Meri parchai dhoondhta hoon inme

उन ऊँचाइयों से देखा है
ज़िंदगी को उड़ते हुए
हवाओं का रुख़ जिस तरफ़ था
उसी रुख़ बहते हुए

सूरज को ढलते देखा है
डूबते क्षितिज को रंगते हुए
जैसा रंग खुद का था
उसी रंग में घुलते हुए

पानी को बहते देखा है
ठहरे पथरों पर छलाँगे भरते हुए
जिस तरफ़ उसका अंत था
उसी समंदर की तरफ़ मदमस्त बहते हुए

रोशनी को खिड़कियों से आते देखा है
गरम और नरम बाँहें लिए
मलमल अंधेरे पर धूल की सीडी रख
चुपचाप अंधेरे कमरे में घुसते हुए

थोड़ा रंग, थोड़ी उड़ान
रोशनी और बहाव को अपनी मुट्ठी में भर
इन सब में अपने आप को देखा है
गुजरी है ज़िंदगी, इनमें अपनी परछाई ढूँढते हुए

Work in Progress

Debris strewn
Scaffoldings fixed
All preparations are in place
The sign is up for all to see
The work is in progress

The stones and shingles,
reunite in the rolling concrete
separated from their mighty father
By exploding holes, filled with fire
The work is in progress

Machines still obey
The hands that push the lever
Bucket full of concrete
Pour out into preset mould
The work is in progress

Columns rise
The beams reach out
The skeletons are shaping up
Yet devoid of life
The work is in progress

The bricks and mortar combine
Walls rise to meet the roof
in these enclosed spaces
someone one will strive to live
The work is in progress

The plaster and paint
Hide the unruly bricks
pipes and cables, form the veins
the empty space light up bright
The work is in progress

The cubicles of existence pile up
Each a cauldron of another life
Doors filter the visitors
A cocooned story is being scripted
The work is in progress

The house is complete
Inhabitants fill the stark emptiness
With sounds, shapes and stories
Happiness and sorrows coexist
The work is in progress

A new foundation is dug
The blades cut through the soft skin
The wounds lay exposed
No cries of the earth is heard
The work is in progress

What are we building
What do we create
Is it a life being scripted
Or the end is in making
Either way
The work is in progress

Tree Stands Tall

Tree stands tall
where the seed fell
rooted to the ground
There lies it’s existence

Roots dig deeper
Nourishing the growing tree
Binding it to the spot
There lies it’s existence

Wind brought the seed
Rain drops buried it
Tree had no role
There lies it’s existence

Wind that brought it
Tries to take it places
Tree stays, heavily rooted
There lies it’s existence

It is rooted
Stuck at same spot
Unwilling to let go
There lies it’s existence

Birds make their nest
Bring up their offspring
The tree watches them grow
In their first flight, lies it’s existence

Travellers pause
Take refuge
Some peacefully sleep
In their peace, it finds it’s existence

Children swing on its branches
Some hide behind its trunk
Tree plays with them too
In their laughter, it finds it’s existence

It can’t move
But it can sway
In the rhythm of wind
In that song, it finds it’s existence

In the clouds there lies a castle

In the clouds
There lies a castle
Fluffy and white

With the roof of blue sky
It floats in air
Grand and light

There are rooms
in plenty
All airy and bright

The balcony extends
Over where the moon waits
Oh what a sight

You can eat as much you want
And whatever you wish
Till you satisfy your appetite

You need no booking
It’s always available
Any day, every night

Take the flight of fantasy
And as you cross the fence of reason
Your destination would be on your right

All those who believe, can check in
And for those who nurse a doubt
Unfortunately can’t board the flight

Why wait then, let’s go now
Close your eyes
Have a great flight

Through your windows of imagination
Lookout for the castle in the clouds
That’s Fluffy and white

The rock splits the river

The eternal flow

The rock splits
the river in two
Why did you do that?
The rock was asked
I am big and strong it replied
That is why!

The river flows on either side
Letting the rock be in the centre
Why did you do that?
The river was asked.
I flow eternally
That is why!

The rock won, they all cried
River sang gleefully
Rock is rooted, I flow
The rock would eventually wither
I will always remain
I never lost
That is why!

The rock will be sand
I carry to the ocean
In the ocean we merge
Where there is no rock, no river
None the winner,
And no loser
That is why!

What, Where, Why, When? Who will answer?

What is it?
Who am I?
A piece of glittering diamond
Or a wretched impure

Where am I?
Where is it?
In the arms secure
Or in a stifling trap

Why is that?
Why am I?
Alive sometime
Asleep sometimes

When did it happen?
When did I exist?
I am here
Where else would I be

What’s in store for me?
What did I ever have?
Out there, is empty
In here, it’s me

Sky in the eye

The sky I must reach
The clouds I must pierce
Sun the scorcher
lying beyond the cloud
Must look him in the eye

The moon and the stars
Hang on the dome
Keeping the world
Encased within
Maintaining the semblance of the lie

The dark space
Beyond and in between
Fills every thing
And still remains empty
But seen with the closed eye

I have traveled for so long
It’s been many lives
I am beyond the sun, moon and stars
Floating in the emptiness
But have still not reached the sky

In the empty expanse
I stop moving
I no longer seek or see
I am where I began
I see the sky in the pupil of my eye