तलाश

सागर किनारे
रेत की नम भूमि पर
नंगे पाँव चलते, शंख बीनते, घरोंदे बनाते,
चला जाता हूँ मैं,
मैं उस क्षितिझ की खोज में, जो शायद ही मुझे कभी छू पायेगा,
या मैं उसे पा लूँगा, हाथ बढाकर,
हाँ, इससे ज्यादा मैं क्या कर सकता हूँ.
ज़िन्दगी के हर पड़ाव पर रुकता रहा हूँ,
कभी थका, कभी किसी का हाथ थामा, पकड़ा
कुछ दूर जाकर छोड़ दिया...
पर ख़त्म न हुई मेरी तलाश
क्या कभी बुझेगी ये प्यास?
शायद मेरे जाने के बाद !

माँ

माँ को समर्पित दो रचनाए....

बेसन की सोंधी रोटी पर-निदा फ़ाज़ली

बेसन की सोंधी रोटी पर
खट्टी चटनी जैसी माँ
याद आती है चौका-बासन
चिमटा फुकनी जैसी माँ
बाँस की खुर्री खाट के ऊपर
हर आहट पर कान धरे
आधी सोई आधी जागी
थकी दोपहरी जैसी माँ
चिड़ियों के चहकार में गूंजे
राधा-मोहन अली-अली
मुर्ग़े की आवाज़ से खुलती
घर की कुंडी जैसी माँ
बिवी, बेटी, बहन, पड़ोसन
थोड़ी थोड़ी सी सब में
दिन भर इक रस्सी के ऊपर
चलती नटनी जैसी माँ
बाँट के अपना चेहरा, माथा,
आँखें जाने कहाँ गई
फटे पुराने इक अलबम में
चंचल लड़की जैसी माँ

माँ के लिए सम्भव नहीं होगी मुझसे कविता-चंद्रकांत देवताले

अमर चिऊँटियों का एक दस्ता मेरे मस्तिष्क में रेंगता रहता है
माँ वहाँ हर रोज़ चुटकी-दो-चुटकी आटा डाल देती है
मैं जब भी सोचना शुरू करता हूँ
यह किस तरह होता होगा
घट्टी पीसने की आवाज़ मुझे घेरने लगती है
और मैं बैठे-बैठे दूसरी दुनिया में ऊँघने लगता हूँ
जब कोई भी माँ छिलके उतार कर
चने, मूँगफली या मटर के दाने नन्हीं हथेलियों पर रख देती है
तब मेरे हाथ अपनी जगह पर थरथराने लगते हैं
माँ ने हर चीज़ के छिलके उतारे मेरे लिए
देह, आत्मा, आग और पानी तक के छिलके उतारे
और मुझे कभी भूखा नहीं सोने दिया
मैंने धरती पर कविता लिखी है
चन्द्रमा को गिटार में बदला है
समुद्र को शेर की तरह आकाश के पिंजरे में खड़ा कर दिया
सूरज पर कभी भी कविता लिख दूँगा
माँ पर नहीं लिख सकता कविता !

उड़ जायेगा हंस अकेला

उड़ जायेगा उड़ जायेगा
उड़ जायेगा हंस अकेला
जग दर्शन का मेला
जैसे पात गिरे तरुवर पे
मिलना बहुत दुहेला
ना जाने किधर गिरेगा
ना जानूं किधर गिरेगा
गगया पवन का रेला
जब होवे उमर पूरी
जब छूटे गा हुकुम हुज़ूरी
यम् के दूत बड़े मज़बूत
यम् से पडा झमेला
दास कबीर हर के गुण गावे
वाह हर को पारण पावे
गुरु की करनी गुरु जायेगा
चेले की करनी चेला

Prayer for 2011

May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist,
your cardiologist, your gastro-enterologist, your urologist,
your proctologist, your podiatrist, your
psychiatrist, your plumber and the I.R.S.

May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and
your stocks not fall; and may your blood pressure, your
triglycerides, your cholesterol, your white blood count
and your mortgage interest not rise.

