Rekhayein (रेखाएँ)

मेरे हाथ की रेखाएँ
कुछ धुँधली कुछ उजली,
और उनके बीच छिपी
मेरे जीवन की पहेली ।

कहते हैं कि सबकी,
किस्मत की कुँजी इन
रेखाओं में ही कहीं,
दबी सी है रहती ।

मुद्दतों से सभी इनके
मायाजाल में हैं बंदी,
आज तलक कोई भी ना
सुलझा पाया ये गुत्थी ।

बचपन से यौवन तक
की मेरी ये कहानी,
जिसकी पटकथा है लिखी
इन रेखाओं की जुबानी ।

मेरे हाथ की रेखाएँ
कुछ उजली कुछ धुँधली,
और उनके बीच छिपी
मेरे जीवन की पहेली ।

-प्रत्यूष गर्ग Pratyush Garg
२७-०२-०९ 27-02-09

Shoonya (शून्य)

शून्य क्या है?

अनंत ब्रह्मांड की गहराई
में ताकता मैं और उसके,
खालीपन का एहसास कराता
एक अजीब सा सन्नाटा जिसमें,
ना चाहते हुए भी मुझे,
समंदर में गोता लगाने के
समान आभास होता है ।

मैं बेचैन हो इधर-उधर उसकी,
तपिश से बचने की कोशिश
में अपने आप को समेटे,
भागने की तैयारी में लगा,
यही सोचते हुए कि किसी
तरह मैं उस से बच
निकलने में कामयाब हो जाऊँ ।

पर क्या कोई कभी अपने
आप से भी भाग सका है?
मेरे अस्तित्व का भूस्खलन इस
बात का जीता प्रमाण है,
अभी भी वही अनसुलझा हुआ,
आदि से लेकर अंत तक
बस यही एक प्रश्न;

शून्य क्या है?

-प्रत्यूष गर्ग Pratyush Garg
२६-०२-०९ 26-02-09

The "Kaala Bandar" In Me

Yesterday, I got the privilege to watch Delhi-6. In whole of the movie, I was wondering what exactly this "Kaala Bandar" plot is up to. It is only after the movie ended that I realized that believe it or not, there is a "Kaala Bandar" inside every one of us out here.

It is not that people don't know that a "Kaala Bandar" resides inside them. It is just they don't wan to accept this fact. From my previous experiences with different sections of society, with people of different intellectual levels, different age groups etc, I came to know there was only one thing common among all these, that here people follow a 'Zero Tolerance Policy' against changing themselves. In other words, they have that "Kaala Bandar" inside them, but are not ready to eliminate it. Perhaps they don't have the guts to tackle it, or you can say their will power is so weak that even after recognizing and realizing the stature of "Kaala Bandar" they are not capable of removing it.

Talking about the "Kaala Bandar" inside me, it is practically huge. And it grows further when I treat some fellow citizens with hatred just because we are not of same religion or caste, when I commit something which I ought not to do, when I avoid any of my duties as a student, as a responsible citizen, or a son. I try not to ponder over this but sometimes it is so frustrating that I feel I am a criminal. It seems as if it is eating me up from inside. I feel as if I am hiding something under veils. I feel as if I am not true to myself. It is tough to get rid of it. In fact, it is tough for all of us to get rid of it.

The best we can do from now on in this situation is at least we can prevent its further growth. We can try not to fuel it with our deeds. In this way, the "Kaala Bandar" inside us will be dormant and ineffective. Who knows one day it might be vanished for ever.

The "Slumdog" Reality

Finally, it happened. The day for which we were all waiting for so long. "Slumdog Millionaire" bags eight Academy (Oscar) awards out of the nine categories it was nominated in (In one category, two nominations were there making it a total of ten nominations). So, where is the big deal? The Oscars are given every year. But for India, it was a big deal. Out of the eight awards, three were bagged by Indian people. The Music Maestro AR Rahman got two (Original Song and Original Socre) and Resul Pookutty bagged the other one (Sound Mixing). And it is further a big deal because until now only two other Indians are able to win an Oscar each in the entire history.

But my point today is not related to Oscars at all. The relation is just that today, the awards are given, so I came up with an idea to write this post. Recently, and by that I mean, soon after its release world wide and gaining recognition in various Film festivals, many accusations were observed throughout the country by different people, celebrities and journalists. The whole point of their accusation was related to the portrayal of Indian society and culture, the condition of the people residing here, and all the illicit activities that take place at every corner of the suburban streets as well as in posh cities.

