कुछ बूढ़े हो चले पर, हम में भी कभी चार्म था
मोस्ट्ली केयरिंग थे, पर कुछ कुछ कभी हार्म था
हैफ़ेज़ार्ड सी ज़िन्दगी थी, फिर भी एक नॉर्म था
घर अपना था फिर भी लगता एक डोर्म था
दोस्तों के बियर के संग चाय मेरा वार्म था
सोते अपने मर्ज़ी से थे पर जगाता अलार्म था
अब मुस्कुराते हैं, कैसे थे कैसे हो चले हैं,
रोल छोटे छोटे सही, पर बड़ा बड़ा काम था
कुछ तेरी नज़रों का फ़र्क़, कुछ ये शैदाई दौर है,
जिसे तू शद्दाई समझ बैठा, वो मैं नहीं कोई और है
क्या उर्दू से झगड़ा, क्या हिंदी से प्रेम
रंग है धरम का, सब पोलिटिकल गेम
भाषा को छोड़, परिभाषा में उलझ कर,
क्या मिलेगा हमें, जब हम सब हैं सेम?
आँसू से लिखें हैं रिश्तों की इबारत,
ख़ून से गाढ़ा है मेरे नज़र का पानी
सलाम उन्हें भी, भूल चुके हैं जो मुझको,
छोटी है, पढ़ लेना मेरी कहानी!
हज़ारों बार निकले हैं इसी गंज से, ऐशबाग़ से
चौक दूजा घर ही था, स्कूल, क़ैसरबाग़ से
बाग़ आलम से निकल जाते थे अमीनाबाद को
जब किताबों के लिए, रुके कुल्फी प्रकाश को
तहज़ीब क्या है ये पता शायद पढ़ाया था नहीं
झुक के मिलते ज़रूर थे, अजनबी पहले आप से
लखनवी क्या हम हैं? मालूम आजतक मुझको नहीं,
शर्मा या टुंडे है, सुना देखा पर रुक के खाया नहीं
लखनऊ बाज़ार है ऐसा कभी सोचा न था, पर यूँ कहूँ -
है दर्द जब जब हुआ इस शहर-ए-सुखं को जब कभी,
महसूस रग रग में हुआ है, इक दिल-इ-बर्बाद से
This was so personal to me but I would share a story, a true story as we lived through it. Corona pandemic, its being out of control has inspired me to share it.
After completing her Phd in Sanskrut Literature my elder sister opted to do Masters in Acharya, Karmkand. Most of her batch mates were there for a professional reason, were associated to some religious group. She was the only one who seemed to be there to learn it, or learn it the way it is meant to be learned. Over the next few months she developed an uncanny ability to figure out which astrology sign a person belongs to without knowing their birthday, just by studying their behavior over a period of time. She would look at someone's palm and tell us what its in there, without telling the person what it was. Except us she never told anyone anything neither took a single penny for it. No one else in her batch had that kind of ability. She was not unusual either.
By the end of her Masters (late 90s) she told us that she would die by year 2018. After scolding her, being stupid and asking her to focus her energy on other things, she ended up qualifying UP State Civil Services and chose a role with enforcement duties. She was also the most athletic one who ran 4x100 and part of the basketball team in her high school. We would have never imagined anything could happen.
As luck have it, She got diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in 2012. The stupid talk now seemed more vicious. 2017, the cancer reoccurred in her liver but the medication seemed to have controlled it and slowed it progression. We prayed for year 2018 to just pass.
For what seemingly appeared to be an unrelated issue, she had to go through a minor surgery in 2018. She left the house, rescheduled her meetings, to the hospital to be back next day. What could have been just a 15min surgery ended up nothing that we could have imagined. We lost her in 2018 just a few days after celebrating her 47th birthday.
We still don't know, how to explain, what it was but it was something that we can't explain. How could she know when she would leave us so far out? Is there an entity that exists we are not aware of? Any science that we have failed to theorize?
We continue to see people becoming rich making religion their livelihood, places of worship as their business address, astrology and palmistry as if they speak God, all 99% of them. None who can predict the time of their own death.
So does God exist? I think it does. It does exist, something exists, but its not the way we happen to perceive it as.
Don't mock this story, don't say its a lie, because we have lived through it. The only reason I shared is I am already emotionally overwhelmed by how this group that was created to celebrate union has ended up talking so many losses of life.
So I don't know if its Allah or Onkar Brahm, if we can connect with it through Namaaz or Ardaas or Tapasya. But if you are there, please save the humanity, save us from suffering.
तुम्हारी दौर में हूँ, इसलिए ग़ुमनाम हूँ यूँ बस,
कुछ लोग तब भी हैं, जिन्हें मैं याद आता हूँ
तुम्हारे नाम के जलसे लगा करते हों शहरों में,
मैं हूँ जो क़स्बों में बुलावे बाँट आता हूँ
