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कई दिल खिले यहाँ और कई पड़े हैं मुश्किल में,

आबाद करूं हूँ दिल मैं भी अपना इस महफ़िल में,

चेहरों की इस किताब में, हर हर्फ़ में तेरी मेरी शक्ल बसी,

पैग़ामों में भेजो तस्वीरें, अल्फ़ाज़, अश्क़ और कभी हँसी,

छुपके बैठा नहीं है कोई, गोशा कोई नहीं है ख़ाली,

जवाबों की बनती हैं क़िस्ते, हो चाहे बस एक सवाली,

तस्वीरों की कहकशां करें हैं गर्दिश इन दिवारों पे,

हर फ़र्द चला है, घूम रहा है मुख़्तलिफ़ सईयारों पे,

एहसासों के इज़हार का ज़रिया, इनकार भी, इज़हार भी है,

जज़बातों के इस मजमे में, नए रिश्तों की पुकार भी है,

गुफ़तगुओं पे ना वक़्त का पहरा, ना मुल्कों की जदुद,

असलियत से ग़ाफ़िल होकर सबने बनाए मेजाज़ी वजूद,

मैं भी ढूंढ़ रहा हूँ ख़ुद को अपनों के लव्ज़ों में,

यहीं कहीं फ़ेना हुई है मेरी भी हस्ती इन हर्फ़ों में

कई दिल खिले यहाँ और कई पड़े हैं मुश्किल में,

आबाद करूं हूँ दिल मैं भी अपना इस महफ़िल में।

Bookworm

The cracks on the roof and the glow of the lamp,

Dampness of the walls and the empty fish tank,

The books and the reading glasses on the table,

A half eaten chocolate and an untouched apple,

Wood burning in the fireplace and the mantle,

Framed faces on the mantle and the candles,

A door open and a window with drawn curtains,

The throw on the sofa and the upturned cushion,

A pen lying beneath the throw with the crumbs,

And few bits of paper and a pin, and some gum,

A girl in a baggy sweater and loose pyjamas,

A book in her lap and legs resting beneath her,

Hair undone, sleepy eyes and unwashed feet,

With brows drawn, she reads with fervour,

Smiles and sulks, frowns and giggles the girl,

There is a world in the books she reads about,

She lives in there, aloof to the world around.

No fly can bother; no chill can give her a shiver,

She smells nothing foul, she sees no litter,

Folded pages with torn edges, highlighted lines,

The girl seems content with the books in sight,

I long to be her with hair undone, sleepy eyes,

And unwashed feet and a book by my side!

Warm Greeting of the Snow

A pearl from the heaven melted on my palm,

A sheet of white lilies spread under my feet,

A dove above dropped a feather on my hat,

And a butterfly left a moist kiss on my nose,

That is how snow greeted me this year…

White pods on orange leaves on brown trees,

Framed in a painting on my kitchen window,

The greens wore cotton robes in my balcony,

And cold and wild breezes teased my cheeks,

That is how snow greeted me this year…

Boots left traces in the park in front,

Children on sledges fought for turns,

Women holding hats braved the snow,

And my camera again slid to my side,

That is how snow greeted me this year…

My hands shivered in the wet cold gloves,

My steps danced in the deep white mud,

Tears trickled down icy paths on my skin,

My fingertips tingled with its every touch,

That is how I greeted snow this year…

Partition

One eye, one ear and half a nose,
That’s all that was left of her,
Half a smile and a single tear,
Her possessions after the grand loot,
She had teased them, incited them,
Raised spite between her two sides,
Told an arm to hit the other arm,
Jokingly at first and then, they saw,
Glaring differences in their similarities,
And so they thought to cut it off,
The other side, the other arm, the OTHER,
Bewildered she tried to take charge again,
But in vain, for they had pulled out spears,
Wanting to rein the body holding the two,
She screamed but they had gone deaf,
Crying, she saw her arms turning blind,
They rose higher; louder grew her screams,
They ripped her in to two and continued,
Assaulting her body with her own hands,
She was divided and distraught, and numb,
The arms were in pain but celebrating too,
As they watched the tortured face;
The divided face of the mother Earth.

My camel and I

This is the desert, where my poorly camel stands confused,
All alone, with me besides, stands my camel next to the dune.
“I follow the wind or shall I reach the Sun?” he asks me,
“The blazing sun, I fear, will burn me and scorch thy skin”,
I say, “The wind is as lost as us, and will take us nowhere thus!”
Saddened by my answer, the hump rises with the lump in the throat,
My camel now looks back and so do I, at the long deserted road.
Fearless we were to venture here despite the words of the wise,
Jolly in our folly, we had walked into her embrace with swollen prides,
O the queen of sand, the enchantress, the seductress with glittering eyes,
Bejewelled in gold, shimmering with dunes, dancing with wind in delight,
“That’s the queen, my queen!” I screamed as we stepped in the sea of sand,
We were overwhelmed, just like thirsty travellers spotting an oasis in the sand.
Mirage, alas, was all it was! A bluff of the land, hidden in heat and sand,
Sand and sun, thirst and heat, fatigue and dismay, no queen of sand,
I saw no queen; my camel saw no queen, there were just two slaves,
One, a man on a camel’s back, and a camel, both in despair and in shame,
Miserable and mute we were, with words failing to guide us further,
Slaved by the desert, deserted by senses, our fates sealed to suffer,
Home was miles away, but hope was somewhere just below our feet,
It gushed on us like a sudden burst of warm desires poking deep,
Sweaty and sluggish bodies sprang to face the queen’s army,
Rising dust, biting heat and bewildered winds ever so stormy,
The battle continued for over a week or two, and we two fought,
Determined to reach, the home we had left, the heaven we sought,
We greeted the stars many a times and requested them to lead,
The polestar was kind and answered with a twinkle all our pleas,
The old tree told me I was home and then my camel fell to the ground,
Fell with me but I lived and my camel died at home, with me around
The desert stared back at me from far laughing and snarling
I won and I lost and she lost and she won a battle baffling.
That was my last ride and this is my last breath alone on a death bed,
Years have passed and yet I see the sand we took, the tears we shed.