बुनने लगते हो
तेरे इस ताने में लेकिन
इक भी गाँठ गिरह बुनतर कि
देख नही सकता कोई

मैंने तो इक बार बुना था एक ही रिश्ता
लेकिन उसकी सारी गिरहें
साफ नज़र आती हैं मेरे यार जुलाहे



गुलज़ार के इन अशारों को जिए जाते हैं...

Vijay Perth!!

For all the connoisseurs of test cricket and ardent followers of the fortunes of Indian cricket, today has been a great day for cricket as a team game. The joy of being an Indian cricket follower today did not merely stem from the fact that victory has been achieved after a demoralising defeat...the vanquished are a champion team of all times...and the venue reamined unpregnable for last decade and definitely not breached by anyone from the descendants of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

This victory did not come about due to precociuosness of the prodigal son, who attempted the first breach nearly two decades ago, nor did it come from the single minded resolve of the Wall...neither from the silken stroke of the God of Off-side nor from the guile of Jumbo or any Very Very Special Innings. This victory emphasised the fact that cricket, too is a team game...it needs eleven to tango.

How many times have a test match been won, without a single century or a pfeiffer, that too against the well entrenched opposition, playing to the opponent's strength.

Given what happenned on and off the circket field in last fortnight, it wouldn't have been out of place if Kumble exhorted his troops on the eve of the Perth Test using the following words of the Bard of Avon...

Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

-King Henry V

This band of brothers....let the glory be theirs....Amen!!

Adieu'07

हमको ग़ालिब ने यूं दुआ दी थी
'तुम सलामत रहो हजारों बरस'
यह बरस तो बस दिनों में गया

-गुलज़ार

आज कि कैफियत...

आज छुट्टी के दिन सुबह से कुछ लिखने की हसरत से यह पन्ना खोल कर बैठा था...इस उम्मीद से के बीते दिनों में यारों के साथ बिताये हुए लम्हों के बेतरतीब हर्फों को सलीके से सजाकर एक ख्याल की शक्ल दे दूं... मगर शाम ढले तक जब लफ्जों के गुच्छे नही सुलझा पाया तो गुलज़ार के इस पुखराज ने आज की कैफियत बयाँ कर दी...



खाली डिब्बा है फ़क़त, खोला हुआ चीरा हुआ

यूं ही दीवारों से भिड़ता हुआ, टकराता हुआ

बेवजह सड़कों पे बिखरा हुआ, फैलाया हुआ

ठोकरें खाता हुआ खली लुड़्कता डिब्बा

यूं भी होता है कोई खाली-सा बेकार-सा दिन

ऐसा बेकार-सा बेमानी-सा बेनाम-सा दिन...

Friends !?!

बे-यारों मददगार ही कटा था सारा दिन
कुछ खुद से अजनबी सा, कुछ तनहा सा उदास सा
साहिल पे दिन बुझा के मैं लॉट आया फिर वहीं
सुनसान सी सड़क के इस खाली मकां में

दरवाज़ा खोलते ही मेज़ पर किताब ने हलके से फरफारा के कहा
"देर कर दी दोस्त!"


Last night while returning home after a hard day's work, a strange sense of lonliness was creeping up through the nerves...then I found this collection of Gulzar's 'नज्म' peering out of a dust laden book shelf, as if offering to share my loneliness.

It seemed to be part of some larger scheme of things, when the first verse I read was the above one...indeed got very late in picking up this treasure trove

Sree Ganesh

Indian Civilisation has a concept of सांझी विरासत which verbatim means "Common Inheritance". This comon inheritance or common heritage makes me an equal claimant on the heritage bequeathed by the thinkers, scholars and poets of this land.

One such common forefather of all Delhiites like me is an old resident of बल्लिमांरां from a bygone era who became known as मिर्ज़ा असदुल्लाह खान 'गालिब'. As a tribute to him I would like to start my blog with this famous couplet of his...

हज़ारों ख्वाहिशें ऐसी के हर ख्वाहिश पे दम निकले,
बहुत निकले मेरे अरमां लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले...

More so, because this blog is a medium to express many of those ख्वाहिशै and also to share them with some रहगुज़र of my ज़िंदगी.