Friday, October 28, 2011

सूरज

खैरात में जो मिल जाए
वो दुआ नहीं दया होती है...

एवज में जो की जाए
वो मोहब्बत नहीं तिजारत होती है...

ज़िन्दगी ये ज़िन्दगी
कुछ पाने-खोने का नाम नहीं ए दोस्त

इस तरह दुनिया
आबाद नहीं तमाम होती है...

मार डालो तुम मुझे
सच्चा कह-कहकर

हैवानों को इंसान करने की
कोशिशें यूँ ही कामयाब होती है...

गायब हो जाता हूँ हर शाम
सूरज की तरह

इश्क मुझसे करने की
चाँद-सितारों में ना हिम्मत होती है...

परले दर्जे का पागल हूँ मैं
खब्ती भी और सनकी भी

दूर ही रहने में मुझसे
सबकी भलाई होती है...

करम करता हूँ
मोहब्बत और खुलूस से

पे उनके हासिल पर
मेरी नज़र ना होती है...

Monday, October 24, 2011

सारा कसूर तुम्हारा

कहते हो तुम
की ज़िन्दगी नहीं मिलती दोबारा
चौरासी करोड़ योनियाँ फिर भी करते तुम गवारा
जो सच में ही होती कुबूल ये ज़िन्दगी
यूँ भटकते न फिरते तुम 'मनीष'
ये गलियां, ये चोबारा

कुछ कहना चाहती हैं
हाथों की यें लकीरें तुमसे 'मनीष'
मानो वक़्त का कहा
समझो ज़ीस्त का इशारा

दोस्त जो तुमसे हकीकत है छिपाता
असल में होता वो दुश्मन तुम्हारा

दुश्मन जो तुम्हें हकीकत से रूबरू है करवाता
होता वही असल में दोस्त तुम्हारा

हकीकत मगर ये
की तुम ही तुम्हारे सबसे करीबी दोस्त हो 'मनीष'
और
है 'मनीष' ही सबसे बड़ा दुश्मन तुम्हारा

उदास होते हो ये देख
की हर कोई ठुकरा रहा है तुम्हें
चिंतित होते हो ये देख
की हर कोई फुसला रहा है तुम्हें
लज्जित क्यों नहीं मगर ये देख तुम 'मनीष'
की एक खुद के सिवा हर और ध्यान है तुम्हारा

क्यूँ कर काफी नहीं तुम्हें
ये रूहानी नेमतें
क्यूँ मांगते फिरते हो
ये ज़माने की दौलतें
क्यूँ नहीं एक बार को
 मांग लेते तुम वो नूर-ए-नज़र
छूट पड़े जिससे
ये रोज़-रोज़ माँगने का सिलसिला तुम्हारा
देख सको  तुम उसे
जो है मन-मंदिर तुम्हारा

देखते रहो...देखते रहो...देखते रहो
के जब तक के
मन न भर जाए तुम्हारा
और फिर भी जो रह जाएँ कुछ तमन्नाएं बाकी
समझ लेना की सारा का सारा कसूर है तुम्हारा

सपने आँखें नहीं
मन देखता है तुम्हारा
बोझ अपना वो दूजों पर
फेंकता है सारा
मानव लेकिन रजामंद है
मन की गुलामी से
इसी लिए तो
मन को बद कहता है 'मनीष' बेचारा



Saturday, October 22, 2011

एक ओंकार सतनाम

शब्द ;
ब्रह्म की और इंगित भी कर सकता है
और भ्रमित भी,

ॐ ;
शब्द भी बन सकता है
और रह सकता है निशब्द भी,

मन ;

इश है
आनंदित भी कर सकता है
और द्वलित भी...

एक ओंकार सतनाम
 ik-oNkaar sat naam kartaa purakh nirbha-o nirvair akaal moorat ajoonee saibhaN gur parsaad.
One Universal Creator God. The Name Is Truth. Creative Being Personified. No Fear. No Hatred. Image Of The Undying, Beyond Birth, Self-Existent. By Guru’s Grace.


jap
Chant And Meditate.


aad sach jugaad sach.
True In The Primal Beginning. True Throughout The Ages.


hai bhee sach naanak hosee bhee sach.
True Here And Now. O Nanak, Forever And Ever True.


sochai soch na hova-ee jay sochee lakh vaar.
By thinking, He cannot be reduced to thought, even by thinking hundreds of thousands of times.


chupai chup na hova-ee jay laa-ay rahaa liv taar.
By remaining silent, inner silence is not obtained, even by remaining lovingly absorbed deep within.


bhukhi-aa bhukh na utree jay bannaa puree-aa bhaar.
The hunger of the hungry is not appeased, even by piling up loads of worldly goods.


sahas si-aanpaa lakh hohi ta ik na chalai naal.
Hundreds of thousands of clever tricks, but not even one of them will go along with you in the end.


kiv sachi-aaraa ho-ee-ai kiv koorhai tutai paal.
So how can you become truthful? And how can the veil of illusion be torn away?


hukam rajaa-ee chalnaa naanak likhi-aa naal.
O Nanak, it is written that you shall obey the Hukam of His Command, and walk in the Way of His Will.


