कल रात

-------------------------------------------------

कल रात जो खुशबू

मेरी बगल गुजर गयी

वह नरगिस की ही थी,

निसंदेह, वह स्वयं नरगिस ही होगी

फिर पता नहीं   

उसे पहचानने में आखिर गलती हो क्यों गई ?

कल रात अचानक ख्याल आया

अपने घर की सफाई कर लूँ

फ़ेंक दूँ सारे धूलि धूसरित स्मृति चिन्ह   

ताकि मेरी वजह से पड़ोसन को बुखार न लगे

और साफ़ करने लग गया, झाड़-खंगाल कर

अब अलमारी के हर ताक पर है

सन्नाटे की सिसकी ।

एक ऐसी अजब सी रात थी कल

मन के नीली आसमान में इन्द्रधनुस का 

आविर्भाव अचानक हुआ

जागते हुए भी मुझे सपने दिखाई पड़े

ख्याल आया, इन्द्रधनुस भूला देने की चीज़ नहीं    

रुक-रुक कर, दिन हो या रात, आखिरी लमहे तक

रूह में रंग भरने की ताक़त रखता है वह ।

कल रात मुझे पता चला

ब्लैक एंड वाइट एल्बम में

असली खूबसूरती छुपी है

और छुपा है अजब सा एक आकर्षण

ज़माना बीत गया फिर भी

हर किसीकी मुस्कुराहट अब भी ताज़गी बिखेरती है

सफ़ेद मस्तक में है बर्फानी चमक 

और पारदर्शी आँखों में सरलता की भाषा

असली सुन्दरता वही है

जहाँ काला, सफ़ेद होने से बचता है

उसका सीमांकन करता है

उसको वजूद देता है

सफ़ेद और काला, दोनों मिलकर रहते हैं

शांतिपूर्वक, रंगों की घिनौनी बगावत से कोसों दूर ।

और यह भी मुझे पता चला कल रात

पुरानी किताबों में एक नई कहानी मौजूद है

वर्षों  बाद मैं उसको पढ़ना चाहता हूँ

कोई शिकायत नहीं मुझे कि स्टाइल बदल चूका है

कहानी तो कहानी हैं, किसी दिल का टूकड़ा है

दिल को दिल से जोड़ने का काम करता है

बखूबी करता है, रात में ही खिलता है ।

प्यासे मन को पानी चाहिए था

मिटटी के धड़े में तैरता हुआ मोगरा

खुशबूदार, अब भी ताज़ा था

किसी लावन्यमयी की बेणी से उतर कर

मेरी बाट जोहता था

और पानी पीने के आड़ में

मैंने मोगरे का और मोगरे ने मेरा

सानिध्य अंगीकार किया

वह भी एक लमहा था ।        

कल रात बिलकुल खासी थी

भूला देने की रात नहीं थी ।

-------------------------------

By

A N Nanda

Trivandrum

01-10-2015

------------------------------     

The Door is Ajar

============

The door is ajar

Whetting my urge

To peep inside, or

To slam it shut for good

And lament for a lifetime.

I can imagine what’s there inside

A fragrance that I’d ever relish

Redolent of many things:

A wild rose atop an unreachable rock,

An incense stick that bookmarks

The passion of an old episode,

A picture postcard that vividly reflects

My muse, igniting my private dreams,

My heart’s image

Reflected on those willing objects

And many things

To make the moment wistful

And to turn my life worth living.

But then I can’t open it either—

The door is only ajar

And I oughtn’t to go that far

From the passive to the active

Pushing the door a little further

Here, in the midst of environs hostile

 Where is honour for the vibes?

With this world so very cruel

And so insanely intrusive

With rules that rule the meek and mild

And those ever-watching eyes wide open

To grab me off guard and red handed.

Vilified I’d be: a plagiarist, a trespasser

The sinful, a transgressor of the first order.

But then again, how can I?

Desist from reaching this nook inviting?

