माँ

जब भी राशन आता था घर पर

याद है कैसे तुम काजू १०० ग्राम कह कर

१२० ग्राम मंगाया करती थी

और २० ग्राम

चुपके से

मेरे हाथों  में

थमा दिया करती थी

आजतक

मुझे वो २० ग्राम काजू से

लज़ीज़ काजू नहीं मिले

      

Salty & Dirty Sea Water

Long long ago,
So long ago,
Nobody knows
How long ago.

I read it somewhere.

Fresh cool breeze
From the sea
Enters
My room early morning.
I'm sleeping.
It touches my cheeks,
Strokes my hair,
And seductively whispers
In my ears
The sweet nothings.

I smile and wake up
From the slumbers.
To see you.

I Find nothing,
But thin air.

See! She came

No no, it's not you
It's definitely not you.

You're not getting it madam.
It's not you that I'm looking for.

No, it's not rum either.
It's not jacuzzi nor is it beaches

What do i want? What?
Don't you understand or what?
Can't you see I've been looking for her?
Can't you?

Who sent you here?
And why are you wearing those funny white turban?

What "not there any more"? Crap!!
She is right there.

Are you blind or what?
Or out of your mind?
There she is!!
See! She came.
Stupid you, you need to see a psychiatrist.

Ghosts

Who says there are no ghosts
I've seen them
That too of men
Who are still alive
and kicking.


And I saw them all.

In canteen, in mess, in classes
In playgrounds, gardens and streets.

Each face I saw
Were ghosts of my classmates

Visited my Alma mater.

Strange and creepy
Happy and Sad
Confusion and Nostalgia.

Kids will be kids!!

Commuting was an issue.
Each second saved
on an hour long journey
twice in a day
saves him a few minutes.

These beggars on the signals
costed him a few
seconds of delay
everyday.

One day he decided
to teach them a lesson.
To avenge the seconds lost
To avenge the agony within

He stole
One safety pin
from his wife's drawer.
Fixed it on his riding gloves
And started for the mission.

As expected
the little girl came
When the vehicles stopped
at the signal
with colorful balloons
shaped as spider man and hunk
which he saw as pure junk.

In an effortless move,
Hardly noticeable;
the pin poked
and the spider man disappeared.

He expected a lot of beggars
Will come together to fight him
and he would shout
and explain the importance of seconds
in his and everyone's life.

Nothing of that sort happened.
The tiny 5 year old gal didn't even bother
to know
How it happened.
She stepped aside towards the divider
Probably saving him a second
And cried and wept.
Quite profusely.

He didn't understand
If she loved that Spider man
so dearly
Or it was her lunch that got burst.

That day he wasted few more seconds
of his precious life
By buying all her spider-men
and still letting her keep them.

Some more shit

Sitting alone in the darkness
Waiting to be enlightened,
Waiting to be lit
I think some more shit!
And then a lot of shit!!

Sleepless again

There is no wind
There is no rain
Lying cozily in a warm bed
Inside a soundproof room
Am sleepless again

There was a time
without any food, without any dime
rain drops crashing on the asbestos sheets
trying to wake us up
from the sound sleep
And we would hug you tight old man
feeling warm, feeling at peace.
Dreaming of a pukka shed.
Dreaming of a cozy bed

Forgiveness

"I've failed u"
"I've broken someone's heart"
"I've cheated the world"
"I've no one"
"All alone today"
"Here I sit beside u"
"Will you forgive me my old man"

He chose to look elsewhere
And after some time
May be an hour
He touched my cheeks
And took his last breath.

I was wondering-
Was it a forgiveness?
Or a slap?

Queue of luck

I also wanted to be like you!
But I couldn't be.
No no, no fault of mine.
Perhaps destiny
Or perhaps my screwed up fate
In the queue of luck, I was late.

Lying dead on the sea shore
I see you passing by me
Some scared, some intrigued.
I lie there dead and fatigued.

I was happily swimming
in the sea
When you caught me
and brought me to the shore
I was wondering what the destiny
has in store.

