I AND MY WORDS

Long long ago, there was a king whose wife had delivered a son. He had nothing really different about him, everyone assumed, till he began to speak, and since then they never saw him the same way. For, unlike other kids learning to say ma or baba or any such simple word, he had learnt to say Om.His mother was his only friend, and she was soon to pass away, and she knew that. And so, she went the extra mile to dote on her son, and tried to answer every question that she could, and would smile at those she could not. One day, her son asked a question that struck her like lightning. Innocently like kids, he asked her, "Ma, have you seen God?"The mother did not know what to say. She was having her last moments, and no one was aware of it. But she just smiled and said, " I have not, but they say that those who really try to reach him through hard penances can see God." And saying so, she passed away. Soon the king married again, and in came a hating stepmother, who ill-t

Its a bit of a drag, is it not, when you have not much to do, and a lot of time to spare? My time has lost its preciousness for me. Maybe its because I do not have much to do nowadays. However, never discount this time, as you never know when you might have the opportunity to get it back, to redeem it. Anyways, I read a book by Jeffrey Archer (finally) titled Kane and Abel, and surprise, surprise!I liked the book. However, it was, in essence, so much like a Hindi movie-so much of masala to read between the lines. However, I still would prefer to avoid reading his work, as I still have not accepted his style of writing. He is a better short story writer, and i would really vouch for that. By the way, i would be going to Delhi for a few days, though I would not be able to meet my family, as I could not get a shift in the returning schedule. However, I took it in mystride when I got the news- I always follow the policy of no expectations, and that helps me to be very balanced in my life.

एक शहर था, जहाँ ओस्मानिया यूनिवर्सिटी के सामने खूब शान्ति हुआ करती थी; आज वही सड़क पर गाड़ियों और बसों की आवाजाही से बहुत प्रदूषण और शोर के अलावा और कुछ नहीं होता। कभी देखने को मिलता थी हरियाली की एक घनी चादर; आज ऊंचे-ऊंचे मकानों की एक लम्बी,ना ख़त्म होती कतार ही दिखती है। एक अजीब सी परत ढके हुए इस शहर को, जिसको कुरेदने पर एक और ही सूरत नज़र आती है आज। ज़्यादा घूमता फिरता नहीं हो, फिर भी एक अजीब सी थकावट हो जाती है इस शहर में। बहुत सारी गुथ्थियाँ है इस शहर को बांधे हुए, हाथ पकड़े हुए है इस शहर की नब्ज़ पर। क्या जाने, क्या है इस शहर की फ़िज़ा में; बस, एक शहर था।

हैदराबाद में आकर सब कुछ बदल गया है। क्या यह विधि का विधान कहा जा सकता है?शायद हाँ। किसको मालोम था के जो इंसान अपने घर से इतना जुदा हुआ था उसको एक अनजान शहर और अनजान लोगों के बीच जाकर रहना पड़ेगा? यह शहर बड़ा ही निराला है। कई बातें तो बिल्कुल ही समझ नहीं आती हैं यहाँ के बारे में। लोगों का हज्जुम बनता जा रहा है यह शहर; न जाने और कितने लोग इसमें और समा पाएंगे। कुछ अजीब खासियत है इस शहर में-यहाँ समय अपनी ही रफ़्तार से चलने की जुर्रत करता है। किसी की परवाह नहीं करते समय और हालात यहाँ पर-सभी इसके यहाँ मोहताज लगते हैं। यहाँ पर लोग भी बहुत अजीब तरह की खामोशी साधे हुए बैठे रहते हैं, मानो एक गुस्सा, एक उदासी, एक मांयुसी है अपने इस शहर की चरमराती हालत के ऊपर; मानो लोगों को इस शहर पर तरस आता है। एक नज़र भरकर तो देखना होता है सिर्फ़; और बाहर के लोगों को तुम अलग से पहचान पाओगे तुम। बस, अजीब सी बात है इस शहर की-वो तहजीब आज गायब लगती है कौमी परेशानियों के परदे के पीछे यहाँ पर; मुस्सल्मान और हिंदू लोगों के बीच एक दरार दिखती है, जो जल्द नहीं भरने वाली है। झंडों और मूर्तियों की राजनीति बहुत देखने को मिलती

I get baffled by the autorickshaw drivers of the city; sometimes it seems that they are a force unto their own, who do not care about what people who commute undergo through. They have strange systems when it comes to meters-each meter shows me a different distance for the same stretch of road that I cover each day. So should I now pay for a cumulative average, or should I quit the habit of asking meters to be run? It is a difficult question to answer.

In a new city, a new life has begun. A life without any family, with friends left far, far behind. And yet, there seems to be no sense of sadness or grief within me-only a void emotion comes up on digging deep within my own self. Why is it so? Am I an emotionless creature? Or is it that I am too practical to enjoy life? Hyderabad/Secunderabad is a strange city. The phrase oft quoted in a movie of M F Hussain suits it brilliantly, which says that सब लोग चल रहे हैं, दुनिया यहीं खड़ी है Which, roughly translated, would mean that the world is still; its the people who are in constant motion. The city has a strange sense of direection to it. I often feel lost in the endless number of people walkin around me, all with a sense o fpurpose, while I have nothing on my mind except that I need to reach work on time. So many people, so many hues and colours to them; and yet, to me it seems a dimly lit city when one sees it from the prism of the rainbow's colours. Everybody is in monochromes-I ne

The violin strains softly into the night Wailing out emotions its player into it has infused The bow rubs across the strings held upright Sometimes slow, sometimes fast the notes effuse As we slowly try to hear out this ghostly night What does he play, we do not know anything But for the fact that the notes that he raises from the else dead strings Hit my conscience to the deepest core Pointing out within myself, chinks in the image I present afore The moon, it seems, hangs over us, frozen as it stands in its place Spellbound as though it is, netted in the fine mesh of the way the notes have been weaved together Mesmerizing us, making each one of us rooted in their allotted place To the very core these delicate threads of notes whip me As pain surfaces in my eyes as tears, and I wipe them away Even as the notes of the violin makes the bad in me shiver violently And I sit transfixed to my chair, the violin trapping me in its way Time stands witness to this encore, failing to seep throug