Love, digital

Hey, Hi

Conversation began,
With joy & expectation,
Extending to late nights,
But it was never enough,

Ping giving goosebumps,
Texts turning to love letter,
Blushing during calls,
Mobile is new identity,

From their’s becoming ours,
Seeking opinion in tiny matters,
To reminding each other’s routine,
It felt like eternal connection,

Finally meeting was planned,
Venue was deliberated,
One accounted likes,
And dislikes of another,

Still it gave jitters,
Butterflies in stomach,
Conscious about attire,
An anxious demeanor,

But first look humanised,
The robotic image,
Pictures paled before reality,
Pings are now chatters,

Scared to initiate,
It was like connecting,
For the first time,
Starting all over again.

From the streets…

Jackie, Madho, Rancho, Rango. We are popular as ‘Fantastic Four’ in neighbourhood. No outsider can trespass the area without our permission. We stand by our brothers and sisters in all circumstances. That’s the reason both elder and younger dogs respect us. We are undisputed king of the area from Clock Tower to Railway Station which is quite fertile. Due to presence of temples, hotels, bus stop, slums and bunglows, there is never any issue of shelter and food for survival.

The beggers at railway station are our biggest caretaker. They share alms and look after us in ups and down. They get ample food, blankets, medicines, money from kind persons & social organisations. I don’t understand how they still remain begger after receiving so much aid. And festival season is bountiful, whether it’s Eid, Diwali, Christmas or Prakash Parv. We concluded that it’s a business too. Do nothing and make merry off people’s guilt & pity.

Saturday is feast day. Lot of god fearing people feed us for taming their rogue planets. We enjoy our day with chapati and milk near Shani Mandir. Tuesday are fine too when people visiting to Hanuman Temple buy us biscuits and bread. However we love to hangout at nearby cafe where girls buy us maggie, soup, coffee, muffins and sometimes even bring delicacies from home. They feed us with their soft hands and stroke softly on our back with lovely pats on forehead. We really enjoy by the jealous look of their hungry boyfriends who crave to switch places with us.

Another reason for visiting cafe is to get glimpse of Queenie & Softy. Jackie and Madho are crazy for them. Me and Rancho tried to persuade them that they are rich foreigners while we are just commoners. There is no match. But love begins where rationality ends. Both of them keep lurking around master of girls in garb of getting food. They sometimes even try to touch and lick them. Rancho warned that them to be cautious else we could be banned from cafe.

And it happened one day. High on hormone, both the couples got caught in compromising position. We were chased off that day. But things did not end there. Male guardians of Queenie & Softy came to the cafe next day and beat us with sticks and stones. They used their influence in municipal authorities for organising sterilization drive in the area. Due to Jackie and Madho, whole neighbourhood had to suffer. Everyone got punished without their mistake. We cursed both of them for their misdeeds and adventurous love affair.

While in pain, one of the eldest dog known as Dinu Chacha visited us. He shared our pain and said your are lucky to be alive. Humans disown their own children who love someone from different community. And their Khap Panchayats kill when love flourishes in same clan. Be thankful to be a dog where you may get killed in road accidents but atleast you don’t die for love.

Tirade & Triumph

There is no love
There are no feelings
There is lack of emotions,

World is like a machine
Running day and night
On sweat and blood
It gets clogged
With an ounce of tenderness

Keep moving on
With head held high
Heart at right place
But don’t expect
Reciprocity
From anyone
If you give an opening
They will bore a hole

We come alone
And die alone
Alone is our identity
People will come and go
Teach a lesson here and there
You will fall, cry & loose hope
But rebound
That’s the greatest trait
Rebound with bang
Let your enemies hear
Trumpets of success
Read your headlines

Bar

Forms a soothing aroma
combining odours of
puke, fart, sweat, smoke, burp,
lastly alochol…

Have array of emotions consisting of
confessions, praises, ridicules, promises, outbursts, laughter, tears…

Creates own genre of music
electric beats with rap of cuss words…

Has a menu
fusing best with best
and worst with worst
of cuisines world over…

A melange of
burial ground of past on one hand
foundation of bright future on the other…

A Temple of spirituality
giving insights into inner self
touching soul of oneself and others…

Removing difference of
caste, color, region, religion, race…

A place which bonds by clink of glasses
forming eternal brotherhood of spirit.

