Sunday, October 6, 2024

A fond adieu

The Love…

 

Filling up completely

Then spilling over

Flowing, cascading

Torrential at times

Sometimes still

And then a gentle flow

 

From the bedrock of Being

The purity seeping in

The essence remaining

A loving, gentle glow

 

Though the physical may morph

The Love always is…

Flowing

Flowing

Flowing

 

As tears perchance

As laughter perhaps

As snippets of conversation recalled

As frames of pictures uncalled

As a favorite Diwali mithai

As handmade dresses in regular supply

As loving presence to continually multiply

As warm embraces unbounded

As video calls unplanned

As beliefs some unfounded

As discussions often ungrounded

As music and lyrics deciphered

As the gift of reading, (especially National Geographics!)

As curiosity to learn unfolding

As Love, in all its forms and expressions

Beyond thought, beyond impressions

 

Though the physical may morph

The Love always is…

Flowing

Flowing

Flowing

- A dedication to Mausi, 6 October, 2024

 


 

 

 

Saturday, June 15, 2024

So full

 

So full

That I'm emptied of words

 

So empty

That joy overflows

 

So joyous

That tears spill over

 

So blurry eyed

That I can see clearly

 

It just is…

 

 

Such silence

That music abounds

 

Such sounds

That stillness is all around

 

Such stillness

That make me whole

 

A pause

That touches my soul

 

You are Me in Me as Me

I am You in You as You

Whole and Holy

In all eternity

 

Just as it is

 

- June 15, 2024

 

 

 

Picure: Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

Thursday, June 6, 2024

The dewdrop

Forming mysteriously

Gathering up 

All it's courage

Laden with possibility

It coalesces together

 

Bringing

Pure intention 

Simply to

Give back to this Earth

Simply, to

Dissolve into 

The nothingness that

Gave it birth

 

Simply

To surrender

Lose all identity

In natural splendor

 

Simply disappearing

Ushering in

The blossoming

Of a new Hope

- June 6, 2024 

(from an old draft in archives from 2014 from Woodside, CA)

 

Picture: Aaron Burden on Unsplash

 

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

पड़ाव

 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
बेलिहाज़ बेचैन बेईमान

बेकरार बेलगाम बेज़ुबान

बेफिक्र बेहद बेहतरीन

 

बेसब्र बेसमझ बेतरतीब

बेकसूर बेतकल्लुफ़ बेमुनासिब

बेरहम बेजोड़ बेहिसाब

 

बेवजह बेझिझक बेपरवाह

बेधड़क बेतुके  बेइंतेहा

बेबस बेकाबू बेगुनाह

बेसुध बेखबर बेपनाह

 

 मोहब्बातों के हसीन मुमकिन पड़ाव...

- Seattle, December, 2017

 

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

The Memory Lane


 

Photo by Benjamin Minnick (DJC)

Walking down

This path again

One I've often walked before

 

Not much seems to have changed

And yet,

Everything has

 

The cement has loosened up on the sidewalk

Buildings torn down in an entire block

Store closures hitting headlines

The emergence of different skylines

Even the road has new lines

Weather-marked creases

Of tire-tracks

Some cracks

My pace increases

I notice fresh, new

Face paint on the cross-walks

Newly paved in some patches

Yet not everything seems to have changed

I hear the same conversations in snatches

 

The chaperoning of a toddler on a scooter

The sledgehammers incessant clatter

The maids checking the meter

Ticketing an unsuspecting offender

 

The cement mixer churns

Like the hands of that master clock

That knows

How time turns

 

Inexorable

Intolerant

Incomprehensible

Infinite

 

And spread before me

New neighbors

New scaffolding

Incessant new building

Amid new flowers blooming

New leaves unfurling

 

The Reminder of

The humming-bird amid lavender

I smile big as I wander

 

Yes, time turns

Revealing new patterns

Revealing a new ‘ME’

Enchanted with Life you see

And yet, not much seems to have changed

Deep within

LET it be

Let IT be

Let it BE

- August 12, 2016

Sunday, May 26, 2024

किश्तों में... | Life in installments


Photo Credit: Despina Galani on Unsplash



इक तरफ है चूल्हे कि आग 

दाल के भगोने से लिपट रही 

दूसरी ओर, बच के रोज़-मर्रा की दौड़-भाग 

से, कुछ लिख पाने की आरज़ू  सुलग रही

  

 

किश्तों में कट रही है ज़िन्दगी 

 

In one corner

The flame embraces a pot of lentils

In another

Burns the desire to escape from this drudgery

A desire for expression simmering gently

 

Yet Life seems to pass by in installments

कभी हैं काम के बोझ से लाचार 

कभी छोड़ कर सब सोच-विचार 

दूर किसी के पढ़ रहें हैं समाचार 

खाते हुए परांठे और अचार

 

किश्तों में कट रही है ज़िन्दगी 

 

At times, weighed down with work

Thought patterns only to shirk

Escaping into news from afar

While eating some parathas with achaar

 

Installments are a part of this life

इक नज़र प्रकृति के सौंदर्य को निहारते हैं 

दुसरे पल अध्-बनी तस्वीर को सँवारते हैं  

बीच में कभी कपड़े तह कर लेते हैं 

बेतरतीब पड़ी किताबें समेट देते हैं 

  

 

किश्तों में कट रही है ज़िन्दगी 

  

A look outside to appreciate the beauty of nature

A look within to improve the emerging picture

Spend time putting away the laundry

Rearranging books and messy sundries

 

