What if...

What if you find one day,
you've got All that you ever sought
Will the time stand still?
Will your heart skip beating?
Will all your efforts turn to naught?

What if you find one day, you've lost
Everything you ever got
Will you diminish into oblivion
Without a future, without any past
Or will you stand up and give it one more shot?

If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss...
~Rudyard Kipling

Scaffolding

I am your support, your scaffolding
I hold you when you are tender
I bear your weight to give you form
I am the one who helps you stand
And see you through your journey
To the marvel from mortar and sand.

I know when you are strong enough
I’ll be needed no more
To your wonderstruck beholders
I’ll be a pain, eyesore
So, I’ll be dismembered Pillar by pillar, rope by rope
Promise by promise hope by hope.

"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. " ~Kahlil Gibran

Mumbai

Six twenty four Khar, boom!
Six twenty four Bandra, boom!
Six twenty five Jogeshwari boom!
Six twenty six Mahim, boom!
Six twenty nine Mira Road, boom !
Six thirty Matunga, boom!
Six thirty five Borivali, boom!

Bloodshot eyes, elusive paradise,
Misplaced faith, God mislaid,
Shattered dreams, silence screams
Now they will start the witch hunt,
Who is going to bear the brunt?
Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic

"We didn't start the fire"
~Billy Joel

Pyromania

Yesterday I burnt my shadow,
Now there is nothing that creeps beside me,
Finally there is peace inside me,
Its shrieks were lost in furnace bellow.

In infernal flames I thrust myself,
It fused my guts and charred my bone,
I traveled on pyre to liberty,
Now, elevated, I walk alone.

“Jala hai jism jahan dil bhi jal gaya hoga Kuredte ho raakh aarzoo kya hai?”
~Ghalib
Inspired by :-
"From a seed it started,
And to ashes it will burn,
This is the world,
God chose to churn."
~Anonymous

Ratjage

गर्मी की खामोश रातों में
पंखे का घरघराना
नल की टप-टप, घड़ी की टिक टिक
जाने कितनी रातों का यूँ
जगते हुए बिताना…

आंखों के रतजगे
कहते है ये कहानी
फ़िर नही लौटते बीते हुए पल
उन हसीं पलों की खातिर
कुर्बान जिंदगानी।

All that you can't leave...
~U2

Microcosm

Stones, cliffs, rocks, mountains
Oceans, seas, ponds, fountains
Lichens, trees, animals, birds,
Sight, sound, senses words

To think it all started
From a tiny single seed
All lies in the mind
It's a small world indeed!

Chhoti si yeh duniya pehchaane raaste hain Tum kahin toh miloge...

Corrosion

Ostensible smiles
Obsequious demeamour
Scrape the patina
What's left
Schadenfreude!!

“You mellow too much you ripen and rot”
~ Woody Allen

Heartache

It hurts?
Who are you trying to deceive!
It's a pain
You don't want to leave!!

"Peeda mein aanand jise ho..."
~Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Icarus and Phoenix

From the ashes I will rise
With fire in my eyes
To live my interrupted dream
To get my forbidden prize

Every sinew I will strain
I will transcend every pain
I'll fly silently without a hum
Beware Apollo here I come!!

“It's better to burn out than fade away.”
~Kurt Cobain quoting Neil Young

Jugnoo

वृक्षो के झुरमुट में अद्भुत
कुछ जादू का पुट
आँख मिचौनी खेल रहा है
जुगनुओं का गुट

कल्पतरु सा पीपल चमके
जुगनुओं के साथ
चांदनी का जाल बिछा है
तारो भरी कनात

"We are all worms, but I do believe that I am a glow worm.”
~ Winston Churchill

Taad aur chaand

काला ताड़, गोरा चाँद
रात्रि काल की
श्वेत - श्याम तस्वीर में
लंबा ताड़, गोला चाँद!!

चतुर्दशी का भोला चाँद
ताड़ को अलविदा कह
बादलों से लुक-छिप करता
हौले हौले डोला चाँद!!

"Some shape of beauty moves away the pall From our dark spirits। Such the sun, the moon, Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon"
~ Endymion, John Keats

Ctrl Z

Unbreak my heart
Unbound my soul
Break these threads, they bind
Liberate... Unite me with the whole!!

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं
पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय
पूर्णमेवावशिष्य्ते॥
~ ईशावास्योपनिषद

Icarus

You are young, the world beckons you
Hurdles abound you find your way through
You crave for glory, you want to fly
You craft a wing, give it a try

Flying above the ocean, you forget to comply
With rule that says fly, but not too high
Soaring too near the sun can damage your wings
He who forgets his limits ultimately sinks

Wings of wax are bound to break
Proof they are not real but imitation, fake
The wings that liberate, that help you rise
Finally seal your fate, drive your demise।

“Burnout is nature's way of telling you, you've been going through the motions your soul has departed; you're a zombie, a member of the walking dead, a sleepwalker। False optimism is like administrating stimulants to an exhausted nervous system।”
~ Sam Keen

It's been a long time

Its been a long time
Of sleepless nights
Of dark Lights
Of dim sights

Its been a long time
Of silence and sad songs
Of pain and heart longs
Of no rights and all wrongs

Wish you were here
~Pink Floyd

It's that simple

They say I'm too naive, I don't understand
Life is too complicated for my simple solutions
It's only in books that cause and effect go hand in hand
The cliched vicious circle is a fact, so is destitution
Black and white, yes or no, zero and one
Machines work in binary, fuzzy logic is human
How would you tell good from bad when all shades are gray
Reason retires, wisdom vanishes but confusions stay
Still my simple conviction is too strong to break
No, I'm not afraid of being burnt at stake
So mark my words, I'll have my way
And make this littered labyrinth linear one day.

BOYS DON'T CRY

It’s that phase of life when insanities acquire new meanings. You indulge in shenanigans just for the heck of it. if you are not high on booze you are trippy on emotions. A cocktail of both can be a dangerous concoction. As the penultimate semester draws closer to an end heralding the dawn of the final semester of graduation you come to realize, the golden days of life are numbered. In case you miss the import of the passing days, people tend to make sure that the gravity of the situation gets to you by reminding you of the brute liabilities that are going to pounce upon you as soon as you complete the hostel life. References like “guest of few days” and “when you are gone” are numerous and boy do they hurt. You find the place you had cursed on umpteen occasions before has set its tentacles deep within your sinews, and no matter how hard you try you are powerless to break its shackles.
Then come the bouts of sentimental outbursts when your mind seems immersed in a dark viscous fluid and the heart feels as if it is being choked by soft but unyielding hands.Friends and emotions become the only worthwhile entities, everything else becomes trifle, exams and academics don’t even figure in the priority list. You spend your nights talking and sharing thoughts that erstwhile seemed senseless and absurd. You spend your days in wild excursions trying to explore everything possible under the sun. Suddenly you will find, without even being consciously aware of the fact that the exams are over and you need to pack your bags. Then there will be a rush of diaries and scrap books, seeking to maintain a fleeting contact and each word you pen down will scathe your heart a little bit more. They say boys don’t cry, but when you go to see off your colleagues you will find even the meanest of souls breaking down and the toughest of minds being unable to stop the flow of tears. you might assume a brave front and escape from the water works without getting wet but when you’ll see your closest friends stepping on the aisle of the bus and you’ll notice tears rolling down your cheeks you’ll know that boys do cry and when they do its no use trying to console them.