ती सर माझी होती. (Ti Sar Majhi Hoti)

ती सर माझी होती.

काळ्याभोर  ढगांमधुन
कोसळणारा प्रत्येक थेंब,
आतुरतेने कापत होता रस्ता.

निमिषाच्या विध्युत्प्रकाशात
बहुदा, तो शोधत असावा मला.

बेभान  वाऱ्याशी त्याने,
केली होती गट्टी.
अलगद माझ्यापर्यंत पोहोचवायचं,
झालं होतं नक्की.

कोसळला पाउस,
वाऱ्याला आलं उधाण.
चिंब  चिंब झाली माती,
पानं-फुलं ही  बेभान.

मग कौलावर माझ्या,
जेव्हा पडली पहिली थाप.
मोहरून गेलं मन,
हे  ही पावसाचेच प्रताप!

तो डोकावला खिडकीतून,
जरासा चोरुन.
घट्ट मिटले मी डोळे,
घेतली कवाडे लावुन.

ज्या  सरीसाठी होती,
घट्ट घट्ट अशी मिठी.
त्या वेडीला केलं मी,
किती दुखी-कष्टी.

तरीही ती मुसळधार,
बरसत राहिली खंबीर.
रडून झाली वेडीपिशी.
मी तरीही गंभीर.

खिडकीपाशी गेले मी,
तिची समजुत काढायला.
पलीकडे ओघळणाऱ्या थेंबांना
ओंजळीत धरायला.

पण थेंब मात्रं ओघळत रहिले.
कोसळत राहिली सर.
ओंजळ राहिली रीती.
पण भिजुन गेले मन.

ओल्या कडा पुसून,
मी पलीकडे पहिले.
एका वाटसरुने तिला,
होते मिठीत घेतले.

चिंब झाला वाटसरु,
तृप्त झाली होती सर.
बांध फुटले गेले सारे,
फुटला मायेचा पाझर.

नखशिखांत न्हालेला तो, आणि
आठवणींच्या वादळात सापडलेली मी.
दोघेही ओलेचिंब, तरीही एक फरक -
एका सरीचा, खोल-खोल दरीचा.

आता ती सर माझी राहिली नव्हती.
ती त्याची होती.
त्याचाच पाउस, त्याचेच थेंब,
त्याचेच ओल्या मातीचे कण,
त्याचाच भिजलेला प्रत्येक क्षण.

डोळ्यांच्या  कडा परत पाणावल्या.
पण ह्यावेळी सरसावले नाही हात.
गालांवरून अश्रु  ओघळत राहिले,
आणि वेडं मन गालात हसुन म्हणालं,
"कदाचित ती सर माझी कधीच नव्हती."

मात्रं, सरीचे अश्रु कुणाला दिसलेच नाहीत.

एका झंजावाताप्रमाणे बरसत राहिली ती.
प्रेमाचा वर्षाव करत.
मुसळधार.
संततधार.

Leave To Travel

I wrote this a couple of months back for a friend, but never knew it'll suit the situation I'm in right now so well.

Personally, professionally, creatively, a lot of things are moving with great speed. At times it gets fast, at times it gets slow. I 'm simply changing gears of my mind to keep pace with the speed of this beautiful journey!

I left my life to travel

To travel through nothingness

Ombre meadows passing by as

Oceans of errands transgress

I flew in the face of command

I flew in the teeth of law

Darkness underneath my weary feet

Above the scarlet haw

Now, I am travelling to forget fate

To rediscover a lost chance

While waking up to reality

And closing my eyes to trance

As I left my life to travel

The heart kept hopes alive

I left my world for my world

Yes, I left my life to live life

Aurora

She is a dew of the dawn
Who opens the windows of her heart
To soak in the golden rays
She is a precious dew of the dawn

वोह चेहरे पे बिखरी थी जुल्फे

वोह चेहरे पे बिखरी थी जुल्फे

वोह जुल्फे हटाता मयूरपंख

वोह मलमल के जैसा तेरा स्पर्श

वोह सहमी सी सिमटी सी अनबन

वोह  मेहेकती बेहेक्ति हवाएं

वोह ठहरा सा पागल हुआ पल

वोह धीमि सी गीली सी साँसे

वोह आंसू से पलकें थी बोझल

वोह लफ़्ज़ों की मासुम चुप्पी

वोह होटों की हाय थरथराहट

वोह कह के हुई अनकही जो

अनसुनी बन गयी मेरी चाहत

Winners of the Unspent Time Launch Event

"I'm very polite by nature, even the voices in my head let each other finish their sentences." Graham Parke, Unspent Time

