भूले-भटके ही सही

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पद्मश्री गोपाल दास 'नीरज' 

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जागते रहिये, ज़माने को जगाते रहिये 

मेरी आवाज़ में आवाज़ मिलाते रहिये । 

हमने कल रात जलाये थे जो चौपालों पर 

उन अलावों की ज़रा राख हटाते रहिये । 

नींद आती है तो तकदीर भी सो जाती है 

कोई अब सो न सके गीत वो गाते रहिये । 

भूखा सोने को भी तैयार है ये देश मेरा 

आप परियों के उसे ख्वाब दिखाते रहिये । 

वक़्त के हाथ में पत्थर भी हैं और फूल भी हैं 

चाह फूलों की है तो चोट भी खाते रहिये । 

जाने कब आखिरी ख़त आपके नाम आ जायें 

आपसे जितना बने प्यार लुटाते रहिये । 

रोती आँखें उन्हें मुमकिन है कि याद आ जायें
हाथ हत्यारों के अश्कों से धुलाते रहिये । 

प्यार भी आपको हो जाएगा रफ्ता-रफ्ता 

दिल नहीं मिलता तो नज़रें ही मिलाते रहिये । 

क्या अजब है कि समय फिर से मिला दे हमको 

टूट जाने पे भी रिश्तों को निभाते रहिये । 

आपसे एक गुज़ारिश है यही नीरज की 

भूले-भटके ही सही घर मेरे आते रहिये । 

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Reflections II : That's The Way It Is

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It was a small town. Not so small that one would be expected to know everyone else in the town. But yet, small enough that one would know names of the neighbours at least.

Here lived a young boy, 5 or 6 years of age. He had dreamy eyes and was a good student. He was the kind who would come home from school and want to finish the homework before eating lunch or watching TV or going out to play cricket. Not the kind who liked to sleep in the day, the little guy was unusually perceptive & philosophical for his age.

One fine day, it was a pleasant summer afternoon. The boy was in his lawn when he noticed a herd of buffaloes passing by on the street. He also noticed that the cowboy had a cane in his hand, which he used to whip the trailing animals whenever he wanted the herd to speed up. This would cause them to nudge the ones ahead of them to speed up.

He ran inside to his mother and described his observation to her. Then he asked her whether it was fair of the cowboy to punish the ones near him, when it was actually the ones at a distance who were causing the whole situation. Astonished at first with such a question coming from such a young boy, she told him that this was the way of the world. You either learn this or you fail.

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Contemplate, Deliberate, Procrastinate

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When I woke up today, after some moments of unsure deliberation about what I wanted to do today, I thought about yesterday. How I had laid yet another day to waste. Accomplishments - zilch. Progress - nada. Achievements - zero.

Last night's dinner at Adiga's (Banerghatta Road) and ice-cream at Naturals did not manage to satiate me at all. And I don't understand the fascination everybody has with them. I found them to be just OK. Not bad, not that good either.

I decided I need some change on my Facebook profile. After a few minutes of contemplation, I resolved to change the cover & profile pics. Going through old folders of pictures, I found more than a few that made me laugh at the hopeless buffoon that I am in front of a camera. Finally, I settled for a recent enough vague looking one for the profile pic and an old one with some good old college buddies for the cover.

Meanwhile one of my best buds, who is currently toiling himself over in Vietnam, pinged me. One of the few guys I share everything with, he knows what goes on in my mind even before it does. Talking to him led me to a sombre mood.

When I logged on to Youtube to find and play some of the golden oldies, I found out that if you search for Yahudi's "ye mera deewanapan hai..", you get the pole dance video from Sunny Leone on 'Bigg Boss 5' as the top result. I wondered why is that after watching the clip once. It wasn't a great performance and it wasn't such a great rendition of the song either. That singer has butchered a Mukesh classic. And if it were up to me, she would rot in hell for this.

Realizing that my mood is about to betray me once more, I have lined up a few other songs from Mukesh, Hemant Kumar & Mahendra Kapoor. I know that more than half the day is gone again. And I am on my way to almost repeat yesterday. But then, I find it intriguing how these old sad songs lift me up so very easily. I think about her and a faint smile appears to win me over.

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Wicked Game

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You know the song from Chris Isaak. If you don't, you must check it out.

This is by far the most sensuous song and has one of the most sexy videos ever. That this statement can be made after 20 years of the song's release is a testament to itself.

But the thing that bothers me is why this Kolaveri di?

Why are these wicked games so commonplace anyway?

I mean, this is an everlasting worldwide phenomenon. One can find plenty of such references in works of writers, past and present. Many would know something that happened with that guy or girl they once knew.

And I don't buy the skewed ratio argument in this context. Everybody plays games. Though the proficiency of a player may have a correlation with their gender.

It is so confusing. How does one know that the person talking to them right now is not playing them. If it is a normal day, maybe one could read the expressions or the tone or the likes. But we all believe only what we'd like to anyway. And in matters of the heart, the road is slippery more often than not. And the perils associated are often too great to take a chance. That could be a relative concept. But a good number of people take those chances anyway.

Sometimes, when I observe how happy these newly married people seem to be, I wonder whether it is an image they are trying to project or are they really truly that happy. I believe everybody is happy in the short term at least anyway. Sometimes, when one knows the person well, they can ascertain this for themselves. But, generally speaking, it is better to just mind one's own business.

But then again, what exactly is one's business? To play these wicked games, or to let destiny play its wicked games.

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Stuck In A Moment

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.... And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while ....

Yes Bruno, you are damn right.

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