Watan mere...

Watan mere, tere maathe par
Ek taaj bithana chahte hain
Tujhse door zaroor hi ho magar
Tere kadmon ko choomna chahte hain...
Sab kuch tujhi ne diya hai
Humein hum tune banaya hai
Karmon se apne hum
Tera sar ooncha karna chahte hain...
Watan mere, teri har shikan ko
Ab door karna chahte hain
Ek din tujhi ke saath
Ek saath hum hona chahte hain...

Jeena isiko kehte hain

Subah Subah aankhein kholkar
Chehre par ek muskaan tu banata hai
Usi chamak se apne ghar ko
Ek firdaus tu banata hai
Khidki se jahaan ko pukaarkar
Ek paigaam tu sunata hai
Tazaah din aur tazaah lehron ko
Khushiyaan tu sikhata hai
Ghar se baahar nikalte hi
Thandi fiza tujhse milne aati hai
Use aaghosh mein lekar
Ek fasanah tu dohrata hai
Ek naya din hai aaj
Ek nayi shuruwat hai
Aaj ek naya tajurbah hoga
Ek naya afsana tu likhta hai
Din dhale, tu thak-haar kar
Apne ghar ki taraf kadam badata hai
Raaste mein har gulzaar se guzarkar
Ek rafeeq tu banata hai
Aashiyane apne pahaunchkar
Raahat mehsoos tu karta hai
Raat ki madhoshi mein ek hokar
Aaankhein bandh tu karta hai
Kal naya ek din phir aayega
Is soch ko dil mein bharta hai
Kisi ko phir ek muskurahat tu dega
Kisi ko ek pal ka sukoon milega
Koi tujhe milne ko thehra hoga
Koi teri raah mein khadaa rahega
Tere uthne ka intezaar tujhse zyada is aalam ko hai
Bas yahii hai zindagi
Jeena isiko kehte hain...

Aye Diwane dil mere...

Aye diwane dil mere
Aaj khush tu hone chala hai
Muskaan teri zameen aur hosla tera aasmaan
Aaj raah par tu chalne chala hai

Ghabrata tha tu bahut
Sehemkar chup jaata tha
haath thaamne se darr ta tha
Kadam badaane se sharmata tha

Dheere se usi sharam se
tere pankh khulne lage hain
naachne ke liye ghungroo bhi
aaj khud humtak sarakne lage hain

Woh arsh tera, woh zameen teri
Woh aks tera, Woh fiza teri
Chune ko haath badaakar
Manzil pahaunchne tu nikla hai
Aye dil diwane mere
Aaj khush tu hone chala hai
Kaaynaat se ek hokar
Saari bandishein todne tu chala hai
Azaad ho gayi hai har aarzoo
Aaj tujhe sab kuch mil gaya hai

I believe...

I believe i can climb...
The highest peaks,
The steepest hill...
I believe i can run
The longest road
With no end til...
I believe i can walk
A million miles
The roughest roads
I believe i can fight
With words of valor
The required swords...
I believe i can reach
The top of the top
The infinite abyss
I believe i can overcome
The unexpected trauma
The emotional miss...
I believe i can give
Everything i have
And still have enough
I believe i can smile
To save a frowning life
Through all that's tough...
I believe i m unique
Different enough to make a difference
I believe i will never give up on me
I believe life will smile everyday
When it watches me every morning
Waking up, to conquer the day…

So strong

Like the trunk facing the storm
Like that spider climbing the wall
Just like the last straw to hold on to
Just like the brick wall, upright and tall
Akin to the wrestler on his last night
Similar to the man, going almost blind
Holding on to the glimpse of the last sight
And the destitute fire-fly losing its glow
Or the running shoes that are almost too slow
Just like the raindrop unaware of its fate
But braving the leap into the unknown
Just like the fireman who does not know
If he will ever return
Or the climber defying gravity
Plunging into the realm of uncertainty
Just like that
So strong, she is…
So undeterred, so radiant
Of all forces true
My mother, my friend…

Not so long ago

They say life changes,
But if only they knew
There are no truer words
No better a description.
Has it already been this long?
It has been a while
Who was I back then?
How did I manage to survive?
I know some answers
But others, maybe not
Some voices play in my mind
Some moments, in my memories, caught,
And yet, I can live everyday
Over and over in my head
The smile, the wave, the walk away,
Inside my head, the jumbles wed.
Intertwining trains of thought
Uniting the acts of fate
The walk, the droplets, all that’s white
The hugs, the embraces, never to let go
We walk today, together again
No one will ever need to know
You will lead me, as you always did
I will, silently follow.
I wish sometimes I were there
Was there something I could do?
All is meaningless, now
I have stopped the questions too
We walk and talk, all this way
I can still see you.