The door is ajar yet

A ray of subdued light

Escapes at this moment unguarded

Wafts across to me aroma the wistful

The lilt of a lonely song meant for me

Now, look yonder

The image of my own adorable muse

Ready to morph into me

A slot is reserved, path carpeted

Everything is inside, the moment inviting.

Thus far...

I have been treating myself

A rank passer-by

Sparing little thought for it

Bringing myself to belief

It’s just another nothing

A bubble is born to burst

Taking its own time

But now...

The door is ajar and the destination clear

What I dream is a part of me.

Here’s a chance to connect to my soul

Aha! A chance of a lifetime

Through this open door

And along this path of dream.

I just can’t be cruel to me.

------------------------

By

A. N. Nanda

Teivandrum

20-09-2015

------------------------

God is Fast Asleep

God is Fast Asleep

================

Shhh.......

God is fast asleep—

Unable to recall

What made Him bestow

So much on one

And so miniscule on the others,

Glisten, the green fronds

Awash with the maiden showers,

The waves lap against the shores

to return requited

humming merrily its sibilant whispers,

The silver surf, the golden sand

So very cool, copious and captivating

Busy celebrating their togetherness,

The undulating landscape

of the red earth and the flowing streams
Everything...

Everything to one but so less to the other,

Not a blade of grass raises its head

The other side, the craggy terrain, the floating sands

The dry beds of a prehistoric stream;

God is fast asleep—

Confused: how one smiles when he’s angry

How one prays without surrender

How one offers so much claiming that his own

How the words and sense travel in parallel

Never to meet, never to be believed

but to be repeated on and on

just for the sake of a rhythmless rhyme

like a chewing gum bereft of sweetness,  

How one thinks himself more intelligent

Than the other eating from the same plate

Sniffing the same breeze and gazing at the same sky;

God is fast asleep—

Clueless: what precious little he can do now

To make them appreciate the obvious meaning

The sun is sun and the stars are stars

The equals they are at a theoretical level

sharing the same firmament

and emitting the same rays,

How to preserve the pleasure of giving

When the dignity of expecting is so forgotten,

How to stop the competition

Nay, the ogling match of the naughty children

To make the others cry while himself smirking,

How to rein in the ambition...and the greed

There’s only so much space on the road

How to let everybody
Run so mindlessly fast;

God is asleep though—

But before going to sleep

He had hit upon an idea

His own little idea

He could not act upon it though

So facilely, the sleep did overpower Him

How to take the frogs out of the well

Rehabilitate, recalibrate them at thinking level

Making them face the world

And see for themselves what the world looks like

And make them know

what the world thinks of them;

Nay, even He is not confident:

Taking the frog out of well

May as well turn a flop show,

Who knows?

There is this second thought though

Even after taking the frogs out of the well

Showing them the Eiffel Tower

Where is the guarantee that they would think sense

And admit that there are object on this earth

Taller than them.

Oh God!

I’ve a suggestion

Suggestion to you the clueless

Still sleeping and dreaming a way out,

One day

You should bring the Himalayas here

And let your children taste

and know for themselves

How distance is measured not in kilometres

But in days and months,

Sweat refuses to trickle while tears flow so facile,

 Sorrows are made to fly

Afar, to the mountain passes past the trails of ravines

Along the lilt of the melody

Wafting past them and beyond

Leaving the souls awash, clean and sparkling,

How muscles dissipate to keep in rhythm

The priceless gift of breath and life,

How belief precedes the prayer

Not the outpouring of greed,

How respect begets love and love the respect

How your bounty is matched

By gratitude, prayer and hope.

Oh God!

Wake up and bring the Himalayas here

Now, at this moment, before it’s too late

The frogs will automatically

Spring out of the water

And make a beeline to the summit

No need to sleep for aeons on end

Just thinking and thinking and abdicating

An ounce of action worth a ton of dreaming.

 -------------------------------

By

A. N. Nanda

Kollam

20-06-2015

--------------------------------