The likes of Amitabh Bachchan were seen quoting that they are "ashamed" of what has been shown, and it sends a very wrong signal to the world, about India as a whole. Another gentleman from the film critics' family, Mr. Rensil D' Souza of rediff.com exclaimed and disregarded the film as a regular flick and advised people to avoid it because it "misleads" the public. Mr. Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, a representative of a slum-dwellers' welfare group, filed a defamation lawsuit against the film producers, alleging that slum-dwellers were depicted in a bad light which would be a violation of their human rights. These are some of the objections of which I know. There are more.

Now to these people, I would like to suggest something. Those who think that it was misleading should take a day off and take a visit to the largest slum of Asia, the Dharavi. And there they will find the exact "picture". And believe me, it is lot worse than it is shown in the movie.

Those who think that India is a secular country with people of all religions has the liberty to live a free and fearless life should visit the minority colonies of Ahemdabad which were burnt down in the 2002 riots.

Those who think that street children and beggars are a mess and are a waste for the society read this link: http://fuehrer-pratyush.blogspot.com/2008/10/boot-polish.html.

And lastly, those who have not read the book "Q and A" by the Indian diplomat Mr. Vikas Swarup and on which Slumdog Millionaire is based, I would suggest you to please read it and then you'll find harsher realities about the "slums" and the "slumdogs". You will find out some incidents like a father raping his own daughter or a priest molesting young boys or a young boy dying of rabies without proper medical attention or a family forcing their most beautiful daughter into prostitution as a part of community ritual. All of these incidences were "thankfully" not shown in the film otherwise they would have banned it from screening in India.

The point for me to prove is that the reality is to come out in any way, and if it chooses to come out in this way, we are all for it. Stop accusing of what the film maker showed and what he did not show, or what he should show. Start working in a direction which helps eliminate all these things from our society so that when next time a foreigner decides to make a film on India, he is automatically forced to show what you want.

Comments are invited.

Tanha (तन्हा)

जीवन के शिखर पर,
जब कोई पहुँच जाए;
तब भी कोई कमी,
कुछ खालीपन उसे सताए।

उसकी आँखों में सूखे,
कुछ उम्मीदों के सागर;
उसकी सांसों में तपते,
कुछ ख्वाहिशों के समंदर।

अपनी तमन्नाओं को मार,
लहू से जिनको सींचा;
उन्होंने ही किया वार,
मौत की तरफ़ खींचा।

अब वो अकेला तन्हा,
खड़ा है चौराहे पर;
सोचता है किधर जाए,
कोई ना उसका यहाँ पर।

-प्रत्यूष गर्ग Pratyush Garg
१२-०२-०९ 12-02-09

My Life post GV

I quit Green Volunteers (GV) club about ten days ago. It was a very tough decision to make, because it was the only recognizable thing in which I was involved inside college campus. But now, its all over. Better not to discuss the causes which led me to take this painful decision. Discussing them will be the utter wastage of time. But it should be mentioned here that the after effects of that decision are really very harsh on me.

The main purpose of me, joining GV was to prevent young lads to involve themselves in the vicinity of tobacco in any form. I was also concerned about the illicit consumption of cigarettes in our hostel. So, I thought that if there is such organization which is keen to eradicate these malpractices, then I should better be the part of it so that my personal movement against it can get a big banner and a big name. And then my efforts will get an enormous boost and will be more effective. Believe me, our combined efforts brought drastic changes in the hostel environment. I was really glad to witness that.

But now, as I am not a part of GV, I try really hard not to care about whatever illegal and wrong happen in the campus. My mind tells me that it is none of my business, but my heart still forces me to step up, go there and tell them not to do that. It is a very bad feeling. Living with this feeling is really tough. But I am determined not to alter my decision. God knows what is there for me in future.

Dhokha (धोखा)

पहली बार मेरे इतिहास में,
कुछ अच्छा हो रहा था ।
मैं सबसे ज़्यादा खुश था,
सब सच्चा हो रहा था ।

मैंने जी जान से कोशिश की,
कि कुछ गलत ना हो ।
मैं कुछ ऐसा ना करूँ,
जिससे किसी को दर्द हो ।

पर होनी कब टली है,
वही हुआ जिसका डर था ।
अंत में मैंने ये जाना,
मेरे साथ धोखा हुआ था ।

जो भी वो सब था,
क्षणिक था, क्षणभंगुर था ।
जब तक मुझे पता चलता,
सब समाप्त हो चला था ।


-प्रत्यूष गर्ग Pratyush Garg
०२-०२-२००९ 02-02-2009