I'd originally planned to have a monkey draw two random numbers out of a hat (then use the inverse hexadecimal value - because you cannot trust monkeys, not at the prices I'm willing to pay) but apparently there are laws against monkey labor. There are permits involved. It's a whole thing. So instead I asked a friend to think of two random numbers while dressed in a monkey suit, without telling him what the numbers were for. This seemed sufficiently random to me, although it later occurred to me how worrying it was that my friend would actually do this without ever asking why. There might be a thinly veiled cry for help in there somewhere...

Kindle Fire Winner: Cecilia Huddleston Kindle Touch Winner: Kathy Habel

A big thank you to all the bloggers and readers who supported the Unspent Time launch event (especially those who bought multiple versions of the weird little novels that wrecked a thousand reasonably useful minds.)




Anyway, here's the results, thank you all for joining in, winners will be contacted and forced to accept prizes, let me know if you ever come across bits in the novels you like, stay healthy and sane,




Graham Parke




“We played for about half an hour before I realized we were actually playing two different games. What I’d thought of as ludo was actually a game called gin rummy, and what Warren was playing seemed to be a mixture of craps and table tennis. Once we started playing by one consistent set of rules, though, the fun was really over.” Graham Parke, No Hope for Gomez!

A Story A Day: Day 1

I may or may not post all the stories over here. But, I would love to log a few worth sharing.

Today is the first day of my A Story A Day (ASAD) Project, and so, here’s the first story I came across – New Boy.

This is a story of a young African boy, trying to adjust himself in his new school, with an appalling past from Ireland haunting him all the time.

The conflict that every new child at school goes through is well depicted here. But what truly moved me is the raw innocence by which the little boy juggles between his past and the present.

The film stood as the Best Narrative Short in Tribeca Film Festival 2008, and was nominated for an Oscar.

A new resolution: A story a day

A new resolution in the middle of the year may sound a little odd. But, who wants to stop for a New Year to begin. Now is always the best time to start a good habit, isn’t it?

So, now is the time I am making a new resolution, starting a good habit.

‘A Story A Day’

Be it a short film, a feature, an old classic, a documentary, a short story, poetry, or just a piece of anecdote.

Every day I’ll take some time off from copywriting, presentations, to-do lists, watching silly TV shows and doing humdrums of life, to expose my mind to a story that will tell a tale of the art of storytelling.

Right now, I would not be able to gauge exactly how and in what sense is this good habit going to help me. But one thing is for sure: I’m really going to enjoy it!

A Happy Morning

Photo Courtesy: Urvesh Mehta, another happy heart, enjoying the weather

A ray of sunshine amidst cool breeze,

Running its fingers through my hair with ease.

Swift, serene, soft swirls of air,

And a shiny warmth of love and care.

Ek premal sandhyakaal

सगळीकडे प्रेम बहरलंय,
सगळीकडेच एक आतुर घालमेल,
सगळीकडे भेटीची ओढ,
दोन जीवांचा सगळा खेळ.

कुणी वेळ वाचवतंय फास्ट ट्रेन पकडून,
कुणी धक्के खातंय बसला लटकून,
कुणी कोसतंय सिग्नलच्या  लाल दिव्यांना,
तर कुणी थकलंय त्याची वाट पाहून.

कुठल्या तरी कोपऱ्यात कुणी घट्ट मिठीत लपलंय,
कुठे फुलांच्या गुलदस्त्यापाठी गुलाबी होऊन लाजलय,
कुठे कुणी पाहील म्हणून गर्दीत थोडं बावरलंय,
तर कुठे कुणी गर्दीतही एकमेकांमध्ये हरवलंय.

सगळीकडे प्रेम बहरलंय,
संध्याकाळीही धुकं दाटलय,
गुलाबी थंडीत गुलाबी होऊन,
क्षितिजापर्यंत पसरलंय.

Dark Room

Take me into a dark room
A room so dark
Darker than the absence of light
Where there’s no sun or moon
But only air to survive
Like an earthworm

A subterranean survival

I shut my eyes tight
So tight, the temples throb
Yet the light passes through
And I can see my veins
Swaying on the tunes of
Carroty carols

The throbbing rises
I wish the hymns stop
And the blackout envelopes
Everything under the sun

And then there will be
No sun
No moon
No light.