Wednesday, October 21, 2009

who's to blame??



Kamal, 12yrs, stood, waiting patiently on the hill top. And then he it is coming. A little red rickety truck was approaching his camp. Kamal started running towards him. But he was not the only one; there was a huge crowd running towards the truck.
The truck slowed down. Kamal and many others tried to jump inside the truck. But the burly attendants standing inside started hitting these people with a cane and, pushing them off the truck. Kamal too tried to struggle with the attendant, but one of them kicked him off the truck.
Kamal fell of the truck. He was bleeding profusely, but was undeterred. He had faced incidents worse in magnitude. He got up and went back to the truck. Struggling amongst him, for 2 packets of grain and a few milk cartons, were his own friends and neighbours; but no one recognised him. They didn’t recognise themselves.
As he tried to reach the front of the crowd, pushing and pulling others, he recognised many men who came to his house that day, and destroyed everything they could find, and took turns with his mother. But he didn’t have time to think about all this and weep; he had got a family to feed now, now that his father too wasn’t there, (killed by a bomb attack in his garage). And so, kept moving on his quest to get some food. And as he reached the front, the attendants waved in the air, symbolising the stock was over, and shouted the driver to drive. Kamal waited till the truck was no more visible.

It doesn’t matter if Kamal was a Muslim or a Hindu; in Gujarat or J&K or even from Iraq, the point is that-there’s a 12 yrs old kid, who has seen life more than what his age requires, and today in on the verge of losing his sanity; We ask why naxals and criminals exist. Look closely, and you’ll find that almost in all cases, the situation is similar. I don’t intend to comment on the govt people, or their actions/inactions. But ask them to visit just one of such camps, even if it is not “your constituency”.

Friday, September 4, 2009

SUNGLASSES



As my car stopped at the traffic light, the other day, I was getting pissed off by everything around me, my boss, my neighbour who I was sure was stealing electricity from my meter; the blaring music-the Santro guy in front of me was playing; that I was stuck in that long queue of restless drivers ; or the fact that I couldn’t make time to write in my blog, something which was just mine, no string attached; And so to calm myself, I started looking around.
I saw an old guy and his wife waiting on in their 2 wheeler; A school bus with some naughty kids-playing with their “kerchief-guns”; some teenagers by-hearting their books for a test or something. And then I saw her.
Her car was parked just adjacent to mine. She was driving a sedan with her glass half-rolled down. What moved me was not her looks (not that she wasn’t beautiful or something!!), but her sunglasses. What was she hiding beneath those glasses, I started pondering.
Maybe she was hiding dark circles of a night out with friends; dancing and drinking shots all night. Bravo!! I said to her in my mind.
Maybe she was hiding a black eye; an injury caused by her boyfriend while having some altercation with her. How could anyone do something to a lady??
Maybe she was hiding puffy eyes; she might have cried all night thinking of a marriage she was not ready for.
As I started getting more curious about the girl, I saw that the traffic had started to move; and so put my car back to roaring, I saw the girl’s car pass by me. And suddenly, she took her hand out of the window and gave me “the finger”!!
I looked around. No one had noticed. After minutes of driving in absolute shock, I smiled to myself. I chuckled within and said to myself-“Something to write in my blog after all”

Saturday, July 25, 2009

masks i wore.....



We all wear masks. Yes we do.
I stood in front of the mirror;
For once I couldn’t recognise myself;
I stood there trying to take off the mask,
But turns out there were many masks that I wore,
Every mask I pulled out a mask, they all said to me the same thing
“You made me when you needed me;
You are whatever you are, because of me;
Who are you otherwise?”
Did I make the mask or did it make me??-
I asked myself every time I pulled a mask away,

And when I had removed them all,
Not for once, but for ever at all,
What was left was someone I knew,
From my pictures of childhood of my own,
Is it really me??
Or a mask again?
But it was just me;
“Me” who had lost in a fair,
a long time ago.

Maybe I’ll have to wear a mask or a many more
From tomorrow or some days from now,
But what I’ll not forget is that-
I have a face of my own.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

i stood there for some time......





I stood there for some time,
Wishing if somehow she would came back,
Will we ever be the same, as we were as kids??
I doubt so..
Suddenly what came into my mind, were words of a famous writer-“gone are the days, when the word brother filled my heart with emotions”.“ how it used to make my heart pound with love; recollecting all these things, i feel Week....pathetic...”
Was i overreacting?? Maybe...Atleast it was helped me tackle the numbness i was felt in my heart.

A phone call twice a day from her office desk, as she nurtured -the photo of me and herself standing on a balcony bleached by the sun’s everlasting fury- she would speak to me about everything-from my future plans to our mom’s surprise b’day party, our conversation has now become monotonous and forced; many times we fall short of things to talk....and just stand there holding the phone.
Some days as I lay on my bed, away from my laptop and worldy affairs, i see those days we spent together, those beautiful days when she was there

RAINY SEASON,HUH??!!!




Delhi is getting real hot these days, and Now that the schools are going to reopen next week, many nursery schools have decided to have a change in their nursery rhymes, just so that some god finds pity on these lil kids atleast and bestow us with some rain; so all the rhymes are on a revamp now , here are some of my favourite ones-
Rain!!rain!!!please come again!!!
Little tommy can play a video game!!!
Rain !!!rain!! come just now!!!

Pussy cat!!pussy cat!!!where have you been?
I’ve been to LAJPAT to buy some more cream!!!
Pussy cat!!!pussy cat!!!what else did you do there??
I drank some cold drink from haldiram’s there!!!