गिरते रहना चाहिए

भागते भागते गिर गया था

थोड़ी देर लगी उठने में, थक जो गया था

साफ कुछ दिख नहीं रहा था

पलकों पे कुछ नमी सा एहसास था

कुछ कह भी नहीं पाया

गला जो था भर आया

उतने में ही दोस्तों ने भी हाथ खींच लिए

अपनों ने भी मौका देख तानें दो कस दिए

मैंने भी मौके की नज़ाकत समझी

मरहम पट्टी करी, चोट गहरी थी

देखते देखते वक्त बहुत निकला

पर कौन सच में है अपना, पता चला

कुछ दिन में फिर सफर पे निकल पड़ेंगे

मंज़िल मिले ना मिले, थोड़े अपने ढूंढ लेंगे

मेरी समाया

जिस मोड़ भी मुड़ना, जिस तरफ़ भी बढ़ना

मेरी बच्ची, तुम मुझसे बेहतर बनना 

जो भी मन करे वैसी तुम बनना 

जो भी सोचो वैसा ही करना,

मेरी परी, तुम मुझसे बेहतर बनना

मेरी एक बात हमेशा याद रखना

दिमाग़ से कभी कभी, ज़्यादा दिल से सोचना

और इसमें भी मेरी गुड़िया, मुझसे बेहतर बनना 

आख़िर में,

हर कोई अपने लिए कुछ कर जाएगा,

तुम अच्छी इन्सान बनना,

माँग कोई कुछ ले,

हो सके तो मना मत करना,

और जितना हो सके,

उससे थोड़ा ज़्यादा ही देना,

मेरी समाया, तुम ज़रूर मुझसे बेहतर बनना

That one hour

Very recently I have started travelling to work by Metro. It takes me exactly an hour to reach office from the metro opposite my house. For that one hour I make sure to put my beloved iPhone inside my backpack because I know how painful it is to loose a costly phone, lost one a couple of years ago in the same metro, sigh!

Anyway, this piece is not to tell you how much I fear of losing my phone but I wanted to talk about that one hour without a communication device.

It is just an hour but in that one hour I feel I have got my eyes, ears & most importantly my senses back (did I loose them somewhere). We are so much lost in our phones and don’t realize how much we get cut off from the world around us. The idea is not to preach you that how beautiful this world is without mobile phones and blah blah…but it’s really amazing how in the same coach as you are traveling, you come across so many mixed emotions, behaviors and personalities that have the power to involve your senses without you even realizing.

I could hear somebody telling a stranger in his broken English language that he works in the Platinum credit card department of some leading bank and I could sense pride in his words. He was very happy, today he completed his 3 months in the bank. He even exchanged his visiting card with a promise to call that co passenger some time soon, maybe he just sold a credit card.

I saw a very old Sardar Ji rushing to get a seat in metro which actually belongs to him, real irony is this that he doesn’t get it obviously and had to request a young man who jumped there seconds earlier, to vacate it for him. That man did vacate the seat but instead of seeing victory in his eyes I saw defeat in them. May be he was already more tired in his life than that old man.

There are no standards, no classes, no biasness (apart from the gender biasness for obvious reasons) in the metro. In the rush hour, everybody is so closely standing to each other without any complaints and that same person shies away from being that close with his own brother, sister, wife, mother, father on weekend family outings.

All those who could afford to buy a multimedia phone are glued to their screens watching movie, chatting, selecting songs, reading eBooks & are just clueless about who is sitting next or standing in front of them. It’s no different in other cities or countries, its ok, I don’t even want to change this, why should I care, after all I should be thankful that I saved my mobile phone from my notorious fellow travelers.

These experiences are not such that I remember them for my entire life but also the question is, what do I gain by observing my surrounding in that one hour, I don’t really know but what I know is that I haven’t lost anything in that hour except my worries.

One learning I want to live by my whole life

I should not react in life.

I should always respond.

Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of.

A beautiful way to understand LIFE.

Person who is HAPPY is not because Everything is RIGHT in his Life.

He is HAPPY because his Attitude towards Everything in his Life is Right.

कागज़, मेरे दोस्त

कागज़  तुम कभी कहीं मत जाना,

जब भी मैं खुश रहूँगा तुम्हारे पास  ही आऊंगा,

मेरा प्यार, मेरी कहानियाँ, मेरे सुख-दुःख सबको सच माना तुमने,

कागज़  तुम कभी कहीं मत जाना,

जब भी मैं उदास रहूँगा तुम्हारे पास  ही आऊंगा,

मेरी बातें, मेरी शिकायतें, मेरा गुस्सा, सब सुना तुमने,

ना कोई शिकन, ना कोई परेशानी,

हर बार एक नया पन्ना, एक नयी कहानी,

मुझे याद नहीं पड़ता की तुम्हे कभी कोई रिश्वत दी हो ये सब सहने के लिए,

या माँ ने कहा था तुम्हे हमेशा मेरे साथ रहने के लिए,

हर आंसू मेरा सोख लिया, खुद गीला हो तू फ़ट गया,

कहाँ मिलेगा ऐसा दोस्त, मेरी हर ख़ुशी मेरा हर ग़म अपने अंदर समां लिया,

कागज़ मेरे दोस्त तुम कभी मुझे छोड़ कहीं मत जाना 

Caricature - finishing by calligraphy pen

What was I searching for?

