Gehraai

What matters more in life? Is it sheer height, or is it depth? Without any exception, every living soul craves for chimeric heights, sacrificing much more that he can ever gain. You might be lucky if you haven't realized this yet, for ignorance of course is bliss. Inspired by Atalji's masterpiece, Oonchai, the following is my take on Gehraai.

Jeevan ke uddeshya mein gehraai hai,
Prakriti ke satya mein gehraai hai,
Brahmaand ka anth hi gehraai hai,
Vidya ki shikhar hi gehraai hai.
Maanavjaati ko aaj chhichlaapan nahin, gehraai chahiye.

Woh gehraai jo jheel sareekhi
aankhon mein ho, maasoomiyat ke roop mein.
Woh gehraai jo kisi ke
rishton mein ho, pavitrata ke roop mein.

Jab bhakti mein ho who gehraai,
to milti hai apporva shanti,
Jab tap mein ho woh gehraai,
to deti hai aparajeya shakti.

Nihit ho jab wo jeevan mein,
to ban jaati hai ek uddeshya.
Nihit ho jab wo baadalon mein,
to ban jaati hai oonchai.

Yahi gehraai shabdon ko,
arthapoorna kar de.
Aur yahi gehraai us arth ko,
goodhta aur satyata se bhar de.

Kaash, yahi gehraai hoti vichaaron mein,
ki hum samajh paate,
kya satya hai,
aur kya drishti ka bhram.

Yahi gehraai hoti vishwaas mein,
ki hum dekh paate,
manzil ab bhi paas hai,
aur waqt hai mera humdum.

Yahi gehraai hoti kartavyon mein,
ki hum anubhav karte,
ki zindagi ek lakshya hai,
jidhar badh rahe hain hamaare kadam.

Aavashyakta hai humein gehraai ki,
kyonki gehraai hai ek nayaa aayaam,
jiski paridhi mein hai mahaanta aur oonchai.

Aur saagar ki gehraai hi to, motiyon ki khaan hai,
Man hi gehraai hi to, ishwar ka pawan dham hai.

Composed on 15/09/01

City Abandoned

It was dawn, when I arrived, but seemed as if it had been dusk since eternity. I left behind images of modern, promising India captured through two months of my odyssey. And here I was, at the end of the world, at the end of time.

It was a city abandoned by civilization, or by life, enravished by destruction altogether. A place where nature had experimented all her weapons, and abandoned for slow decay. There had been a clandestine alliance between the creator and the destroyer. The trees bent down to touch the ground, and the bushes raced up to the sky. The roads were bordered with dense vegetation, which were crusading for their lost territory,brandishing their swords in the sky, marching slowly ahead from both sides, narrowing down the space. A multitude of terrorising war cries could be heard, those of the insects. Amidst the towering vegetation, some constructions could be seen, barely though. But they were ruins, all of them. The walls crumbled from some corner, or were sustained perilously by some strange balance, in a strange equilibrium. Some odd stream of water flowed from some crevice. Someone said, water is life. And there's life, scampering for shelter, chased away by death. The walls have been painted black and gray by a huge paintbrush. It's wet at some places, in shades of dark green. A thin trunk, some twig like branches and a few leaves are waiting outside a window, at the sill, waiting cautiously for their opportunity to get inside. They indeed look like worthy occupants.

It didn't quite look like the place I was dwelling in for three years, and niether did it look like I could continue for another. Something had changed. Time had lost it's pace, it's moving very slowly, drowsily. This might explain why everything appears so lazy. The air was dense, even breathing and walking met with a fierce invisible resistance. It seemed as if I was at the bottom of a gelatinous ocean. It was nature's diktat: Stay where you are. And so did every single leaf on every single tree, and every single bird on every single branch. I looked above. There was a thick black blanket as far and as high as I could see. And it was not moving, it lurked, as if captured in a picture frame. We had been ostracized by civilization, lest, the plague should bare it's fangs. The last standing human victims carrried the scars all over their body, soul and spirit. Dusty, torn attires; black, greasy faces, and eyes begging for mercy. They moved around languidly with half open eyelids. What's that which was competing for their consciousness? Just sleep, or death? No one dared to talk, or cared to. The silence was very uneasy. An odd sonic disturbance was like a pebble thrown in stagnant water. It reverberated slowly, for long. After eons of domination, finally, mankind has surrendered to submissiveness.

Hail the supreme power!!

Maut

Following is an account of my speculations on death, when I perceived death as a distance to be traversed, or a time to be spent, between two lives, or may be between two consecutive heartbeats.


Kshan bhar ki peeda,
ya ek jeevankal ki avdhi?
Ek pal ki moorcha,
ya varshon ka intezar?
Ek vaanchit lakshya,
ya ek bhayasvi prahaar?
Agrasar ho raha kaarvaan, aviram,
aur badh rahi hain, dooriyaan.
Aatm aur sansaar ke beech ki dooriyaan,
ek hi pal ke faasale mein,
zindagi aur maut ke beech ki dooriyaan.

Dooriyaan,
jism aur rooh ke darmyaan dooriyaan,
jab raktapipaasu ho jaaye anal,
aur mitti ka rakh se ho milan,
dhoomra ke saath saath,
praan ki manzil ho anant disha,
jab ek chhoti si urja ka,
shail shakti se ho saamna...
Bas ek chhoti si agni pariksha,
kahin viyog ashru ki boondein,
kahin par mukti ki bhiksha.
Kyonki.... badh rahi hain dooiyaan,
Sparsh aur ehsaas ke beech ki dooriyaan.

Dooriyaan,
Bandhan aur mukti ke beech ki dooriyaan,
Jab aatm ne tod daala moh paash,
jeevan ke mool uttardaaitva ka jab ho abhaas,
antarchakshu ki nidra jab sampann ho,
param-jyoti ki tapasya jab bhang ho,
nashvar shareer ki shakti jab ksheen ho,
jeevandaayi saahas-sroat jab jeerna ho
to tay hoti hain dooriyaan,
Karma aur moksha ke beech ki dooriyaan.

Jeevatma ko karti atma se prithak,
mangalmayee mrityu tandav ka aadhaar,
pranimaatra ki seemaaon ka parichayak,
shushka jeevan-vriksha par vajra prahaar,
Ek atal satya ko sthapit karti,
dharaa aur gagan ke beech ki dooriyaan,
Ek hi pal ke faasale mein,
do dhadkanon ke beech ki dooriyaan.

Talaash

Samay ki pathreeli, kanteeli raahon mein,
bhatakti manodashaaon mein,
smrition mein, asmanjas ki chaaon mein,
karaahati ummeedon ki aahon mein,
zindagi ki baahon mein,
naakamiyon ki ullason mein,
dhairya ki ghatati hui saanson mein,
bhavnaon aur manshaon ke bhanvar mein,
tham chuke zindagi ke safar mein,
kahin mera astitva kho gaya hai,
Is sarvavyapi andhakar mein, kahin so gaya hai.

Mrityu jaisi is andhakar mein,
is sannate mein,
khamosh cheekhon ki chitkaar mein,
deep koi pradeept ho, mujhe iski aas hai,
Mujhe.... apni talaash hai.