Bas Likhna Hai!

बस लिखना है...........................

हर उस एहसास को जो मन मे होता है

हर वो लम्हा जो दिल को छूता है

वो उम्मिदो की कहानियाँ, सपनो की रानियाँ

वो जवां दिल जो सपने पिरोता है

बस लिखना है,

वो कल आज और कल की बातें,

जो कुछ याद रहा और जो ना भूल सके

कुच्छ बिखरे लम्हे, कुच्छ बीती यादें

बस लिखना है.........

याद करते हुए वो बचपन की अठह्खेलियान, झूले और सहेलियाँ

सारी बातें - सच्ची, झूठी, और वो सब तो पीछे छूटा है!

लिखना है उस वक़्त के बारे मे भी,

जब दिल टूटा और रोया है

दर्द से छटपटाया, जब भी कोई अपना इस भीर मे खोया है

उन लम्हो का भी ज़िक्र होगा, जब दिल गम की गलिओं में एक लंबी नींद सोया है

और भी लिखना है..........

कुच्छ मेरे अपनो की बातें, आज कहने से किसने रोका है

व्हो पाना हौसला पापा के पीठ थपथपाने से.

व्हो मा की गोंद मे चैन से सोना

जब देखा रंग बदलते हुए इस दुनिया को

पाया बस उनको स्दा एक सा, बाकी सब लगा धोखा है

बस लिखना है

ज़िंनदागी हर दिन की, वो हर दिन उसे जीना

खुदकी क़ाबलियत पे रखना दम, चलना चौड़ा करके सीना

उन्हे शब्दो मे पिरोना और कहना.........

ये मेरी लाइफ है, यहा कुच्छ ऐसा ही होता है!!!!!!!

क्यूंकी बस लिखना है.......................

The poems of ZNMD - fall in love with life!

Having watched ZNMD - The first thing I thought of, after coming out of theatre was "WOW", more so for the beautiful poems in the film (was absolutely smitten by them) written by Javed Akhtar and brilliantly narrated by Farhan Akhtar.

The movie is all about LIFE, and the poetry its soul. Here are some of them……….sheer magic guys!

Ek Baat

Ik baat honton tak hai jo aayi nahin
Bas ankhon say hai jhaankti
Tumse kabhi, mujhse kabhi
Kuch lafz hain woh maangti
Jinko pehanke honton tak aa jaaye woh
Aawaaz ki baahon mein baahein daalke ithlaye woh
Lekin jo yeh ik baat hai
Ahsas hi ahsas hai

Khushboo si hai jaise hawa mein tairti
Khushboo jo be-aawaaz hai
Jiska pata tumko bhi hai
Jiski khabar mujhko bhi hai
Duniya se bhi chupta nahin
Yeh jaane kaisa raaz hai

--------------------------------------------------------

Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai?

Jab jab dard ka baadal chaya
Jab ghum ka saya lehraya
Jab aansoo palkon tak aya
Jab yeh tanha dil ghabraya

Humne dil ko yeh samjhaya
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai
Duniya mein yunhi hota hai

Yeh jo gehre sannate hain
Waqt ne sabko hi baante hain
Thoda ghum hai sabka qissa
Thodi dhoop hai sabka hissa
Aankh teri bekaar hi nam hai
Har pal ek naya mausam hai
Kyun tu aise pal khota hai
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai

-------------------------------------------------

Sirf main………..

Pighle neelam sa behta ye sama,
neeli neeli si khamoshiyan,
na kahin hai zameen na kahin aasmaan,
sarsaraati hui tehniyaan pattiyaan,
keh raheen hai bas ek tum ho yahan,
bas main hoon,
meri saansein hain aur meri dhadkanein,
aisi gehraiyaan, aisi tanhaiyaan,
aur main… sirf main.
Apne hone par mujhko yakeen aa gaya.

-------------------------------------------------

………………………to zinda ho tum!

Dilon me tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho,to zinda ho tum
Nazar me khwaabon ki bijliyan leke chal rahe ho,to zinda ho tum
Hwa ke jhokon ke jaise aazad rehno sekho
Tum ek dariya ke jaise lehron mein behna sekho
Hr ek lamhe se tum milo khole apni baahein
Hr ek pal ek nya sama dekhe nigahein
Jo apni ankhon mein hairanian leke chal rahe ho,to zinda ho tum
Dilon mein tum apni betabian leke chal rahe ho,to zinda ho tum

The First Guest!

Knock Knock!
We have a guest!

For a working couple, a guest at home can be quite a nightmare right?
Wrong! or may be not always.

As a child I have seen my mother going berserk with the thought of having guests at home(I know she’s gonna kill me for this!). But with two extremely difficult children to handle, she has most of the time had a tough ride in taking care of the guests upto her own set standards of hospitality. Nevertheless she has been brilliant each time with each guest! Be it a neighbor dropping by the evening for tea, or an office colleague of my dad or any relative who has stayed over for few days. She always won applauds on her hospitality, her food, her deftness in managing home with two crazy kids and above all for putting up with everything with a smile. She would do everything by heart and not merely by obligations and no wonder why we kept seeing the same guests coming back to us again and again.

But I was different. Not like mother like daughter. A working woman with a 9 to 9 schedule, an amateur home maker and a confused host.