The happiness was all around while I have been busy fighting with all freaky stuff inside me

In my mind deep within I was losing out, while someone there was trying hard to build it up for me

I just had to look at you if only I realised earlier, while this world was pulling me down

I should have known about your presence, while I was fighting for my own existence

And, there you were sitting quitely smiling at me, while I was searching for my life

You were with me all the time, day & night, good & bad, crazy & shitty, 

Making those funny faces just to bring a smile on my tensed face

I wanted to stretch my lips but it will take a while to believe that you are still around

And have not lost patience, while I was failing at your expectations

Sorry is I think what I have at the moment, and a promise to make us happy with whatever it takes

For it has been just 3 and many more to be spent enjoying, laughing, fighting and being together, whatever it takes

"I" defined

Yes I am an average guy, so, I will be at your mercy all the time
Yes I take my time to understand things around, so, you will deprive me of what's mine

Yes I made a mistake, so, you will kill me
Yes I am an emotional (fool), so, here is my butt, please feel free

Yes I am nervous at times, so, you have the right to intrude in all my moments
Yes I don't have a super duper personality, so, I am a subject of condolence

Yes I don't lick & please, so, I am not the one you were looking for
Yes I am a mild procrastinator, so, you have a reason to suspect me for everything on the floor

Yes I resist force, yes I am not a follower, yes I have a brain of my own, yes I have my own style, so, what is it that you gonna do? Nothing, just nothing..

Hear me out, I am a kind of person who is average because I chose to be,
I have friends who are like me & I like it that way so just let it be,

I take my time at everything because doing it quick doesn't mean doing it right
I will continue to make mistakes because one who makes no mistake makes nothing at site

I am an emotional fool, that proves I have got emotions and by the way it makes me more responsible,
I am nervous sometimes, because I am normal (Being nervous is a normal reaction that all humans have to challenging events)

I don't want to have that stupid personality (Type A), because Friedman once said it's a disease and thou shall die with heart attack than falling into a well
I don't lick and please because I have a conscious and you can go to hell

I don't procrastinate lady, I avoid anxiety (good for my health)
I am good and I am one of its kind, you can't see, oh sorry, your obsession made you blind


Somebody please help her get a life!!

Some words that inspires me to keep moving forward

Learned from movie Rocky Balboa (2006)

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!"

Learned from movie The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.

I will keep growing this list, will keep putting up my learning here..

Caricatures I made in my free time

Ye waqt ab wo na raha

माहौल कितना अजीब हो गया, इंसान कितना बदल गया,

फेसबुक वाली नजदीकीयों में भी मेरा दोस्त मुझसे कितना दूर हो गया,

आज एंग्री बर्ड्स का लेवल पार करना एक एंग्री दोस्त को मनाने से ज्यादा ज़रूरी हो गया,

वक़्त कैसा कमीना हो गया, रिश्ते निभाना कितना सरदर्द हो गया,

ट्विटर वाले followers के ज़माने में भी दोस्तों ने follow करना छोड़ दिया,

कल तक बाइक पर चिपक कर बैठने वाली गर्लफ्रेंड का आज कार में भी BBM करना कितना इम्पोर्टेन्ट हो गया,

यूँ ही कुछ साल हो गए साथ भुट्टा खाए, 

एक अरसा हो गया कुछ फुर्सत के पल बिताये,

ये ज़माना कितना बेशर्म हो गया, 

ये सोशल नेटवर्किंग हर ख़ुशी टालने का बहाना हो गया,

iPhone का मॉडल बदलता गया, 

ऑफिस का अधूरा काम पूरा करने के लिए थोड़े और टॉक टाइम का सहारा मिल गया,

घर तो जैसे सिर्फ रात गुज़ारने का अड्डा हो गया, 

वो सुन्दर चार दिवारी का सपना सिर्फ ब्रांडेड फर्नीचर और एलसीडी से पूरा हो गया,

मेरा बर्थडे अब गूगल याद दिलाता है, 

मैं तो थक कर सो रहा होता हूँ जब कोई बिछड़ा दोस्त 12 बजे फ़ोन मिलाता है,

कोई मेरी वो साइकिल लौटा दो जिससे मैं वक़्त में पीछे चला जाऊं, 

पर क्या करूँ एक और दिन रोबोट सा बिताना है ताकि इस महंगी कार की EMI चूका पाऊं