Notes to self for 2016

2016 is just about to knock our doors and before you end up making resolutions that you never stick to, have a look at the notes that you need to make note of for the coming year.

1.      You are going to enjoy no matter what – Whether you are 9,19,29 or 49 the age is just a number. Make a note to yourself that no matter what life brings on you are going to enjoy it to the fullest this year. Eat that red velvet cake that you always wanted to, visit an amusement park every month or simply soak in hot water for longer – Do what makes you feel good.

2.      You are going to love yourself – Enough of cribbing about the weight that you have put on, or the broader jaw that you have, or the gap in your teeth. This year and onwards, you are going to love yourself as you love the people in your life. Promise that you will make yourself comfortable in your own company.

3.      You will stop procrastination – A little lazier attitude is carried by each one us, but you have to keep it aside and stop procrastinating the things that you consider important. If you have been delaying your visit to regular medical check up or even if your schedule with the gym instructor, stop procrastination and start acting upon it like a boss!

4.      You are uniquely beautiful – She bought a dress but you lack funds to buy it and that is making you feel miserable about yourself? JUST STOP. Make a note that you need to refrain yourself from worrying about petty issues. Your existence has a greater meaning to your life and something as petty as someone else cannot make you feel miserable in any given life.

5.      You are going to work super hard – This one promise should not face the wear and tear of time. You need to work hard and it makes no difference which field are you choosing and where are you leading yourself. This year and onwards, you have to note that your persisting efforts are vital for the betterment of your life so, do not overlook upon it.

6.      You will hold on to people till they hold on to you – It is definitely important to value your friends, family and people around you but often holding onto people leaves us with nothing more than scars, wounds and bruises. Hence, promise yourself that you will welcome people warmly but if they want to leave, you will not let them hurt you in the process. After all, your most valuable asset is you and you can’t afford to lose it.

I wish you a brilliantly amazing new year, keep these points in mind whenever you feel like things are slipping off make a note to yourself that You can’t give up!

Zindagi k kuch pal

Zindagi k kuch lamhe aise b hotae hai
Jub hum bus panne palat dete hai,
Na rukte hai do pal,
Bus kahi Jane Ki hod mein rehte hai..

Zindagi k kuch lamhe aise b hotae hai..

Tanha katne wali zindagi k hathon,
Kuch lamho ko u hi chhod dete hai,
Kehte sunte toh sub hai per
Fir bhi, aage guzar jaate hai..

Zindagi k kuch lamhe aise b hote hai

Fir you hi kitab fir kholte samay,
Taqt pe pade kagaz ko Dekhte hai..
Tham jaati hai zindagi wahipe,
Hum bhi thoda dum bhar lete hai..

Zindagi k kuch lamhe aise b hote hai.

Kubhi sikudkr, kahi simatkr zindagi se nazar bachate hai,
Na kehe pate kuch aur na hum sunna kuch chahte hai..
Panne kai fatkr gum aur kai naye jud jaate hai..

Zindagi k kuch lamhe aise b hote hai

दास्तान

आंसू जो है बह रहे,

चाहू में उन्हें रोक्लू,

मुस्कराहट तो है सजी

दिल चाहता है की रोलु

उलझनों के बीच है ज़िन्दगी,

टूटी कश्ती किनारे खोजती सी,

यो तो है उलझाने बड़ी

पर अब भी कश्ती में दम है बांकी.

ज़िन्दगी में है उलझाने ऐसी,

जिन्हें सुलझाने का वक़्त नहीं,

कदम तोह है ज़ख़्मी मेरे मगर,

सहलाने को हमदर्द नहीं

लहरों के पर्वतों को देखकर,

डगमगाती है नईया अपनी,

फिर कोने में सितारे को देखकर,

लगता है कोई साथ है सार्थी.

तख़्त पर है स्याही बिछी,

और अल्फाज़ बेख़ौफ़ बह रहे,

गीले कागज़ की दास्तान है मगर,

आंसू न है कुछ कह रहे.

ज़िन्दगी में है उलझाने ऐसी,

जिन्हें सुलझाने का वक़्त नहीं.

कदम तोह है ज़ख़्मी मेरे 

मगर, सहलाने को हमदर्द नही

image source - http://7-themes.com/data_images/out/42/6912216-boat-silhouette-sunset.jpg

IN THE LAP OF MUMBAI

I shifted to the outskirts of this city back in 2002, I was a kid unaware of the miracle that this city welcomes us with. It has been almost 13 years, ever since my first encounter with the Mumbai and its life. In the span of these 13 years, I have seen Mumbai being flooded, bomb blasted, halted and bouncing back with the same spirit. While I carefully travel back, across the years that I have been spending in this city, I came across a belief that Mumbai is not merely a city.

