Sold

Caught within a catastrophe, she looked at the mirror lying inside her and she failed to recognize herself. It appeared to be sinister; the atmosphere, the black clouds, the heavy rains, the fall of her sky. She lied hanging in the air hiding face. Don’t cry, whimpered to herself, then didn’t cry. There was no way out. It wasn’t a nightmare, neither could she wake up. She had to sleep because she had lost a dream. Once she blinked to find the moon. But the catastrophe had eaten the moon. Black dark night of winds speeding with invisible light, she was being taken to a different land yet again. A lost battle had sold her to the night at a heavy price of daylight. She was put to a battle to wake up.

Another battle, she asked to herself, what would it bring her, a dream which would be snatched away by yet another fight?

Dark winds threw her to upward hot air. She didn’t feel warm. From there, she looked back. Counted her sins on her fingers. They were too many. She clasped her sinful memories in her fist and lost. The hot air began to burn her. She kept burning till ash. The destroyed ‘she’ then befell the dark cold winds. They tried to make her numb. But, she, fighting since ages, was excessively numb to be numb. She dried herself flying midst the slaps of dark winds of leafless tress, of lifeless stones. She didn’t feel all kinds of pain. She was flying over magnificently.

Don’t cry, she whimpered again. Then didn’t cry. For someday she will cry. She will cry a river or an ocean. She will shed herself. She will stop fighting. They’d stop selling her. They’d stop buying her. She will be with her. She will then recognize herself in the mirror inside her. Only then.

आज फिर एक सपना टूट गया…

 

निर्दोष सी
हारी सी खड़ी हूँ
अपने सवालों के आवरण में
निरुत्तर सी आज…
आज फिर एक सपना टूट गया
कुछ खो गया कुछ छुट गया.

आँसू नहीं,
मेरा अंतर्द्वंद्व है बहता हुआ,
कहता हुआ की मैं; थी.
मायूस सी समेट रही आज…
जो फिर से सपना टूट गया
कुछ खो गया कुछ छुट गया.

मुठ्ठी भर थीं आकांक्षाएं,
बिखर गईं हाथों से..
उलझ गईं लकीरों में,
सुलझा लूं ज़रा उसे आज…
वो सपना जो  टूट गया
फिर से कुछ खो गया कुछ छुट गया.

As I ink it…

Figurative Life

 

An untold cynicism got hammered into a prosody called life, anchored within the humour of a tragic beginning. With alive creepers of bittersweet imagery burning in. And, the grapevine of an incessant comedy. A metaphorical happiness is foreseen. A situational comedy is to drown down into a catastrophic rivulet.

Grey worn out villainous prophets are to trespass the red carpet of humility. Candles of hope, lamps of affection to be lit. Curse, it maybe, for those hyperbolic authoritarians. For they may not alliterate the discreet blessings of the beautiful prose and the irony of paradoxical phrases nestled in! But, the prose must proceed. In a beauteous manner.

As it will proceed, difficulties of the squat hammer, to nail in an anaphora of euphemistic greys into a magnanimous heart, may be beheld. Maybe not. The pun is as good as the metaphor.

This prose is sure figurative and explicit. Still, I go for Poetry.

Lost

Books! Books!! Books!!! I was returning from a friend’s place to mine with a few books of my course. I scurried through the road to my lane, lost in thoughts about my studies. Though I was looking forward, and my eyes went to each and every thing that came in front of them, I hardly noticed anything. Neither did I hear the noisy traffic around me; this is strange because normally, the smallest thing and softest ‘Ting’ catches my attention. No, I have never seen/heard aliens. I was walking in another world, mentally. Interestingly, I was completely unaware of my absent-mindedness and fortunately, reckless drivers deemed to save me from meeting ANY accident, though they had fair chances to hit me. This was a real fortune!!

I kept on walking to my home like that. Reminds you of the girl who played the ghost in an old song “ghumnaam hai koyi…” or “Nooriee..”? Come on, I had books, she had a candle. So, I continued to scurry, lost deep in my thoughts. Suddenly, I felt something really cold on my palm of right hand. This cold touch pulled me back to the earth and I turned around in a reflex.

“Hello? Where are you? You did not recognize me or what? I crossed you and m yelling around your name from last five minutes, where are you?!” My old friend yelled, almost ready to knock me down, holding my hand. “Summi? You? Oh my God! It’s been such a long time!” I said and pulled her for a beary hug. “Hello Madam, where were you lost?” She smiled and said, the hug mellowed her voice down. “What lost?” I asked, all clueless. “I waved you, your eyes met mine, and you walked past me. What the heck?” She complained changing her expression on each comma and pulled her eyebrows together at the full stop. “What..the..heck indeed. You did? I mean you must have, but how can I ignore YOU?” I scratched my head. “Is something wrong? you are fine, right?” She queried. “Yes, of course. Don’t worry.“ I will worry. What is it? Have I gone mad or something? “Forget it, tell me, how come you are here, I mean this area after such a long time, almost an year, right?” I held her hand and said. “Right. The answer to your question is him” She said and pointed to a guy on the other side of the road, approaching us. Okay, this is not the guy who used to be her boyfriend last year. We have common friends.. and I don’t think I know him. Her brother? No, she had a sister.. Come on you dirty mind, must be a friend you don’t know! “He is my boyfriend.” She said smilingly. New boyfriend? That’s her life. I should not comment. “Oh, great.” I said portraying a fake smile. He reached us and said a hello. I looked at Summi smiled and hello-ed back. “What, you don’t wanna ask anything?” She said. “Actually I broke up with ‘you know who’ after I left this locality, he was not my type.” She said after a pause in a over-happy tone. After she left, umm.. that means, oh 2 months after she fell in love with you-know-who, and got involved with other guy in another 2 months, duh! “Hmm.” I lost interest in her talks but she kept on telling me the whole story of how she met this guy and stuff, in a over hyped manner and the guy joined her, they both smiled at each other, at the start and end of the narration of each meet up. Look, we are so much in love! I just don’t get it. Why people get so hyped when they talk about their relationship? That too on a roadside.

My mind once again fled from my body and I stood still in front of them. I could see her lips moving and her eyes blinking at me and his guy after short pauses. But I heard nothing. All I heard, was peace. A strange silence, in which things echoed, touched my ears and got deflected. Every voice faded.  away. Strange, but very peaceful. I had let myself loose, or better say, it was beyond my control. I completely forgot that I am standing on a roadside with my old buddy. I was not there for that moment.

“God, you got lost again?” I realized her shout as she shook me. “No.. I was just listening..” I grinned at her as I returned to myself. “I have to leave, dear give me your phone number, we will talk later.” I said “Oh sure.” She said and gave me her number and we parted ways. This time, I did not allow my mind to flee until I reached my home. At home, I quizzed myself. But I did not have any answer.