The installments continue to appear

ढूँढती हैं निगाहें बार बार 

करतीं हैं ये बाहें इंतज़ार 

किसी अपने की ही है इन्हें तलाश 

वक़्त कभी कर लेता है इन्हें यूँ हताश 

 

The eyes search and search again

The arms await

Yearning for a special someone

As the wheels of time endlessly turn

तो लगता है जैसे 

पल पल किसी ओर घिसट रही है ज़िन्दगी 

साँसों में बंधी, सिमट रही है ज़िन्दगी 

रिश्तों में बँट रही है ज़िन्दगी 

किश्तों में कट रही है ज़िन्दगी 

 

That it seems like

Life is dragging on, moment by moment

Tied to this breath, in confinement

Being divided amid relationships

Installments feeling like hardships

पर

सीख चुके हैं अब कहनी 

सबसे अपनी बातें बेबाक

जुड़ चुका है खुद से नाता 

प्रेम-भरानेक और पाक 

इस पल ही मगर 

सभी कुछ है एकदम ठीक-ठाक 

 

However,

The learning remains

To express fully, openly

The connection within established

Love-filled, noble and holy

The realization

Of each moment's pure perfection

 

किश्तों में चाहे कट रही हो ज़िन्दगी 

बड़ी रास आती है हमें 

यही प्यारी-दुलारी ज़िन्दगी 

 

- Feb 17, 2022

Despite the installments

Finding delight and enjoyment

In this amazing Life each moment

 

- May 26, 2024

Saturday, December 31, 2022

The New...


Holiday lights on the Western Express Highway, Mumbai - pic taken on Dec 31, 2022 during a layover between flights



A new beginning beckons
Shiny and alight
With a new promise
Shining bright
Joyous sparkles in sight

The rear view mirror reckons
What it all was
Perhaps a missed chance
In-step with the beloved, the old dance
Perchance regret? A reproachful glance?
Yet,
Gratitude in abundance
For all that was

This Present happens
Quietly, unobtrusively
As awareness dawns
Time itself lengthens
The mind stills
Joy springs
This heart melts
Merging into infinity

- 31 December, 2022




Monday, February 7, 2022

त्रिवेणियाँ : Confluences

 


 

 

 

पत्तियों की नसों में ज़िन्दगी के पैगाम

इस दिल की नसों में दौड़ता है प्यार

झूमता थिरकता है सारा जहाँ

Life's lessons in the veins of these leaves

Love courses through the veins of this heart

The whole world dances and rejoices

 

 

यादों की किताब के कुछ कोरे पन्ने 

पुराने दोस्तों से फिर मिले हैं

नई कहानियाँ अब साँसें ले रही हैं

 

Blank pages in the book of memories

Upon meeting old friends again

Are breathing life into new stories

 

 

काँच के टुकड़ों को बटोर के

दिल के टुकड़ों को समेट  के

वही तस्वीर ना सही, नयी उम्मीद ज़रूर बंधती है

- July 27 2020

Gathering up the shards from a broken mirror

Picking up the broken pieces of this heart

Frames a new hope alright if not the old picture


 

ज़िन्दगी तू क्यों इतने सवाल करती है

मौत तू क्यों खामोशी से जाती है

जवाब में ज़रा खुद से मिलवा दे

Life, why pose so many unanswerable questions?

Death why do you tiptoe around?

In your answer help me meet myself

 

 

आसमाँ के माथे पर है बादल की कलगी

पहाड़ों के पीछे चुप चुका है सूरज

शर्मिला चाँद भी चेहरा आधा ढाँपे घूमने निकल पड़ा है

The forehead of these skies crested by a cloud

The sun hiding behind the mountains

A shy moon has ventured out with a half-hidden face

 

 

पेड़ों की शाखों की तरह

बाहें भी रस्ता तकती हैं

की कब प्यार की बौछार में झूम उठें

Like the branches of a tree

These arms too look for a way

To come alive dancing amid a shower of love

 

 

चिड़ियों का चहचहाना लोगों का ज़ोर ज़ोर बतियाना

पत्तियों की सरसराहट लहरों की लगातार करवट

शोर सा भी लगता है संगीत भी

Birds twittering people chattering

Leaves rustling waves breaking

Feels like noise yet like music too

 

 

पानी की परली तरफ टिमटिमा रहीं हैं रोशनियाँ

स्याह से आसमानों पर टिमटिमा रहें हैं तारे भी

क्या पता उस छोर कौन सी कहानियाँ जन्म ले रहीं हों

Lights flickering across the waters

Stars flickering on an inky sky

Who can tell what stories are birthing on the other shore

 

 

सुबह इन आँखों में सपनों को सजा कर

दिन भर अरमानों को दिल में बसा कर

हर रात इस झाँकी को अलविदा कहते हैं

Dreams decorate these morning eyes

Desires are housed in this heart all day

Each night bidding adieu to this

enchanting tableau

 

 

Peeking through the blinds

Found the sun peeking through the clouds

Spectacular joy greeting us all around

- July 31, 2021

पर्दे  के पीछे से झाँक कर देखा तो

सूरज भी झाँक रहा था बादलों  के बीच से

आनन्द से सराबोर नज़ारा था चारों ओर

 

 

Silver ribbon through the verdant green

Frothy whites through rocks unseen

The mists appear yet the veils lift away

- September 19, 2021 Garfield Ledges hike 

 सब्ज़ हरे रंगों के बीच चाँदी की डोर

छुपी चट्टानों के बीच सफेद पानियों  का शोर

धुंध नज़र आती है मगर पर्दे हट जाते हैं