It would be tough for me to zero down at a level and find a word for Mumbai but all that I can say as of now is that Mumbai is not just a city.. it is much broader, deeper and higher in all the given perspectives. What fascinates me about Mumbai is that this city belongs to no one. No religion, no language, no community, no perspective, no businessperson, no industry, no society, no class, no gender, no rich, no poor can claim that Mumbai is mine and yet, this city resides in everybody’s heart.

Being a person who lives in the outskirts of city, Mumbai definitely fuels in my desires. For me Mumbai is aspiration that beholds my desires impeccably. Standing at the door of local train, that endlessly takes humanly wants and desires in the heart of the city, Mumbai fills me up with a warm strength of ambition. Like million migrates who travel in the city with certain aims in their sight, I look upon Mumbai as my wish granting pot, which never grants you a wish unless and until you earn it through your dedicated efforts. Bangalore, Lucknow, Delhi, and all the other cities might be civilised and beautiful but Mumbai... is alive.

Mumbai is the place where at one side you would see a BMW crossing at the signal and on the same side, the same BMW would be knocked by hunger driven, malnourished humans; A place where despite of numerous differentiation of classes, you would find people carrying each other to the hospitals during emergies. Mumbai is indeed a place where a Madrasi can sit in an auto driven by a Marathi conversing in Guajrati to other Gujarati passenger. This amalgamate of cultures has made Mumbai an emotion. The air around Marine lines will narrate you stories of love, romance, heart break and loneliness, someday you might find someone sitting alone fixing their sight at the vast expanse of the see whereas a few meter ahead you might find love birds planning their future together at the shore. .

If you ask me “what is Mumbai?” then I would answer that Mumbai is all those stations that has withstood people and welcomed them from all the regions. Mumbai is all those individuals who lost themselves in the crowd, Mumbai is everything that keeps the engine burning on road, Mumbai is those tall buildings and the shanty slums around it, Mumbai is those concrete roads and potholes accompanying them.. Mumbai is the air that touches you while you are busy weaving your dreams in the local train, Mumbai is the kid who begs and studies in the night school...

Mumbai is everything and everyone that is in the city and yet it belongs to nothing, it belongs to no one.

Sense of Non sense

We cannot deny the immense power of influencing the opinions that social media has, and certainly, that is the reasons why we are supposed to be extra careful while posting something or rather anything on any digital platform, be it facebook, twitter or your private website. The point here that I am trying to make is that – whatever you put on the internet stays there, you might delete it later but it stays in the minds of people like an embossed stamp, which is tough or nearly impossible to erase.

It was yesterday morning when I came across a highly narrow minded, regressive and aggressive article posted on www.returnofking.com – 5 reasons why not to date an Indian girl. However, I somewhere expected that either the title is sarcastically designed or maybe there is an attempt to sound funny but this came out like a shock to me to read that the article was neither funny nor sarcastic, it was literal and filled with racism.

We have always believed that maybe issues like racism, lies in the minds of illiterate but it lands me in bafflement to see how an educated man with writing skills of no less quality, writes something so regressive and illogical. Not just that the five points stated were offensive, but there was an unfair generalization with the touch of absent-mindedness.

The points ranged from Indian women are unattractive, prudes and self-loathing to them being feminist and mentally ill. Not only this, the author even used words like “menu” to denote an Indian girl and added that an Indian girl has a coke can figure and ad genes. This makes me question the mental health of the writer who has attempted a clearly shabby picture of Indian women through his rearward thought process.

However, while everyone found it offensive including me, an amplified lesson came out of this particular incident. We, the young generation of the era have the power of pens in our hand which in a way talks about our freedom to express but what we consign to oblivion is the responsibility that this ‘power of expression’ brings on to us. Solely because the account on social networking site is mine, or a particular website is mine, I cannot put any random theory across in order to mislead people. Off course, I have a right to have my own set of beliefs but beliefs that are counterrevolutionary in nature, beliefs that are plainly generalization, beliefs that are not tried and tested and lastly the beliefs that are shrunken in nature should be think twice-thrice before publishing it anywhere on social media.

For those of you who still did not come across the most offensive and disgusting article that had ever posted on social media – here is the link - http://www.returnofkings.com/51395/5-reasons-why-you-should-not-date-indian-girls.

Do not criticize because it has done amply, just read, and learn about the mistake that you must never ever commit or repeat on the social media platforms.

Remember – Social media is for you but it is not yours.

Ek cup coffee

थके हुए बेजान से दिल में,

थोड़ा दम भरने के लिए. 

