Life so trivial???? Not really just made out to be..!!!

(Written after the bomb blasts at Zaveri Bazaar, Dadar & Opera House on 13th July 2011 which claimed 27 innocent lives & injured 127 others.)

I wonder if life on earth could ever have been so inconsequential. Earlier people used to die because of diseases, earthquakes, other natural disasters which were just so natural. But today innocent souls have to pay with their lives because of terrorism. They are just caught unawares by this ghastly & heinous crime, without even knowing that death is awaiting them at the very next second. Why has life become so cheap??? Why killing innocent people have become so easy??? Why bereaving people of their loved ones have become a game??? Why do we always have to go through the unending torment??? So many questions yet no answers with silence prolonged...!!!

Terror once again raised its ugly head in Mumbai, taking innocent lives & injuring hundreds of people. The effect was such that the entire spot was strewn with body parts. The entire stretch of road was bloody. It was such a heart wrenching incident. My heart reaches out to the families of those who lost their near & dear ones and also to those who are scarred by this incident forever to come out of its torment. We will forget it after some days. But the families will never forget this cruel act of humanity which has left them with a void forever. May god rest the souls of the deceased in peace, in the heavenly abode. Amen..!!!

What irritates me the most is the number of politicians who don’t leave any stone unturned in registering their presence on such occasions to garner media attention & express their sympathy, if ever they really mean it!!! For them it is just another opportunity to fool around with the sentiments of people.

We all have to die someday, but I shudder to think if I have to die like this, without even knowing when I will breathe my last. So now I pray to god to give me a peaceful death than a good life…because who knows the most beautiful moment of my life turns out to be my last!!!

A very old poem written long back...!!!

Why did I fall in love with you?

I can hardly figure it out

I kept on searching for something new,

But never found another you

My love is true, my heart is pure,

I have never felt love like this before

Everyday I hear myself say...

Why don’t this feeling just fade away,

My heart beat pumps, my eyes flutter,

They say "My love for him will never wither.

"I have tried hard and so many times,

just to get you out of my mind,

But to do that is really not in my control,

Because, I really cannot separate the heart & the soul.

Nobody knows I hide it inside,

Every time I remember you, tears drop from my eyes.

I could never tell you how much I love you..

Just speak to my heart, how much it remembers you.

How much it cares for you!

The truth is we are world’s apart and can hardly come together,

But you'll be always in my heart

As a sweet reminisce forever...!!!

Ummeed zindagi ki....!!!

Kuch ummeedo ki jagah lakiro me khojte hai, hum khudko ko hamesha apno me sochte hai,

Kash yeh lamha na guzarta aur yeh pal yahi thehar jaata, hum jo chahte woh hame mil jaata,

Par yeh chahat bhi hume bemani si lagti hai, teri aarzoo bhi hume ab dhundhli se dikhti hai...

kyunki yeh ummid woh aasha ki kiran nahi jo sehar dekhegi,

Bas raaste mein paltegi aur daman chod kahi door chali jayegi,

Kabhi hasaayegi aur kabhi rulayegi,

Kash yeh ummeed haatho ki lakiro se badhkar hoti,

Jo hamari kalpanao ki udaan bharti,

Par likhne wale ne sab kuch itni khoobsurti se racha hai,

Hum bhi nahi samajh paate, kya uski marzi ya raza hai,

Bas tabtak isi tarah zindagi ke daavpench dekhte rahenge,

Uski likhi kitaab mein apne panne padhenge,

Par kash usne mujhe ek mauka diya hota,

Apni marzi se ek ummeed ko sach karne aur jeeneka,

Toh shayad ek ummeed main zarur puri karti,

Jise lakiro se chupake dil mein kaid karti....!!!

I wonder....

I wonder if I have closed the doors of my heart,

Just because I don't wanna get hurt again.

I wonder if the roads to the treasures of happiness were really long

Or I just missed them miles away..!!!

I wonder if I have secluded myself from the world

Or its just that I am trying to search my inner self…

I wonder if life is really bad or I am just trying to make it one…

I wonder if my memory is really strong…

Or I just try hard to recall things again & again…

I wonder why there was moistness in my eyes…

When there was nothing in my heart to say…

I wonder why I couldn’t express myself at moments of joy & pride

Just when it could have counted & probably made me felt alive…!!!