His montage

He rode across the high and low
Painting his montage, so free
Twinkle, the sky above
And surpassing the usual gleam
He felt, he knew the touch so well
Embracing the power to be
The less face that was put up
Was too superficial not to see
With silent steps and lowered eyes
She passed him once, unnoticed
And then again an eon later
He saw, he knew that touch so well
This time he would not let her go
This time he ruled his destiny
He waited too long
He waited too far
This time he knew it was meant to be.

Her montage

Perky and cheery,
Fizzy and gay
Hopeful of all good
Vivacious to stay…
Boomerang, more often than not
Swaying her away
Motive in question
Silence at bay
Walking away from harmony
Or was it? She did not know
He passed her in her stillness
The outcome would follow
Sometimes, life’s biggest questions
Are answered in a moment
That moment, the epicenter
Of her montage, her love
She stopped him, in wait
He stopped her, in time
She knew he was the moment
She knew he would not leave,
Patient and sublime,
All good was to come.

There is...

To every breath
And every step,
To every stance
And all chaos...
To each and everyone
To every set and dawn
From every part and sight
From all depths and heights...
To me from you
And all around
To souls and to bodies
To words and to sounds...
There is a story...

Pearls...

Rolling down the rocky hills...
Going towards their destiny...
Soft, serene, inward turmoil
Seeds and plants of ecstasy...
A belief, so shattered
A heart, so broken...
A smile well-taken
A root so shaken...
The pearl rolled down
And reached her lips
It kissed her good bye
And plunged into the abyss...
She wondered how many would sacrifice
Their lives, their memories, their price
As she thought some more, some more
One more headed for the fall...

An ocean of...

See! 

Splashing into a ripple

Hear! 

Thundering lines and waves

Touch!

Soft and warm, her touch

Feel!

Secure and owned, forever

Embrace!

The only one there ever was

Move!

Only together and no more

Smile!

So lucky and content

Stay!

Awakened and blessed...

a miss...

We sat alone, together,
A shield, unknown, unforeseen...
He lent a hand, I pushed away
I lent him mine, he did the same…
As the twilight dawned upon,
His shadows curled, his presence gone...
I did not ask him
He did not stay…
Now, I wish he hadn’t left
The place he had, lies bereft…
He taught me how to smile and talk
He held my hand when I tried to walk
Nothing could touch me or do any harm
Sometimes, I wish times hadn’t changed
He would still love me
All would be the same
I had it all and then some more…

Enough???

Why? I wonder this too often... One should not be too tolerant... It comes back and hurts you way more than it would if you knew when to say enough...

6 years ago, my friend asked me "Sabah, when would you say 'ENOUGH'?"... He had heard this question in a Brad Pitt & Julia Roberts movie. It didnt take me more than a few seconds to say "Never!!! I think if you care enough, you can find a way... I would keep trying..." Life has taught me otherwise...

So you may ask, what is wrong in keeping on trying?? In fact, isn't it great that you never give up... I would reply that "giving up" is very different... I am the biggest believer of the school of thought that teaches that nothing is impossible if you try hard enough... But there is also a very thin line between reality and insanity... And more often than not, I have found myself at the wrong side of that line...

I am 23 years old and I still find it difficult to say "no" to people... I think it is rude... Or maybe, I thought it was... Very few people understand the right time to say "ENOUGH"... Some say it too early while some like me, wont stop trying...

Its a great attitude when it comes to work... I end up getting what I want that way... But people are another story... To sum it up, life works wonders on you... It keeps teaching you the same lesson in different ways till you finally understand and accept it... But by then, its time for another...