( Translation of the Punjabi verse taken from RICKY'S BLOG )








Wednesday, October 12, 2011

अजब हाल ज़िन्दगी



जीते जी
जो छोड़ दे साथ
ज़िन्दगी का
होती नहीं फिर
उसकी मौत कभी
मर-मर के
छोड़े जो हाथ
ज़िन्दगी का
ना पूरी तरह मरा
ना पूरी तरह जिया
वो ज़िन्दगी


अजब हाल है ज़िन्दगी का यहाँ...

ना
जी पाता हूँ तेरे बिन
और ना ही
मरना कहा जा सकता है इसे...

एक पल खुश होता हूँ
तुझे सोच...
तो दुसरे ही पल
उदास हो जाता हूँ
तेरी जुदाई से...

चीड़चिड़ाता हूँ अपनों पर
बेवजह...
तो गले लगाता हूँ गैरों को
बावजह...

रातों को जागता हूँ
उल्लुओं की तरह...
तो
दिन गुजरता है मदहोशी में
नवाबों की तरह...

भूख लगती है तो बस तेरी
प्यास होती है तो सिर्फ तेरी

फिर भी
खाता हूँ मैं क्या-क्या कुछ नहीं
कभी लोगों की झिड़क
तो
कभी अपनी ही सनक...

कभी नाच उठता है मन मेरा
तो
कभी घबरा जाता है दिल...

हिज्जा-हिज्जा हुई जाती है
ये ज़िन्दगी
कतरा-कतरा कटी जाती है
ये ज़िन्दगी
बूँद-बूँद पिलाई जाती है
ये रिंदगी

हूँ यहाँ मैं आधा
और
तू वहाँ है अधूरी

किस मुहाल पूरी हो
ये बन्दगी...

जानता हूँ
बाखूबी जानता हूँ मैं
की
तू भी बेहाल है वहां
ए ज़िन्दगी...

किस फितरत होगी तू बहाल
ए ज़िन्दगी...

लगी हुई है एक जैसी ही आग
हमारे सीनों में

एक ऐसी आग
जो जला ना सके किसी का भी घर...

जलाते हैं हम इसलिए खुद को ही
की
बदनाम ना हो जाए कहीं आशिकों का शहर...

जीते हैं मर-मर के
और
मरते हैं जी-जी कर

बा-हर-हाल
पूरा तो होगा ही ये इश्क का सफ़र...

नाम 
जिस सफ़र का 
क्या खूब रखा किसीने - ज़िन्दगी

अंदाज़ अजीब ही सही
पर
हर हाल सीखाये जाती है
ये बन्दगी...

Monday, October 10, 2011

The King of Kings



In today’s times they say the customer is the king.
For once, they are absolutely right...
The king must but know that he is a king and not an all pleasing politician.



SCENE ONE:



You wake up at 6.45 in the morning. Your mind and body is fresh with a good night’s sleep. You treat yourself with a steaming cup of tea. Your eyes are now searching for today’s news paper. You want to know as to what is happening in and around the world you live. You know that your peace is going to be bombarded with screaming headlines of death and despair but since you are aware and awake you quickly flip through the disappointing news and events taking place in the planet you inhabit.



You reach to the editorial page which interests you the most but not before eyeing the news of your city. Interspersed around the news you find lots of small and big advertisements. You give them a customary look and if an object of desire or something holds your attention, you read the information therein.



Internally you thank God that things in and around your own private world are not as bad as the news paper makes out to be. You also thank Him for giving you the freedom of choice to read what you want to read.



SCENE TWO:



You get up and switch on the FM radio to cheer up your mind by listening to some soulful old or new melodies. Just as you tune in you hear someone boasting loud about the success of a certain coaching institution. You search for another frequency and hear a devotional rendition playing on. You stop and listen to the mellifluous voice praising the lord’s kindness. You are lost in the music when suddenly you are brought back in the real world by a lady voice screaming at her husband to fulfill his duties by signing on the dotted lines of an insurance policy.



