फिर कर शुरुवात ...

नन्हे क़दमों से शुरू किये

जो सफ़र कोमल हाथों के सहारे

लो आज मांगे साथ दुबारा

तुम नहीं तो जग बेगाना

फिर आ कड़ी हूँ मैं चौराहे पर

किस राह पर मंजिल लिखी हैं ?

काले बादलो से लगता हैं दर

तुम्हारे आँचल में समेट, होना हैं बेफिकर

याद हैं मुझे वो एक रूपये का सिक्का 

रोज जमा कर मुझे अमीर बना देना

कब बन गयी तीन रूपये का जुगाड़

कर दिया हर नसीयत तेरी बिगाड़

लो कहो ' फिर कर शुरुवात...'

ख्वाब शीशों का नहीं, यकीन दिला दो

तुम्हारी छोटी छोटी बातों में छिपा हैं खज़ाना

लो आज मांगे साथ दुबारा

तुम नहीं  तो जग बेगाना . . .

Pic courtesy : http://tweetymom.files.wordpress.com

A factual fiction!

After she had put down the receiver…

‘Now who was that?’

‘P… who else!’

She gets ready in 5 minutes flat and rushes to the door.

‘Will be back by elevenish…don’t keep dinner for me’.

‘The same old jeans…don’t you have something that flows?’

‘O Maa, I don’t have the time to wear all that….besides he is out at the gate’.

‘Your ears look bare’.

'Maa…I can’t choose...besides what’s the need? I could do without something dazzling or dangling for now.’

‘Instead of arguing with me, go and wear something that doesn’t dazzle or dangle’.

She rushes in…

‘And while you are at it, wear a bracelet or something…’

She shouts back, ‘but I’m wearing my watch!’

‘But you have two hands, no?’

‘I give up Maa…what’s the point?’

‘What point? I like P besides who else can tolerate you?’

‘Huh! S is waiting along with P and I can hear them honking….BYE’.

Point taken!

The two of them were returning from the meeting point. The ‘interested party’ and the relatives who had arranged the meet were also on their way home. Now, that was three disjoint search parties in search of three absolutely different things in life.

The two of them were silent till they reached home. They had loads of talking going on in their respective heads.

The evening back at home was rather uneventful except for the occasional ‘He was well dressed’ and ‘His mom looks kind’ to ‘looks like a happy family’

The next day in the morning...

'Your cousin may call up anytime. We need to be prepared with our reply’

She was tensed to the core and not a nerve had any flow. How could she reject somebody whom her cousin had hunted down with so much love…besides, her mom will start breathing only after her wedding

‘Maa..he was well dressed and my would be maa-in-law looked so kind’.

'What? You are saying yes to that jerk. I absolutely see no match here. What’s going on in your head?’

‘Maa..you are the one fretting over my marriage always...besides, how can we say a ‘no’ to them!’

‘Huh! Forget your cousin, forget my fretting...you think I’ll marry you off to some jerk? For God’s sake…I am your mother!’

Food for thought

After she had put down the receiver…

‘That was P, right?’

‘Yes’

‘Why don’t you let him speak? You were doing all the talking’.

‘That’s how P is!’

‘Oh yeah! So many years and you tell me he prefers to listen and that too to you.’

‘Maa, he had a few questions’.

‘Huh! And you were giving answers to all the questions in this world?’

‘Hehe..he did speak a bit but how could you hear him…next time I’ll on the speaker’.

‘What do you guys keep chatting all the time?’

‘Life, politics, business ideas….gossip, philosophy and yes, mothers too’.

‘Ah that! …and what about marriage?’

‘Yeah, we talk that too. He tells me about his follies and I tell him mine. We sort of console each other. Hehe’.

‘Look girl, intellectualizing and philosophizing is good but you need to be practical too’.

‘But dad had so many sessions devoted to all this at home. And don’t forget, you made loads of chicken for all his friends.’

‘Yeah…leave all that to the men; they have the license to waste time…….besides how long do you think the philosophizing would continue on an empty stomach?

Mum !!!

‘And where exactly do you think you are going?’

‘My evening walk?’

‘But, where are you heading? How long will you keep drifting? I’m getting older by the second’.

‘O maa! Not now…I don’t know whats written, do I?.... I’ll be back in an hour’.

‘Huh! But you chose to drift, didn’t you? You quit to find new paths!.....You knew what was written then? You just knew you were in a stalemate, didn’t you?’

‘NO, I didn’t know!…nor did I have any illusions…I just followed my heart’.

‘Huh! You don’t have the luxury, girl…Dreams are better at bedtime. Don’t chase an illusion. You will only fall flat with a void too tough to handle alone’.

‘Maa, I don’t know about my dreams or what I am in for. And the recession isn't helping either! The thing I’m sure about is, that, I came back for you….Bye..will be back in an hour…keep the dough ready'.