24 Hours

With just 24 hours to breathe
I feel lucky
atleast I know the time of death,
It had to come sometime
better to know when,

But there are so many things left to do,
reading, travelling, finding true love
and the list goes on….
Let it be,
They are undone for some reason,

However I should propose now
to my eternal crush,
What else would be the right moment,
One thing will be off my soul,

I should keep the time to myself,
otherwise the sympathy will kill the mood,
Let’s enjoy this time with whatever I have,

First I should thank life,
for all the good things
and bad too,
as they made other things look good,

Since there was no time to garner wealth,
Let’s donate my body for someone needy,

Now I wanna dance
with my favourite music in my ears,
Oh there is too much on the playlist for 24 hours,

Let’s end with the taste of my favorite food
lurking on my tongue,
Something to remember from this life,

I will try smoking too,
because what can cancer do now,
So we may also go for pot and get high,

I will get sloshed now,
Before the final call,
It may reduce the pain,

Trance should be such
that it blurs
the difference between the life and death,

Let’s welcome death with a bang,
Let’s tell it that
There is someone outside the battlefield
who is not scared of you,

Come on death,
bring it on,
make it worse if you want,
because I am not bothered now.

Duty of a woman

Overcooked food
Unironed cloths.
Stained Table.
Dusty windowpanes.
Nosy relatives.
Rude kids.
Tacky dressing
This is how my husband appreciates me !

Criticism from boss,
Frustration of mediocrity,
Backstabbing friends,
Unsupportive family,
Nagging neighbours,
Financial insufficiency,
Ailing, unfit body,
Are are husband’s qualities,

Scolding children,
Withdrawing socially,
Launching tirades
Is how he responds

Still he manages to be aroused,
His manhood trump all other failures,
After all the negativity
I am expected to be intimate,
There is no scope for disapproval,
He forces himself upon me,
Along with household,
This is also a wife’s duty,
There are no emotions & feelings,
Except that of hatred & ridicule,
Towards him & myself,

While watching a romantic scene,
I also wish to be carressed & loved,
Talking about understanding & partnership,
Happy marriage seems a mirage,

My husband reacts strongly to the rape, Reported on news,
But does he realises his acts in night,
I wonder why there are no debates
On rapes after marriage,
Do matrimony legitimise it ?

Maybe
Because marriage proposal from rapist to accused,
Seems normal solution to the society,

I am just a soldier !

Dressed in camouflage,
Blend with foliage,

Adapt to weather,
Thirst of camel,

Hungry for action,
Graced by gun,

Loaded with grenade,
Armoured with courage,

Breath out fear,
I am a soldier,

Family is at home,
Bunker is my dome,

Friends wait,
Battalion is my mate,

Civilians makes merry,
When I pop enemy’s cherry,

Medals are stamped,
Glory is reckoned,

Nation worships,
It’s what duty calls,

Work is adventure,
Challenges are routine,

Dunno what’s fuss about,
Am just a soldier,
Who works for pound.

ज़िन्दगी – एक सिगरेट

एक छोर पकड़ा हुआ है
किसी ने,
जो मौत का है,

दूसरे छोर पर
जीवन का आगाज़ होता है,

धीरे धीरे वो जलती है,
कभी बीच में बुझ जाती है,

मौत के छोर पर दम दिया,
तो ज़ोर से जलने लगती है,

इसी उहापोह में
पता ही नही चल पाता
ज़िन्दगी भी एक सिगरेट है ।

प्यार का पिंजरा

बड़ी आस थी प्यार में गिरने की,
जब हुआ तो खुद की नज़रो में गिर गया,
वो प्यार नही, प्यार का पिंजरा है,

कहते है उनकी हाँ में मेरी हाँ है,
उनकी ना में मेरी ना है,
मेरी अब न हाँ है न ना है,

मेरा सही भी गलत है,
उसका गलत भी सही,
न जाने क्यों
अब गलतियां सिर्फ मैं करता हूँ,

मेरी ख्वाब कब बदल गये,
उसकी ख्वाहिशों में तब्दील हो गए,
इल्म ये मुझको भी नही है,

प्यार कब मेरा हवस बन जाता,
कब वो काफी नही रहता,
अब ये उसका ही फैसला है,

मैंने खुद को बदल लिया,
तुम पहले जैसे नही रहे
ऐसा उसने कहा,
बेबस होकर भी गुनहगार मैं ही हूँ,

छोड़ना चाहूँ या रिश्ता तोड़ना चाहूँ,
आँसुओं से पिघल जाता हूँ,
मोहब्बत की माया में बंध जाता हूँ,

समझौतो से गुरेज़ नही,
इश्क़ में फना होने का भी गम नही,
पर शरीर आत्मा पर बोझ मंजूर नही,

अब इन ठंडे फसलों को,
दूरियों की ताप देनी होगी,
नही तो, सुन्न हो ही गया हूँ,
किसी दिन एकाएक शिथल पड़ जाऊंगा