You run for your i-phone so that you can listen to your favorite melodies as you shave but can’t put the earplugs in for want of shaving convenience. You put the cell on speaker mode but the shrillness of the sound irritates you and so you give up the whole idea and shave and cleanse yourself in silence.



SCENE THREE:



Its workout time and you smile to yourself for choosing Yoga to heal your mind, body and soul. You pat yourself for your intelligent choice because it avoids the rigors of going to a gym. You are not even needed to go through the troubles of putting on some rhythm on your music system to get your aerobics rhythmic.



You take a deep breath with a sigh of relief.



SCENE FOUR:



You have taken your shower and are getting ready to reach your workplace on time when the doorbell rings. You are about to ask your wife to answer the door but then you see her busy in preparing your breakfast and in performing other household chores and so you open the door yourself to find a young guy smartly dressed up. He tries to sell you something under the pretext of some training that he is undergoing to complete his degree. You politely ask him to leave protesting the infringement of your privacy and time.



He leaves but you do feel guilty about shooing him away. You curse the companies who hire poor guys to do such an arduous and thankless job. You blame the greedy and selfish minds who adopt such ludicrous methods to extract sales. You wish that there is no such need for students and colleges to experiment with peoples notions in the name of training.



Engrossed in all such thoughts you never know that you have forgot to enjoy and appreciate the breakfast so lovingly prepared by your wife.



SCENE FIVE:



On the way to your workplace you see poor kids trying to sell some or the other thing to the travelers. You see these on every traffic signal and you also wonder as to how many people actually do make a purchase from them to keep them going with the same routine job - every day of the week.



You are busy doing something at your workplace when suddenly the door opens and in comes a salesman with a plastic smile on his face. Without giving you a chance to speak he bids you good morning, shakes your hand forcefully and informs you about a fancy new stain-cleaning liquid for your office. All this happens in such quick time that you have no time to think whether this swiftness is natural or a gimmick to seek your attention.



Somehow you are able to keep your cool and in that cultivated coolness you politely say that you are not interested. The salesman does not take your no for an answer and want to demonstrate the product’s effectiveness to you. He starts to open his bag when you again stop him from employing his selling skills on you – this time a little sternly. He pretends as if he has not heard you and continues to find something in his bag.



You now loose your patience and raise your voice a little. It is now his turn to be shell-shocked to see you slowly turning furious. You take the advantage of the momentary pause in his activities and tell him to convey his company that if they want to sell their product they better make it available in the grocery store. If people get genuinely interested in the product they will surely purchase it but troubling people at their workplace is no way to market the product. You also tell him that it is your establishment that he has entered into. He was allowed entry because the doormen must have thought of him as a customer of the services you establishment provided. You also inform the salesman that it took lots of years and lakhs of rupees to open a shop like this. That this shop is established to sell and if the salesman need buy a product he is welcome or else he may as well leave.



The salesman walks out almost immediately on hearing your lengthy speech on marketing ethics but you do not feel happy inside. You could watch his shoulders drop and even his plastic smile snatched away from his face.



You wonder whether it is the poverty that makes people do such jobs or is it the lack of original thought which keeps them where they are…



SCENE SIX:



You are browsing the internet and are in search of answers to the queries that circulate in your heart every now and then. There are a plethora of pop-ups which try to distract you from your search but you have fire walled such advances. Then there are viruses which attack you from all sides and that also at times when you want them least. Thanks again to the effective anti-virus that you installed in your computer which allows you to browse through.



SCENE SEVEN:



Its Friday night and you are desperate to catch up with Sa Re Ga Ma little champs. You switch on the television and are all set to enjoy the mesmerizing talent on the show when you receive a call on your cell from an unknown number. You pick up the call thinking it could be from someone who has changed his/her number in spite of number portability being available.



The sweet but business like mechanical voice at the other end informs you that she wants you to insure your life and she has some exciting plans specially designed looking at your needs. She lures you into at least committing a meeting sometime to convince you. You don’t want to be rude but still say no to her very firmly. You could see her making faces at you even when you don’t own a mobile with 3G services.



You smile and are back to enjoying Salman Ali’s rendition of ‘Tashan mein, Tashan mein….’



The anchor seeks a chhotu sa time out but before the channel barrages you with advertisements you grab your remote control and put on MTv coke. Oops….wrong timing…because here too they are showing advertisement but this time the Levi’s advertisement catches your attention and you stop and watch it.



