My Reflections

Ek sawall man mein ataa hai Kaun hai jo hum dono ko Uksata hai ladwata hai Nafrat  ki deewar banakar Door hame kar jata hai kamzor bahut kar jata hai Phir paas tumhare jata hai Aur paas hamare aata hai Jo paas tumhare hota hai Ya paas hamare hota hai Sab loot kar le jata hai Barbaad hamen kar jata hai Barbaad tumhe kar jata hai Muflis hum bhi muflis tum bhi Mushkil se din katte hain Roz sawera hote hi Bazaron mein bikte hain Der raat tak wapas aakar Nidhaal ho kar sote hain Khauf ke saaye mein tum bhi Khauf ke saaye mein hum bhi Sahme sahme rahte hain Ek sawaal man mein ata hai Woh jo hum don ko ladwata hai Pehchaan tumhen bhi hai uski Pehchaan humen bhi hai uski Kyon na hum don milkar Ab use door bhgata hain Is nafrat ki deewar todkar Ek dooje se mil jaate hain Bekhauf subah ke aamad ki Umeed lagaae so jaate hain

Seventy plus old man Ram Sevak (name not real) is sitting and swaying due to sleepiness. He has a bundle wrapped in dirty clothes. The old man's struggle for survival is manifested from disheveled head to toe appearance. He has no sleeper in his feet, has bare minimum rag on his feeble body. To get rid of drowsiness he starts rubbing tobacco on his palm. Once rubbing is done, he puts the tobacco under the lower lip. He is still unable to overcome sleepiness. He loosens his dhoti at waistline and takes out coins. He counts it several times absent-minded. What is there in your bundle I ask approaching him. He opens his eyes, lift his head and replies. It's paan, betel leaves, 20 rupiah saikda( 100 pieces for Rs. 20). Do you grow it yourself, I ask. I brought it from Darbhanga town this morning, he says. Darbhanga town is 15 km away. The old man must have covered good part on his bare feet. How many have you already sold? I am still to find a customer, he responds without counte

                                          Much water has flown down the Ganges since the famous tryst with destiny speech of our first PM at midnight stroke 14-15 August 1947 to the chanting of Jai Shri Ram by current PM at recent Dussehra celebration. As is the nature of evolution, aspirations and inspirations of nation do change. New icons replace old ones. In fact, old and long ignored icons are finding rightful place in modern India. The language to express the aspiration of modern and youthful nation has also changed. There is fast emergence of new lexicon for modern India. Traditionally, we in India have been celebrating "unity in diversity". There appears to be change in long cherished ethos. Uniformity is buzzword emanating out of corridors of power. The idea is attractive and catchy. We are suddenly obsessed with uniform civil code.  The debate, however, is fast reducing to issue of Tripple Talaq. This word talaq is new word in our lexicon with twisted und

               I’ve begun moving mechanically like a zombie, like a sleepwalker. And everything appears to be like a bad dream…nothing but a sleepwalker’s dream.’ The sleepwalker’s dream is first novel in English language by prolific Assamese writer Dhrubjyoti Borah. He is one of the eminent writers of Assamese language who received several award most notably Sahitya academy, a prestigious literary award of India. Being a practicing medical doctor Borah deftly deals with psychology of individual and group. Many shades of human persona are finely depicted by the author. Loyalty and treachery, Cooperation and suspicion, discipline and defiance, love and lust are nature of human beings and the same is displayed in this remarkable work of fiction. Through the novel, the readers peep into Bhutan’s beautiful valley of lush green forest. The readers travel through tortuous terrain, the inclement weather, high mountains and deep gorges. One gets acquainted with the climate a

The great Derangement: Climate change and unthinkable by Amitav Ghosh tells stories, history and politics of climate change in a single book. The deftness of storytelling of fiction giant of our time is at full display in this remarkable book on imminent crisis the planet earth is facing today. Amitav Ghosh, the celebrated author expiates or in other word introspects on behalf of fellow writers by writing this extraordinary non-fiction.  Why the master story teller resorts to non-fiction? The answer comes from the author himself - “Yet, it is a striking fact that when novelists do chose to write about climate change it is always outside of fiction”. The author rues elsewhere in the book, “If certain literary forms are unable to negotiate these torrents, then they will have failed- and their failure will have to be counted as an aspect of broader imaginative and cultural failure that lies at the heart of climate crisis”. This era of collective failure of art and l

