मंज़िल

 क्या होगा जो मंज़िल पे पहुँच गिर जाओगे ?

अपनी मेहनत का कुछ भी नहीं पाओगे l

गुज़र जायेगा परीक्षा का समय 

ऐसे भी , वैसे भी 

जो अपनी जान लगाओगे

तो बाद में नहीं पछताओगे 

कौन जाने तुम क्या हो? 

तुम भी क्या जानो 

मौका मिले तो 

तुम क्या कुछ कर जाओगे 

तुम बने अपनी मेहनत के बल पर 

अडिग रखो इस विश्वास को 

खुद पर रखोगे संशय 

तो बिन ठोकर गिर जाओगे 

दुनिया तो हँसेगी ही 

ऐसे भी और वैसे भी 

तुम हारे तो तुम पर 

और जीते तो तुम संग 

क्या होगा जो मंज़िल पे पहुँच गिर जाओगे ?

अपनी मेहनत का कुछ भी नहीं पाओगे l

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Open Kitchen

Eight-year-old Suhani stopped at the kitchen door as she saw her mother cutting onions. This was not the first time, she saw her crying like this. She knew every time her mother cut the onions was not to cook something but to hide the fact that she was unhappy, dejected, and sad. She knew it was hard for her mother to face her father in this situation as he only was the reason for her sadness. He scolded her often for one thing or another and her mother went silently into the kitchen without letting her father know that she was hurt. Then everything was normal again after she came back from her kitchen,  a smile adorning her face with a hint of tears, still in her eyes. Once Suhani asked her mother angrily, "Why don't you tell papa, how much it hurts when he scolds you every now and then, whether you are at fault or not?" Her mother replied," It's no use Suhani. No one can understand a woman's heart, maybe no one wants to. Besides he doesn't like when I cry. He would be even more furious." That was once for all and she grew up with this thought engraved in her mind, often reinforced by jokes and statements uttered all around her.

While growing up, she told herself, there is no one who can understand her, and actually, there is no need to be understood by anyone.

*****

Raj and Suhani were going through a rocky patch in their marriage. They got married two years ago, Raj drawn to Suhani's non-melodramatic nature and Suhani loved Raj, as he made her laugh. They recently shifted to this small rented accommodation to save money to pay for their flat. Of late, Raj was becoming quite restless. He simply couldn't understand her weird habits. He hated it when after vehemently denying his ideas, she would just get up and go into the kitchen, getting herself busy in cooking something. "Why does she have to replace her emotions with a plate of pakoras? Why cann't we have a normal converstion?" He was getting insane, with these thoughts buzzing in his head.

As for Suhani, she never felt at peace in this flat. She knew this was the only one they could afford in their budget, but she felt deep in her heart that something was not quite right about this flat and then it happened.

One heated argument. As usual, she went into the kitchen and started cutting the onions. With the kitchen wall gone, Raj observed her from the sofa and couldn't resist himself. Instinctively, he got up and went to her. He asked: "What are you doing?" 

She was startled and actually got ashamed that Raj had caught her crying. A quick thought flashed in her mind that, as she was cutting onions, she could escape Raj's scrutinizing eyes. Maybe her cover isn't yet blown away. This thought vanished with the speed it flashed. At that very instant she realized that the kitchen wall was missing. So this, the concept of the open kitchen, was bothering her about this flat. That's why she didn't like this house. She had no privacy...to cry, to vent out her feelings. 

She had never expected, what happened next. 

Raj embraced her lightly, holding her shoulders he placed a light kiss on her forehead and said, "Don't take so much stress, or your little head would burst. I didn't know you would be so upset with this idea. What do you think we should do?" 

She shared her idea of taking a loan rather than selling off her ornaments for the down payment. He really liked it. He asked her to prepare some tea as well and picked up his phone to call someone.

This was kind of lightning in the dark. Suhani realized that each husband-wife relationship does not need to be the same. It was the open kitchen that opened the doors of honest communication between them. She understood that it is very important to let him know how she feels rather than hiding her feelings, anger and frustration behind pakora plates, like her mother always did. 

She called out from the kitchen, "Raj, tea is ready and tell the builder, I want an open kitchen in our apartment."

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वो शांत सी बहने वाली नदी

 वो शांत सी बहने वाली नदी 

जब पत्थरों से टकरा जाती है

गिरती है आसमानों से तो

धरती को भेद जाती है 

झरना बन कर गिरती नदी 

अपना नया रूप दिखाती है

बंधन में जो न ये बंधना चाहे 

बांधों  को तोड़ जाती है 

जब लेती है बाढ़  का रूप 

सब ध्वस्त कर जाती है

अमृत बन कर प्यास बुझाने वाली

सारी बस्ती को लील जाती है 

वो शांत सी बहने वाली नदी 

जहां रुक जाए  धारा - प्रवाह 

घूम-घूम गोल भंवर बनाती है

कुछ हिस्से यूँ ठहरते हैं 

खुद को हरा रंग दे जाती है 

वो शांत सी बहने वाली नदी 

जब पत्थरों से टकरा जाती है

थोड़ी-सी रुक जाती है

थोड़ी आगे बढ़ जाती है 

 

वो शांत सी बहने वाली नदी 

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A new lease of life

When

I thought 

it was all over,

It started 

all over again.

I thought you were 

going to leave me.

But you clung to me

more passionately,

more forcefully.

I had already started

to shake you off.

But you came back to me

giving me a new perception,

of yourself and mine too.

With a brush with death,

Life, you have become

more meaningful,

more precious,

more giving.

And I take it all

with gratitude to 

The Almighty,

who sanctioned me 

A new lease of life.

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THE TOASTER

It was going to be the first day of the office after she had shifted to the
new locality.The eternal question facing the ever running modern
human race which always got late in some way or the other,
faced her too.

 THE BREAKFAST! 

As she rummaged through the blessings of her old aunt, in the carton,
she encountered a number of things as old as the aunt herself.
She raised her hands in exasperation and bent on her knees to look for
something that would solve the problem at hand.

“Oh, it's a Toaster.”

She exclaimed and started observing the black thing closely.
She jolted it above her head, near her ear, to hear for any possible
noises.No noise? It seemed impossible. But having hardly any time to
lose in superficial investigation, it was time to put the only hope to test.
She plugged it in, put the bread inside and slid the button down. 

“Whoa!” 

The red light flashed! But then went out...as she released the button.
She tried again , yet again ....another time... but, the Toaster refused
to understand her situation.
Just then she noticed that the bread got done.
She understood this was the only way to handle it.
As she stood there, pressing the button with one hand and feeling
useless not being able to do anything else, the door-bell rang.
She released the button reluctantly and went to answer the door.
As she peeped through the ‘eye', she noticed the two girls from the
nearby refugee camp, standing side by side with a placard in hand.
They had been to the building several times. She always felt that
she resembled them in some way and liked to talk to them as they came
to ask for donations in kind and cash.
As she was to leave for office in the next thirty minutes,
she grabbed a 50 rupee note and held it out through the door .
That day, a small boy was accompanying the girls.
His smile mesmerized her and at the same time a sharp awareness
of loss struck her. She saw her pain get reflected in the boy's eyes.
As she was closing the door, the boy raised his hand a little and
showed her an old rusted spring as if sharing a secret with her.
She smiled back holding the door. He placed it in her hand. 

Once back in the kitchen, she resumed making toasts,
putting the spring on the table. 

Just then an idea struck her and she tried to clamp the button
with the old spring. 

It worked! She smiled to herself thinking,

“They are right..... Two negatives make a positive.”

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