May New Year's Eve find you seated around the table,
together with your beloved family and cherished friends.
May you find the food better, the environment quieter,
the cost much cheaper, and the pleasure more fulfilling
than anything else you might ordinarily do that night

May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what
others see in you delight them. May someone love you
enough to forgive your faults, be blind to your
blemishes, and tell the world about your virtues

May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls
until you finish dinner, may the commercials on TV not
be louder than the program you have been watching,
and may your check book and your budget balance
- and include generous amounts for charity

May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a
day to your spouse, your child, your parent, your
siblings; but not to your secretary, your nurse, your
masseuse, your hairdresser or your tennis instructor

And may we live in a world at peace and with the
awareness of God's love in every sunset, every flower's
unfolding petals, every baby's smile, every lover's kiss,
and every wonderful, astonishing, miraculous beat of our heart.


(Beautiful lines sourced from net)

It happens only in India

On one hand Indian-American Nikki Hailey is making wave with her win as Governer of South Carolina, there's one interesting piece of news from a small village in Auriayya, a district of Uttar Pradesh. Bhupendra, whose first wife Sunita died two years back, let his second wife Nema Devi contest Panchayat elections in the name of his first wife, Sunita. Nema Devi not only contested but also won the polls. There is no identity proof of Nema Devi and Bhupendra says that she is Sunita but the villagers are saying otherwise.
Read for details
http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/epaper/index.php?location=30&edition=2010-11-04

World Teacher's Day

Teacher's day is celebrated on every 5th of Sept in our country but World Teacher's Day falls on 5th of October. This day was created by UNESCO to mobilize support for teachers and to ensure the positive role of teachers in building future generations. In this era of information boom, teachers have a pivotal role to play in the society. With Internet, playing negative and positive roles in the learning process, teachers have to guide, motivate and pave the way for the students to follow the path of righteousness. Teaching is considered as the most noblest of all professions and students are real-time assets of a teacher. The role of the teacher is to create an understanding and awareness among the students to be able to take the right decisions and to believe in oneself with full conviction.

Animals, who?

We have a tendency to specify days for pertinent issues and then forget about them for the whole year. 4th of October was World Animals Day which went by largely unnoticed because there was hardly any media coverage. Sample these facts sourced from International Union for Conservation of Nature:
# 17,291 species out of 47,677 so far assessed are threatened with extinction
# Of the world’s 5,490 mammals, 79 are Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, with 188 Critically Endangered, 449 Endangered and 505 Vulnerable.
# 1,895 of the planet’s 6,285 amphibians are in danger of extinction, making them the most threatened group of species known to date.
The world nature cannot support the pressure, we human beings are putting on it. Consequently, the rate of species extinction is 1,000 times higher than natural rate.
Discussing climatic changes over coffee is the latest fad and global warming is the new buzz word, but sustainable efforts towards animals, preservation of their natural habitat are required to create ecological balance. Or Tiger tiger, burning bright, in the forests of the night; would be a difficult poem for the coming generations to understand and imagine.

जानवर

जब इंसान की जान की कीमत इतनी सस्ती हो, तब उस जानवर की क्या बिसात...
बेचारा बेजुबान अपना दुखड़ा रोये भी तो किससे
उसे तो सिर्फ प्यार और सहारे की आस थी
और चाहिए था सर छुपाने के लिए जंगल
पर इंसानी लालच और भूख ने उसे कहीं का न छोड़ा
बना दिया दरिंदगी का शिकार
और ख़त्म कर दिया उसका नामो-निशाँ

Zindagi hai behne do

Turning 77 on 8th of September, Asha Bhosle's melliflous voice has enchanted millions for six decades. It still keeps me spell bound whenever I listen to some of my favorite numbers of hers. Versatile, effervescent, lively, she is the living legend and heartthrob of millions. Her dynamism is evident in her voice as well with more than 12,000 songs to her credit. The magic that her voice created with Kishore Kumar,Gulzar and R.D. Burman is unrivaled. Having personal playlist of their songs for every mood, I can listen to them for hours and hours. I wish that Ashaji goes on forever and ever.