On Sunday, when you are leisurely having a stroll in the mall you end up buying a Reliance Trendz pair of jeans though.



Man is bad case....isnt it?

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

PERFECT WEDDING



A man is a slave of his wife if her being controls his being and the vice versa too holds equally true.

I am sure all of us want to change this precarious situation and hence we go on either changing partners or vie to change the partner in search of true love. We have even tried changing the established parameters of the institution of marriage by settling in for a live-in relationship but that too has not helped much in attaining peace. The search for this paramount desire to find a perfect soul mate goes on and i can only laugh to see the fish thirsty in water.

Excuse me, but nothing changes if we do not change.

Pain is inevitable if we marry for reasons other than love. We either marry for social or financial stability. In India marriage is a traditional custom which everyone needs to adhere to unquestioningly or else face the ire of the society. Penetrating questions are been asked by friends and family alike, if you do not marry. These questions many times cross the limits of privacy and decency.

On the other hand there are hoards of people in India who have no other option but to marry in order to fulfill their sexual desires. These desires are natural but are looked upon as a taboo or sexual perversion if one looks to lay oneself outside the institution of marriage. Obtain the license of marriage and then you can fuck as much and as long you want. It does not matter if your partner is ready or willing for it or not. Marital rapes are a common phenomenon in India and women suffer the most.

Making love as an art form which comes out of love and passion for your lover is a concept that is still alien to most men in India. That it is still so in the land of Kamsutra is a gigantic wonder to me.

Women in India generally believe that they can truly fuck someone with all their heart and soul only when they truly love that someone or else its just a duty that they are been taught not to oppose in order to keep their so called husbands happy. The same theory albeit does not hold true when it comes to some other women making passionate love to their husbands. Its like saying when I make love, I love but when you make love, you fornicate.

Double standards galore...but they do not amaze me as much since i am aware that they are a direct offshoot or outcome of a double-edged sword called mind.

Western and European people are a tad better when it comes to their acceptance of pre-marital sex but then they too rake up the issues of loyalty and commitment when it comes to extra-marital sex. No wonder that we see so many divorces happening in the western world.

Oh...such an awful waste of matrimony !!

I sincerely do not find all this strange or beyond cognition. What i do find strange is the way man has been responding to this age old challenge. Man has tried to change everything else but for himself and therein lies the reason of so much anger, so much frustration, lewd jokes about marriage, so much apathy, so many efforts to gain sympathy, so many break-ups, so many heart-aches, so many heart-burns, so much manipulation...

Oh ! The list is endless...

...and what exactly is the change that man should bring in himself?

Truly speaking, it is not even a change but a candid realization of what he truly is. In other words man will have to learn the art of loosing his egoistic " I " and find the lover that he was, he is and he will be.

If you really want peace, prosperity and love in your life and think that only God can provide you with such abundance in  life - think again...

Do you really believe that it is God who fulfills your needs?

If yes, then you need not do anything and should just wait for things to happen on their own. They will surely happen to you if your belief is an unconditional trust in God and his doings.

But, if you feel that you should do something to deserve His blessings then ask for that insight which is needed to change yourself. Soon, you will find that you are no longer asking for boons and miracles to happen in your life but are feeling them shower on you incessantly and in every moment of your life.

You will no longer be a beggar in your prayers but a lover who profoundly thanks Almighty for giving you so much of Love, Understanding, Care and Kindness - i call it L.U.C.K.

You will be filled with immense gratitude towards existence - you can call it God or whatever you please - for providing you not only with the eyes to see the world but also with the insight to observe its beauty just as the way it is.

You shall see the world change with you.

Trust me not on this but do trust yourself because trust is always on the self.
It turns into an expectation when it is on others.

There is no bigger expectation in the world of marriage than to expect loyalty from the other.

Loyalty is like a text message - you have all the rights in the world to send it to as many people you like ( only 100 per day in India ) but you have absolutely no right to demand an equal, better or pleasing response.

Some people might respond out of sympathy, love, care or business but then again it is not your right - it is there own sweet will to do so. You do get necessary oxygen for the survival of such relations in such cases but i presume living on a ventilator cannot be as much fun as living on love is.

We need to realize that God is not only the creator but also the created and the art of creation and He created us as an exact replica of Himself with love. He did not give us our male or female counterparts to punish us but to find our true self with the help and love of each-other.

Marriage is just an idea to realize that truth.

The onus to turn this idea into an excellent one or to transform it into a hellish one lies on us humans. They say that marriages are made in heaven but lived in hell and yes, they will continue to be in the right till the couple continues to remain a pair instead of thriving to be one single unit with two metaphysical forms.