For her...

dedicated to the mother i met in the bus 2 years ago... she lost her young daughter and son-in-law in an ST accident a few days after their child was born... the son-in-laws' parents said the child must go to an orphanage... but she didnt let them... she said, "she would be Abhishek's mother from that day and that while she lived, he would have the best home she could give him"... i was filled with respect and admiration for her that very instant... i prayed to God for the child's smiling face, her long and happy life and told her "he is a very lucky boy; he has you"... her eyes was moist...

holding him close
she caressed his soul,
she was an epitome of virtue
of love and strength, so bold...
he kept far enough
to know she was around
he wanted to be stubborn
but didnt risk the anger bound...
the bond exists, we see
it stretches out the pain
the feeling overcomes her fears
no care for the world of disdain...
a salute goes out for the bravery
a heartfelt wish for the love
the suppressed hurt emerges
and the next its put to shove...
she pats his being to sleep
her breath waiting for his next
all battles and struggles surmount
all fears and woes annexed...

there... again...

she moved with the wind
she swayed with the current...
imprisoned, claustrophobic
why? again? there?
freedom... just for once...
she didn't... she tried...
she called out... he heard...
he didn't listen...
did she matter?
the world went on...
she called once more...
listen listen listen
white noise... silence...
she tried again...
this time the voice would not come...
buried.. deep within...
it now lies... hoping it would
maybe some day...
the day did not come...
nor did she...
nor did he...

their tale...

He walked along the vast terrain
Oblivious to what lay beyond
His search had taken countless years
Yet, his unwavering self kept going on…
His armor kept him safe and estranged
Undeterred, his mettle walked him through
All, but one wound that did not heal
The perforation that did not reseal…
And then,
Something caught his long-lost attention
He followed his sight to the luring outline
She sat very still, composed, almost unhumanly
Her eyes glistening in the shadows…
Her radiance encompassed his being
And he felt weightless, unburdened
As he was lifted across the expanse
Guided to the warmth of her soul…
He felt closer than ever before
Before him, stood the end of a long wait
He succumbed to every feeling inside
There was nothing to fear and nothing to hide…
She looked up at him and smiled
Her eyes narrated stories untold
The indiscernible bond strengthened
As they stood through the years, warm and cold…
The tear in his armor healed itself
Her tears in decades were wiped away
A happiness unheard of bloomed and swayed
Traveled far with time and space
The story of this mighty knight and his damsel
Is talked about to this day…

indebted...

Curling my fingers and hopping away
You readied me to face the world
Then time flew by so quickly, so much
I couldn’t remember the moment they unfurled…
All in a blur, eons swept by
I stood all alone, just one in a million
But it felt unique and it felt so proud
I was in reality, one in a million…
You taught to be one on my own,
You taught me not the tricks or ways
It was the edge, the black and white
I did not need to learn the task
It was imbedded, instilled and cast
I am whom you made me into
You did not wait to accept the gratitude
Forever, always, I am to you
Indebted…

Going on...

She left the house
Marooned and lost
Under the shades
Of a lonely thrust
She hoped a touch,
A familiar word
The same old saga
And stories we heard…
The raindrops fell
Upon her being
Superficial no more
Reached the soul all seeing…
She walked, she dragged
A baggage so far
The past and the future
The present behind bars…
She slowly moved her head
And looked beyond the way
Up at the billowing hand
She prayed to change the day…
Forlorn, detached, desolate
Her reclusive outline passed
A shadow to the passer-bys
Her vulnerabilities masked…
The rain kept coming down
Her pace unaffected
The mask gradually unmasked
The wounds exposed, detected…
She thanked the heavens today
For the seasonal showers appeared
She always liked walking in the rain
‘Coz no one saw her tears…

A taste of ecstasy...

Walking down the same old road
Humming an old melody
Everything was mundane, routine
The same pathways, the same galleries
And yet, it seemed so fresh, so new
A daisy blooming amidst the residue
A sculptor carving out novel art
Just another morning but still a bracing start
I wondered why I smiled so much
Why a breeze orchestrated to me
Why a falling flower painted a picture
Why each sorrow seemed now, a parody
I gazed at the figure walking beside me
His footsteps one with mine
Why did I believe his every breath?
Why did I ‘believe’ when he said it would be fine?
He changed my life forever
He set my inhibitions free
I hummed, I sang, I felt, I sighed
A taste of pride and ecstasy…

All things bright and...

They said it would be easy
They said it would be right
And then I opened my eyes
To all things beautiful and bright…
I thought I was being tested
I thought I would be fine
And then he took away the only hope
I stood there, waiting for a sign…
Its not easy, they say now…
It never was, never would be
I embraced what I believed in
My power, my divinity….