And I was killed
by one of you
For no fault of mine.
For no fault of thine.

Hallu

It was early morning
Or so I thought!
I opened my eyes
With so much of an effort.
And bang - I hit
against a pot of shit
The dizzying head
spinned some more
And I saw you dancing
On the bathroom floor.

Barf everywhere
Outside and inside!
Shit everywhere
Outside and inside!
Unaware of everything
You danced like a queen.
Untouched by any thing
You seemed like a gal
who had just entered her teens.

I closed my eyes
And bathed with your warmth.

I'll be thine, thou'll be mine.

Till when did thou decide
to keep me by thy side
When thou proposed to me
to be thy wife?

Sun may fade, Sun may shine
But, till the last breath before my death
I'll be thine, thou'll be mine.

Make me good, some more

The painting was colorful and beautiful
just like the painter's soul.
A daemon came to see the exhibition
And stared at the painting so hard
that he got blinded by the honesty,
Of the work.
But after he was gone,
left behind on the painting was a spot
a back spot..........right in the center.
The painter tried to remove it.
The spot didn't budge.
In fact it tried to grow and occupy the whole space.
The painter fought hard, day in and day out
The spot too tried to defeat the painter.
The fight never finished.
The painter never gave up.
The spot never gave up.
Finally the painter stopped.
He cried and prayed.
"Make me good, some more.
Make me like you, some more."

Let's Create

The desert is dry
The rains are due
Lets create a world entirely new,
My lovely, my you.

My baby

Suddenly I wake up.
Someone called out my name,
or is it just a dream.

Somehow, I stand up.
I Walk unsteadily towards the Dias.
The hangover of the beer we had years ago
Is still strong.

I can hear the people clapping.
Some crying, some sobbing.
All standing.
Is it just a dream?
Or is it true?
It's true.

Am I walking alone?
I look over my own shoulders.
Yes I'm.
Am I crying?
Yes I'm.

Are you there? Somewhere?
I look around.
No you aren't.

Finally I reach to the center stage.
Someone came and gave me something.
All I could hear is people clap.
And I'm expected to say something.
What do I say? What am I expected to say?

As usual, I'm not prepared again.
I never wanted to compose one
After you were gone.
I never wanted to win
After you were gone.

Finally here I'm
Standing mute.
Unable to speak.
Thinking that it's not this,
But it was you, my baby, whom I had wanted.

The Girl is you

The head: is still aching
The tears: are not stopping.
The song: is still repeating.
The old chats: with you, I'm still reading.
The vodka: I'm still sipping.
The girl: is you, whom I'm so much missing.

I Love You

Everything ....Everything....
Seems to be in disarray....
work is hectic
and all other things are just too taxing.
And Some xistential questions.
And then
I see you.
And then
All the tensions seem to just sublime away.
You are beautiful.
I love you.

Open Up and drench

Fill your lungs to full
Spread your wings to maximum
and jump.

Open your eyes wide
And absorb greenery.
Merge in it.

Look at the blue water beneath.
Jump again.

Drench yourself.

past mid-night

In a couple of hours
The sun may rise.
But who cares!
I'm not looking after this world.
Neither do I intend to.
I give a damn if the sun doesn't rise tomorrow.
Or even if it rises.

morose

"Why the hell did u come here now"
He shouted at her
His eyes all red
The bottle all empty.
He didn't want her
to see him drunk.

He walked to her.
Somehow.
And fell at her feet.
And cried.

Portrait

A rotating penthouse
In the tallest building in the capital.
Slightly drunk,
Slightly high,
Slightly old but filthy rich,
He sits on his sofa.

The wine bottle is half empty
The gulz around are half naked,
attempting at humor and seduction
to attract his attention.

He seems to be least interested.
May be too much of the same thing.
And again he thinks of her.
With tears in his eyes,
He realizes
What he missed.

He thought
That this is not what he had wanted.
Well, then how did he get all this?
He then realized,
These are precisely what he had wanted,
And She was what he had needed.
He had got what he had wanted.
And these wants - he no more needed.
And what he needed was long gone.
Into the oblivion of the past.