We, as integral masculine and feminine parts of Him are not here to compete with each-other but are sent to complete each-other.

Satiation is not going to come by changing partners but by changing self. Peace is going to last forever when we find our true self. Prosperity shall be abundant when we find ourselves filled with so much love that it over flows out of joy and compassion - when ye seek not love but give it by being one with love.

Agreed that conditions today seem hopeless to be so. Agreed that man, since times immemorial, has proved himself  to be a bad case but then he is the only hope of resurrection too.

Hope, against all hopes that man learns and learns quickly enough not to make an over sized issue of insignificant things...learn not to bring the third between the two especially when there doesn't even exist the two.

What exists is pure love...

We have just forgotten our true self. We are nothing but love, love, love and love...

What is been remembered the most today, is the fake and loveless " I ".

This has happened because man has lost all trust in the bliss that is felt in being totally aware and awake to the now and here. To think either of the past events with regret or boast, or to dwell in future plans with a dream or insecurity is the hallmark of a man in total possession of his own mind.

Non-sense it is to live in that moment which has gone past or to dream of that moment which is yet to come but non-sense when it gets repeated time and again assumes the proportion of an arrogant un-willingness to learn and grow.

It is the decisions that you adopt in the now and here that will make or mar your future. Past prejudices, learning or experience as some mentally old people like to call it, is not going to help you take a fresh stance for a fresh situation. Life is an extra-ordinary teacher and is so creative that it never repeats itself by asking copybook questions. You need to be fresh, joyous, attentive and ever ready to face the challenges life puts forth to churn the best out of you.

Mind likes to believe in itself as an extra-ordinary exception too but it knows not that there is only uniqueness which throngs and manifests in this universe.

Man is a dis-ease and that is his boon and his doom, at once.
He is not at ease with what he is and that not only leads him to growth but also restlessness, at once.
Meditation is the best medicine in such a situation as it treats not just the disease but the patient too, at once.

You know, heart is like a king, mind is his minister and the inner vice of our conscience is the God.
The minister goes in the world, comes back and informs the king about the status of his kingdom. The king listens carefully to the observations of the minister but does not take them as final verdict. He just looks at the whole situation with an equanimous eye and the decision appears naturally, on its own. The king might arrive at a decision which appears irrational, unjust or foolish to the minister but the king has the power to get his say implemented on his subjects.

This is when the minister revolts and tries to enslave the king by justifying his stand. The minister adopts cunning ways to do so. He uses his worldly wise brain and an army of sensory cohorts to achieve his supremacy over the king. If the inner voice of our conscience, that is God, allows the mutiny to be successful, the heart is filled with pain.

Today, science affirms the presence of such minister called mind as Type-A personality. Such a mind can go to any length, do anything to gain money, name and/or fame. Attainment or fulfillment of his aim or his ambition is his prime objective to establish his supremacy over an unsuspecting heart.

You find such Type-A personalities rampant and dominating in every walk of life be it politics, art, spirituality, sports,, business, journalism etc. etc etc.

These personalities are very very successful in material terms and are very very prone to life threatening diseases like heart-attack, high blood pressure, diabetes etc. etc. etc.,
Ya ! all at once !

Darwin tells me,"Survival of the fittest my dear, Survival of the fittest !!"
"True in animal kingdom, my dear Sir, very true", i tell Mr. Darwin.

What i can not tell him now but can definitely share with you at this moment of time is this :

LIFE IS NOT JUST ABOUT SURVIVING AS IN SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST ; IT IS ALSO ABOUT HAVING SOME FUN.

Life then, is not about knowing what is right or what is wrong ; it is all about being able to recognize that voice of our conscience, that heart-song.

Don't you think that a remote controlled life would be as boring and predictable as a scripted reality show, especially when it is your life and you are the main protagonist?

The beauty and excitement of life is in its unpredictable nature.

Tell me, can you watch the same movie, even if it is your favourite one, a thousand times and with as much zeal and emotions which you felt while watching it for the first time?

You still want to play safe in this game of uncertainty called life?
So, it should not be a problem if our legal spouse fucks us on a daily basis. After all, s/he is licensed to do that. Licensed, not just by the federal law but by the natural law too. So, its better to enjoy the fuck instead of crying hoarse and making a public issue of it.

It is always easy and convenient to blame a speechless institution of marriage rather than going through the rigors of blaming a loveless individual and that individual is no other but you.

i now pronounce you - MAN and WIFE
You may now kiss...





Man is bad case....isn't he?