दिन के सपनो से नाता  जोड़,

नींद भरी निगाहो से नाता  तोड़ने के लिए,

या फिर कभी यूही 

ज़िन्दगी से होकर खफा,

जिसकी चोस्किया लेकर ही,

एक आशा सी है लौट आती,

वो हैं  पास, मैं और मेरी कॉफ़ी। 

कभी दोस्तों से यूही बातों में,

कभी बरसात के संग चंद  मीठी यादों में,

या फिर कभी कभी यू ही पन्नो के बीच उलझी ज़िन्दगी का मज़ा,

उठाया है मैंने, एक कप कॉफी  में. 

दो पल ज्यादा साथ रहने के बहाने,

कुछ न हो केहनेको फिर भी जाते लम्हों के हवाले,

अकेलेपन  में मानो  जैसे कोई सहारे,

वो है हमेशा पास,

मैं  और मेरी कॉफ़ी. 

दिन तो हैं  बदलते ही रहे हमारे,

वक़्त के पन्नें  तक पलटते रहे. 

ख़ुशी, ग़म हम भी  सब  साथ समेटकर 

 फिर कॉफ़ी के धुएं में उड़ाते रहे 

वो कॉफ़ी के कप सिर्फ प्याले न थे,

ज़िन्दगी के कुछ हिस्से भी थे।

 जिन हिस्सों को हम प्याले में मिलते रहे,

और मीठी कभी कड़वी कॉफ़ी बनाते रहे. 

लम्हे शायद न रहे अब बाकि,

आगे न रहगी साँसें न ज़िन्दगी,

पर  हाँ तमन्ना रहेगी तुम्हारे साथ 

एक कप कॉफ़ी पिनकी,

और  तमाम हिस्सों में  जोड़नेकी. 

Success secret

There ain't any recipe to success and nor there is any destined path to success, but yet the best part is that success is an achievable journey. There is no destination called success because you just can't stop once you are successful, you got to keep going, my friend.

I remember days when I lose faith and I do nothing except cribbing, but you know sometimes in this process we unnecessaily drain down the energy that we can actually channelise at a focal point and turn it into a milestone. I have faced defeats, days when my desires didn't let me sleep, nights when my eyes used to be wide awake because of the dreams that I still see.  It is not easy to tackle your desires and wants, when you see something or a position that you wish to attain, it is not easy to divert yourself from that point. Let me also tell you that if you successfully divert yourself at that point of time, the dream that was just a seed dies inside you. 

The secret of success in my view is to not stop at all. You can pace slow, fast, but you shouldn't stop. 

"The stars are shining are in my sight,

all fine and things are right.

I peep in me to gather strength 

it is as much as the darkness of tonight.

You know when you lose hopes and belief upon yourself, that is the exact time when you need yourself the most. Life on track is like a rollercoaster ride, you cannot predict things and that makes it adventurous, however, all that you can do is keeping the engine on. I am no guru to tell people what should they do, but all stories that I have ever heard, seen, felt and read come to a centre. That centre is success whose radius is the persistence. 

Persistence is probably the most underrated word, but the truth is, nothing absolutely nothing is achieved without persisting efforts. Maybe today is not your day, maybe tomorrow it won't be either but, someday it is going to be your day. You are going to live the moment that you had been longing for but, you won't be able to experience it if you leave digging for gold so soon. Don't drop your axe, the treasure is going to crawl at your feet. 

"Dry out of thirst

or drown in work,

do whatever you can but

keep up the burn."

You got to keep burning with each moment that passes on, there has to be a struggle. A struggle that emphasises more on your abilities and goals than your pains and thorns. This flame is going to show you the right path that you are going to walk upon. Slow down the flame to keep you warm or let it burn you burn you till the core, don't let this flame die because this flame is the line of your life. 

Our chapter

I see what you don't,
I see us together, but you don't,
But I think it was my fault,
I read what you don't say at all.

I wish I knew how,
long am I going to be with you.
For, I wouldn't have weaved my dreams,
wouldn't have waited till moonlight fell asleep.

I loved your tales,
your stories that had me involved,
but unaware of the next turn,
I allowed myself to get drawn.

You were that book for me,

which I would read for an entire night.
Letting your words cuddle with my soul,
turning to the pages that I love.

Now I am still left with
an incomplete chapter of our,
longing for you to rewrite
and make us fall at least apart.

Because it is better to end,
than leaving the story halfway.
maybe you were never mine,
Or maybe this isn't our day.

MAKE A WISH

"Make a wish may be miracle is bored tonight." -- Annonymous 

I recently found myself pondering over a thought, this thought was - what makes us keep going ahead. I have seen people putting undeniable efforts in achieving what they want to, I have read about people who achieved what they wanted to after putting in their blood and sweat together. Yet again, the question lingers, what makes them keep going? 