I wonder if I am living in a wonderland

Where reality needs to be touched upon…

Or its just that am trying too hard to survive in the

Deadly fret and fever of this hurried & frenzied life...!!!

Mystery of the Dark Night…!!!

The darkness was looming over the peaceful night 

Covering the moonlight, making it a dimmer sight

I couldn't sleep nor wink, with my eyes wide awake

My heart started pounding as if some sinister was about to take place…

Different battle of perceptions started playing games

In my mind’s eye, I could envision their fate

Terribly shocked, I moved from my place 

Giving my mind the much needed respite….

I looked at the window pane with a relieving sigh…

The glass of the window reflected my image….

For a moment I felt, the image was less corporeal

And more of a soul exhibiting light like a luminous pyre of flame….

The soul was beaming with a resplendent diffusion of light

Giving it a beautiful divine look, of being as pure as the driven snow…

In the twinkling of an eye, everything vanished into thin air…

Ending my hopeless quest of delving into it any further…

That sight acted as a ministering angel and

I started again to move back to my place

With the divine pyre of flame being the last thought on mind

My eyelashes touched each other finally giving me a peaceful sleep....!!!

Life in a maximum city...!!!

Time and again Mumbai has always been criticized for its indifferent behavior with respect to any initiatives taken in the interest of the society or India at large. The recent one in case was Anna Hazare’s fight against corruption where he was expecting around a lac of people, which eventually quite turned out to be a damp squib. Only 10,000 people gathered to show solidarity with another freedom movement – freedom against corruption! And not much to my surprise everyone took it in a bad light, especially our so called elected representatives sitting in the parliament, who didn’t leave any stone unturned in proving that, this meant mumbaikars are not with the movement, giving it unnecessarily a political colour. It’s easy to make interpretations by sitting idle at one place, but how many of us view this world through the other person’s eyes? How many of us empathize than sympathize? How many of us know what it means to be a mumbaikar? 

It’s a fact that Mumbai has pots of money but very little time. This isn’t today’s lament. If you venture in the past and read about life back then, you will find that the city’s character remains the same. Only the name has changed. People say, it is easier for us to criticize about whatever is wrong & get on with our daily lives than to drop the onerous task of living in a ‘fast’ city, even for a while, & get down to fixing problems. It is this standoffish manner of ours that has allowed a few chauvinists & extremists to lord over the city for the past several decades.

My question to such people, will you come to feed us if we don’t work for a day? Where were y‘ll when Mumbai showed spirit & valour against all the ghastly acts of humanity that scarred its soul like a deep wound, difficult to heal. The resilience displayed by us is something beyond the understanding of the political or benefit prone zealots. We may not have time to spare but we stand united against things. An average mumbaikar can binge on a vadapav and sleep on a pavement to get things going without cribbing. There are people who earn money per day to survive. Their day’s toil & sweat earns them bread and butter at the end of the day. They are survived by their families, so a day’s labour means a peaceful sleep in the night. Such people can only show solidarity through sentiments and not through physical presence. There’s only one word mumbaikars know – go on!!! It’s in the blood of Mumbai, come what may be our adrenaline rush is enough to push in things. We help each other in the times of crisis and this is what I love about Mumbai. Being a regular commuter myself, I have seen people helping a faint person to reach hospital. Ten hands ready to help an old woman collect her basket of goods scattered all over the place. That’s real Mumbai, a feeling of togetherness and brotherhood. To stand collectively, hold on to its nerves in testing times and fight against all odds to get going without waiting for support.

We may be considered as a slave of time but it is erroneous to jump to the conclusion that we don’t stand against a cause. We have always supported & voiced our concern from time to time (if not by physical presence, at least verbally & in spirits). We are willy-nilly disciplined persons. We are law abiding citizens and follow proper systems like true-blue mumbaikar (that’s how we end up paying the maximum tax!)

To conclude all I would say is, if you can’t understand, please don’t try to berate & degrade us. We never fail to display the resilience during tough times, giving essence to our existence of a true-blue mumbaikar. We are not irresponsible, just a little busy, trying to keep pace with the ever running life. It keeps us on our feet, perhaps making us feel, what it means to be a part of a maximum city that never stops….!!!