Women's Day ...

You are our honor

So follow our wish…

You can give gift of life

So your body is not your choice…

You should cover up

For your own safety…

You should not cover up

For your own safety …

You shouldn’t drink or party

For your own safety…

You should prove

You can work well…

You work well

But don’t ask for equal pay…

You can be a boss

But don’t be bossy…

You can lead

But we will discuss your pantsuits…

You can’t be successful

By ignoring your family…

You are not successful

If you only have a family…

You should not be asking for equality

Don’t be a pesky feminist…

You should not give up your rights

Don’t be a doormat…

We celebrate you, Of course we do……

Why?

Why see the color of the skin of who dies?

no skin color has the right to kill and none has the duty to fade;

Black, blue or white, they all deserve a chance,

have reasons to live till the time is ripe for them to be laid.

Why count the number of coffins,

to tell the which tragedy was bigger, whose wounds deeper;

Every time the heart of even one mother breaks,

heaven loses and God himself weeps along with the reaper.

Why find the religion of a killer?

Bullet from the gun of a Christian kills like that of a Muslim;

The tears in the eyes of the mothers of killer and killed,

have the same salt, same pain and same glim.

Why ask which country suffered the blow?

It's one where humans died and humanity is dead,

where kids wait for their father and fathers bury their kids,

where the corpses wonder about the life they could have had.

Why ignore a tragic end, just because you have seen too many?

Cry the tears, mourn the loss and feel the hurt,

because before you sketched the boundaries and named your God,

you were all the same, above and below the dirt.

-Priti Sankhla

Flowing times ...

Like bad plumbing, time drips away

At times I forget to notice its demise

At times I remind me to get my hands wet

At times I try to judge its color and size

At times I measure it by the count of my smiles

At times I worry about the one, still in the pipe

At times I try to meditate on the dripping sounds

At times I get overwhelmed by the hype

May I change me, to appreciate this leak

At all times instead of at times

May I sing with its rhythm  

Without worrying about the rhymes 

शब्द

हर शाम, बादलों की कलम से
रोशिनी को स्याही बना कर
आसमान के पन्नों पर
एक कविता सी लिख जाती है

हर दर्द, जिंदगी के साज़ पर
वक़्त को आवाज़ बना कर
अहसास की सरगम से
एक नयी धुन बना जाता है

तन्हाई का एक लम्हा
सोच के बवंडर से
भावनाओं का अंधड़ समेट कर
कितना शोर मचा जाता है

चाहत, रूह को गरमा कर
होटों पर मुस्कान सजा कर
दिल की गिरहों को
एक शायरी सी सुना जाती है

शब्द ही शब्द हैं, जब शब्द नहीं होते ...

खामोशियों को ही आता बैठ के बातें करना 

बूँदें

कभी लगता था की जिंदगी हैं राहें
जो घूमती फिरती, चलती रुकती
एक दिन अपनो की पहाहो में ले जाएँगी


कभी लगता था की जिंदगी है नदी
जो पत्थरों से टकराते हुए, पहाड़ो को चीरती
एक दिन शांत समुंदर में मिला देंगी

कभी लगता था की जिंदगी है हवा

जो पतंगो की डोर में उलझती सुलझती

एक दिन सपनो को आसमान का मुकाम देंगी

आज लगता हैं की बूँदें है जिंदगी

छोटे छोटे टुकड़ों में मिलती है

मिले के भी प्यासा ही रखती है

कुछ बिखरे लम्हों से बनी

आखों की बूँदों से सनी

हाथों में आके भी, खोई सी जिंदगी

Janamdin Mubarak

A birthday greeting, i wrote for my brother Manu on his birthday ....

aawazien hi aawazien hain

Kehti aawazien, samjahti aawazien         

Batati aawazien, seekhati aawazien

Jindagi ke shatranj ki agli chaal  dekhati aawazien

Maangti aawazein, manwaati aawazein

Har ek ke dil ki baat batati aawazien

Tumhari aawaz kahan hai?

Jo hota tha tumhare haathon mein vo saaz kahan hai?

Ziddi, Allhaad hi rahegi jindagi

Uljhi, unseemti hi rahegi jindagi

Uske sambhalne ka intzaar na karo

Us mein baho, uske rukne ka intezaar na karo

Bolo, gaaon, jiyo jindagi

Ahsaason ki baarish mein, bheego bhigaon jindagi

Jashan hai ek, saaz per bajaao jindagi

Khud ko dhoondne ki itni bhi koshish na karo

Ki bematlab bemaani khushiyon se dur ho jao

Har soorat mein pasad ho tum,

Per ho sake to thoda aur muskurao

Afsana

Raah mein chalte hue jab us per nazar padi
Humne uthaya, sehlaya, jhaad poonch ke hatheli pe bithaya
Dosti sa kuch karne ka irada tha…

Thoda aitbaar, thoda guroor, thodi samjh se dekha hi tha
Ki haathon se phisal gayi…

Jyada samjh nahin aaya ki hua kya,
Na guroor galti maan paya, na aitbaar ko yakeen hi aaya,
Per samjh se samjhaya

Kya hua jo ek baar pakad dheeli hui
Jhuk ke utha lo dobara, jyada socho mat

Us din se humne kayi koshishien ki
Rishta jodne ki, jod ke kayam rakhne ki,
Usko apni aur khud ko uski aadat daalne ki

Per jindagi, aaj bhi phisalti hai…

Aaj bhi har galti palat ke poochti hai
Ki galti kis ki thi
Kabhi apne ko badalne ki koshish ki
To kabhi jindagi hi mein nuks nikaale

Chod kar laut jaye aise kafir bhi nahin
Har haar per aakhein na dabdabayein aise sikandar bhi nahin

bade upaay kare,
kabhi doosron ki khali hatheliyan dekhi,
kabhi apne ki tay kiye gaye raaston ko yaad kiya...

Afsana kehte hain to shikayat hoti hai
chup rehte hain to ghootan

jo bhi hai ...
bas padi hai jindagi rah per
ek kankar ke pass...
dhool mein..