I have found myself wishing zillions of times, sometimes I wish about travelling all the way to Mohanjodaro, often I wish about saving enough to buy a new phone. The wishes that I make, in some way or the other effect my actions and directions. So, aren't these wishes keeping us going ahead? Have you ever found yourself in an awe of something to such an extent that you eventually began to save to buy it? I have found myself doing this every second day! 

I believe that each wish that we make becomes a fuel to our living. These small or larger goals allow us to find direction and pace of our movement. A person who don't wish is not only dull and dry but also lacks a major element of journey and that is - DIRECTION.

I have often found people asking me how much do I shop, one thing after another you are constantly in need and want of something. Though I choose not to answer more than a smile but my instincts tell me that - It's okay to make a wish and to put efforts in fulfilling that, because when I decide to buy something that I love I am actually working on fulfilling my desire with my efforts which is gradually providing me an aim. A small wish provides an aim for shorter while, whereas a bigger wish constitutes a longer prevailing aim.

Wishes keep us burning,
wishes keep us on move.
Wishes make us grow,
wishes took us to the moon.

For those who do not wish, you got to start wishing. If you feel what are you going to get back well then, the answer is nothing but - Happiness of realising the goal.

You got to make a wish if you wish to keep your life going. If you do not wish, you won't put efforts and if you won't put efforts you cannot make your life move. 

Irreplaceable

In the midst of my eyeryday chores,
I came across an emptiness,
an emptiness caused by you
and suprisingly, filled only by you.

When the breeze strokes at my hair,
as if its you, untying the knots in them.
I get drawn towards an escape,
an escape where both of us prevail.

I can say a zillion words ever known,
million words that are ever heard by me,
but your name is where I struggle,
and my tongue falters reluctantly.

Image source

No matter how many sun rays dance in front of me,
I find my peace in the moonlight which consolidates,
our world, our era, our time and our virtues.
I find peace in that moonlight of solitary.

For, you have given me enough to break,
to make, to melt and repair as well.
The sound of your soft whispers,
are entangled perpetually in my breathes.

I wish I could slow down the time,
and turn back for one last time.
Towards the direction where you are standing,
willing to move ahead till eternity.

But alas! I can neither wait, nor I could return,
I could neither hold on, nor I can let it go.
All am left with is an emptiness that is never ending,
and here I am sensing your presence in every other being.

The hollowness in VOGUE

Ever since Vogue has produced and uploaded their newly launched video featuring DEEPIKA PADUKONE, the Facebook walls are tinted with the link and appreciation. She is being praised on every social networking site and that's the new tend! This video highlights the fact that women are supposed to choose the way they want to spend their lives and that is exactly what the name of this video suggests - MY CHOICE.

Click here to view the video 

Being a supporter of feminism, I highly brace the point that this video is attempting to make and there are no two ways about it. However, just when I tried to flip the coin I encountered how biased this video is. Now let me clear that I am not an orthodox India neither I am an anti-feminist. Surely, may be feminism for me is different from what feminism is for you but that is not the point here. The matter that I am attempting to highlight is simple - are we going to accept the same "my choice" thing if a male puts forth for himself or for an entire male community? he video further says that - "I will decide whether to have sex before marriage, after marriage, outside marriage, or have no sex at all" - while I hear these words, it strikes that a person having sex outside his or her marriage is termed as the one who cheats. So again , I raise the question, are we going to accept the same thing if a male does to his female partner? Now when you say "women empowerment" - are we talking about empowering women and making them equals or are we talking about making a world full of - ME AND MY CHOICE?. Are we comfortable if someone does "ME AND MY CHOICE" to us? Are we promoting empowerment so that a woman can stand equal or are we promoting empowerment so that a woman can go miles and miles ahead absolutely crushing the male counterpart?

I totally agree that a woman has her rights on her body, her clothes, her thoughts, her opinions, her paths, the way she wants to look, the way she wants to behave. But on the similar note, if we are seeking for equality then what kind of equality is this where our male counterparts aren't allowed to have the same set of "MY CHOICE' theory. I agree, that no woman in no country should be forced to do a particular thing, act or have a particular belief but at the same time, are'nt we all women are focusing on just one thing and that is - To make world full of OUR CHOICE. What about your partners? your family? Definitely nobody should dominate us in no era of the entire universe but then, aren't we dominating them with our choices??? 

I found the video greatly done especially the poetry and graphics however, I also found that the video was not asking for equality but a world full of ME, MY AND MINE. We are promoting a society where coexistence of male and female is peaceful and equal or we wish to promote a society which is the other way round and favourable only to women?

P.S. ---- The views are extremely personal and have no intention of hurting anyone or changing anyone's belief. You are free to believe wha you want after all it is a democratic country.