Today’s TV channels and Telescreen of George Orwell's '1984' Anyone who has not read the novel ‘1984’ may mistake it to be about anti Sikh riot of Delhi. The novel ‘1984’ is in fact a visualization of totalitarian society, a dystopia. It is one of the most famous novels of dystopian genre. This novel is so timeless that what is depicted in the novel holds true for different generations and societies. Though the novel portrays so many facets of an all powerful authoritarian regime, here I am trying to visualize the news studio vis-à-vis the dystopia of ‘1984’. The news channels today act like omnipresent Telescreen of Oceania. The hate session which is conducted for two minutes on the Telescreen of Oceania goes on incessantly 24x7 today. The news channels convert any event which increases the TRP into breaking news and the real breaking news is ignored. The news rooms are converted into war rooms and media trial rooms. The nation wants answer, is repeated

Saeed Naqvi’s “Being the other: The Muslim in India”  is a partial memoir and partial his account of unfolding events in modern India which he witnessed from close quarters as a journalist. The shilanyas ceremony of 1989 at Ayodhya, the writer says acted as catalyst for writing the book which germinated for six decades.  The book is also an elegy to the syncretic Hindu-Muslim culture of Lucknow and its vicinity which was cultural capital of erstwhile Awadh.  The noted journalist grieves in the introduction of his book, "Rather, it's a chronicle of my growing disillusionment, disappointment, with the direction in which the country is heading". The lucid language is a joy for a reader. The style is adorable and gripping. But the esteemed scholar failed to shed his biases. Only three chapters into the book and one encounters writer’s elitist, sectarian prejudices. The writer quotes Akbar Alahabadi’s couplet. Council mein bahut Syyed Masjid mein faqat Jumma

Struggle of a dark horse Umar was practising mathematics sitting on rug of gunny sack in cnadle light outside his hut made up of hay. It was middle of April but heat wave had started blowing early.  Bugs were whirling around the candle falling on mathematics book and Umar’s notebook. But he was totally engrossed in his study unperturbed by mosquito bites without noticing the bugs and cries of siblings inside the hut. The half yearly examination of ninth class was going on. He had his last paper tomorrow. Umar was stuck proving a theorem on cyclic quadrilateral. The mathematics teacher, his favorite Raj Kumar Babu had emphasized on this theorem and he expected a question on the theorem tomorrow. There was a gush of air which put out the candle. He again lighted it and tried to concentrate. The wind again blew off the candle.  He closed his book, wrapped his rug and moved inside the hut to study. There came storm followed by rain. There was a heavy downpour and his hut leak

Dyaare ishq kaisa aur Ishq ka maqaam  kya Maaddiyat ke daur mein aagahi se kaam kya Shaistagi  aur sharafat qadren hui purane sab Har taraf shor-o ghogha aur tarz-e kalaam kya Husn bepardah hua  aur ashiqui  besabr hui Bazaar-e hawas ne tai kiya insaan ka daam kya Yeh kya ghadi hai doston aur yeh dayar kya Kaun samjhe kaun jaane Khaas kya aam kya Ja chuke hain chhod kar ishq ki mehfil ko woh Kaun tha kahan gaya poochhte ho naaam kya Dayar - territory, region Aagahi - awareness Maqaam - place,occasion Shaistagi - civility Maaddiyat - materialism    

Rang-e bahaar pe kyun khizan ghalib hai Zemeen past hai kyun asmaan ghalib hai Kyun har samt ab usi ka charcha hai Yehan jo zer tha kyun wahan ghalib hai Shahr-e wafa ki  ab pehchaan reh gai hai Makeen ghayab hai aur makaan ghalib hai Daam-e sukhan mei uski sabhi log aa gaye Woh dilfareb hai uski zabaan ghalib hai Saudagari nahi yeh hukoomat dilon pe hai Ek bheed be-mahal hai aur gumaan ghalib hai