So on a sultry sunday afternoon when vishal very gently broke this news.
“Sukanya IP sir is coming to town for a week for the university exam paper corrections, and I have asked him to put up here” I stood in the doorway absolute aghast and baffled.

It had been 03 months of my domesticated life and I was trying hard, very hard to run the house like a homemaker should, but still every single arena of my home management needed massive improvement and therefore anyone coming to stay in my house was too much to handle. At the most it could be my in-laws and parents, but certainly not someone else. A volley of questions were doing a round in my mind as there is always a palpable sense of expectations with guests at home- What if I cant be hospitable enough, what if the maid takes an off and I have to cook, what if he doesn’t like the food we eat, what if he falls unwell and what if I cant take care……………… In short I knew me and my home both were not Guest ready !

I walked away with kinda anger all over my face (I was miffed but honestly shit nervous) when I heard him saying “Don’t worry, I’ll help”. I looked back to see him wink and smile to just reassure that he’ll be there in helping me face this big battle. The most he could do to help me dispel my doubts. The challenge was thrown and I had no choices, clearly!
I took a deep breath and said “ok (bring him on!)”.

I looked around and sighed. There was laundry waiting to be washed, The bed linens to be changed, the floors needed some scrubbing, closets were begging to be in order and the papers and books on the table yearned for some re-arrangement. The furniture’s needed some dusting too. Surely some trying times lay ahead.

IP sir was coming the next day and I had almost a days time to make my abode look like one, to quickly take tips from my mom on the dos and donts and to understand from vishal on his choice of food and whether he suffered from any restrictions due to diabetes or BP or thyroid etc. We were talking about a 67 year old man u see!

Dr. Ishwar Prasad Iyer- A man in his late sixties who has been a colleague of vishal in his ex company. Originally from mysore, he has spent the majority of his life in Bengal. He is married t a nepali woman (an ex air hostess) and has a young daughter, the family being settled in Siliguri. IP Sir is someone vishal is very close to professionally and personally and has the highest regards that one can have for someone other than your parents. He is special to him and therefore I had to be utmost careful to doubly ensure that he is taken care of in the best possible way.
The first and the only time I had met him was in November 2010, when I had paid a professional visit to his ex-college for a campus interview session for the travel tourism graduates. I had heard so much about him and was waiting to get over with the interview sessions to meet the gentleman. As we broke for lunch, I saw a man entering the interview room.

A hunched slender figure, with a sharp protuberant nose, literally popping out to poke in anything that comes in his way (surely he can be recognized by his nose even if one sees him after ages, lol!), IP sir surely looked to be burdened with the age. He swiftly came in and greeted me “welcome madam, it’s a pleasure to meet you". We shook hands, there was a smile so generous and a touch so caring (Some people really know about the perfect handshake, Impresso!). "same here sir, as I have heard so much about you" I responded.

We proceeded to the cafeteria and spent the next one hour chit chatting over an array of issues right from the college and the students I interviewed today, to how much vishal missed me and shared his desperation to get hold of a good job in cal. We spoke, laughed and gorged on some not so tasty food, and as we were on the way to the college interview room again, he left behind some recommendations. I was to shortlist 03-04 students then to come for the final round of interview in Calcutta office and his comments helped me a big deal to decide.
This short rendezvous with him was enough for me to withdraw my assumptions of how a 67 year old man can be. He can be just one of us! (as they say with some people, age just does not matter.)
IP sir arrived home the next day and continued to stay on for 02 and a half weeks (Yes, he extended his stay). For these 20 days, our home felt vibrant than ever before. He would be okay with anything he is given to eat, anywhere he is asked to sleep and anywhere we take him to ramble. A super flexible man, healthy and fit unlike his frail deceiving appearance.
He had stories of all ages to tell, and experiences of all kinds to share, yet utterly noninterfering and a happy go lucky man who adored his family, valued his friends and had this undying zest for life (so contagious!).

My parents, colleagues and friends wondered how I kept up my calm for these 20 days, at a point even vishal felt so. But I was enjoying his company and would look forward to come back home early and catch up with him over a cuppa of lemon green tea (which he loved). He would never forget to find out how my day went similarly how he never forgot to wish both vishal and myself a good day every morning. Yes he was cute but at the same time very respectful. In fact in these days my respect for him multiplied manifold.

My nervous pangs had long back disappeared and I was so contentedly myself, hospitable and caring as if it was my grandfather at home. I mean it!
On the last day, we gifted him a tie which he loved and gave back blessings in return. When I asked him “hope you enjoyed your stay sir”, he looked up with his patent smile and taking a deep breath said “beyond expectations madam” (I never objected him hailing me as madam, as it so reminded me of my dadu calling me “memshaheb”).

So my first guest has had a smooth stay and has left behind a trail of stories to remember and talk about for the coming few breakfasts and dinners now. Yes, I have battled it out and the end of it, I don’t feel worn-out but rather content that I have been able to take care, to make someone feel home and to give him reasons to think of our home whenever he is in town almost non diffidently.

It doesn’t really matter how small or big your house is, what matters is whether it is big enough to hold love and warm enough to embrace every single person who walks in. And more importantly (as my mom always says) if you are willing to treat “Guests like your own”.

Well I do. For now my house is always going to be guest ready.

Are you coming in next?