Balibo: Bloodshed and much more

Balibo, the name fascinated me enough to watch this movie. It is based on the book Cover-Up (republished as Balibo), by Jill Jolliffe. Balibo is the name of a small town situated near Indonesian border of East Timor, which is witness to the gruesome murder of five Australian Journalist on 16 October, 1975 now known as Balibo Five. The five journalist in their 20s-Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart and Gary Cunningham from Australia’s Channel Seven; Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters from Channel Nine went to cover up the Indonesian invasion of East Timor go missing from Balibo. Roger East, veteran war correspondent with much persuasion from Jose Ramos-Horta, an aspiring politician of East Timor, goes to investigates their death after four weeks but never comes out alive from the country. The official line stated that Balibo Five were killed in a crossfire. But in 2007 Australian investigation discovered that they “were shot and/or stabbed deliberately, and not in the heat of battle” to prevent them from revealing Indonesia’s invasion.
East Timor achieved independence but not before seeing the brutal killings of 100,000 Timorese. Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1996 served from 2006 as Prime Minister of East Timor until his inauguration as President after winning the 2007 East Timorese presidential election. As a founder and former member of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN), Ramos-Horta served as the exiled spokesman for the East Timorese resistance during the years of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor (1975 to 1999)
The movie is a depiction of the risk faced by journalists all over the world in bringing out the truth. Unfortunately, the deeds are covered up or go unaccountable for some ulterior motives by government and policy makers. After 35 years of Balibo Five, journalists are still in danger. Each year more than hundred journalists are killed in different parts of the world (International News Safety Institute).

Doctors' Day-A Day of Introspection

It's the Doctors' Day today, a time to pay tribute to the entire medical profession. This is in commemoration of the birth Anniversary of Eminent Physician and Patriot Dr.B.C.Roy. First of July, 1882 happens to be the birthday of Dr B C Roy, who was born on this day in Patna. After his MBBS from Calcutta, he completed his MRCP and FRCS at London and returned to India in 1911. Thereafter, he joined the teaching staff of the Calcutta Medical College. He excelled as a physician, an educationist and as a freedom fighter, joining Mahatma Gandhi in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Dr Roy's dedication to the upliftment of Indian society led him to choose political arena where he became leader of Indian National Congress and later Chief Minister of West Bengal. After a life of work and service, the doctor passed away on July 1, 1962, on his birthday. Doctor's Day thus pays tribute to Dr B C Roy and all doctors like him, who spend their lives serving people.
Doctors are considered as Gods in our country who have the miraculous powers to heal people and not just treat them. Doctors-patient relationship is considered as a very sacred and they share a very special bond. People connect with Doctors on an emotional level and trust them blindly. This is not just an customer oriented service rendered by the physician to the patient but it goes at a more deeper and spiritual level. A Doctor cannot just be mechanical in his interaction with the patients. He has to be a part of patients life unlike fellow doctors of other more professional countries. We are an emotion driven nation and doctors are our "agony aunts" too. Unfortunately this trend is shifting more towards commercialism and patients are just considered as clients by some of the doctors. I am sure all of us have had some good or bad experience with the doctors. We still remember our friendly neighbor "Doctor Uncle" who would give chocolates every time we went to his clinic with some fake "School fever/Stomach problem". I wonder, how many of todays' kids are going to have fond remembrance of their Doctors in the future. During my research, I had the opportunity to meet some of the highly "professional" and very few "not-so-professional" doctors. Unfortunately, I was dismayed to see some of the doctors lacking common courtesy in one of the premier institutes of the country. It does not take much to talk nicely with someone specially when that someone considers you next to God. Some doctors don't have skills to communicate bad news to their patients. This incident happened with one of my close relative who was told blankly on her face that she has cancer. The way private hospitals treat poor patients leaves nothing to say. My granny was kept in ICU of private hospitals way after she was no more, just for the fat bill. Some doctors consider it their insult, if patient ask them about the causes of the diseases or the line of treatment.
The Doctors have lost their basic communication skills in their run for professionalism. A Doctor must be a skilled communicator and persuader. Patients would listen and follow each and every advice of the Doctor, if he is able to touch their heart. So, it is mandatory to incorporate a basic course in communication skills for medical students along with the studies.