My experiments with love - an autobiography

मेरे िजगर पर वार कर गये
उनकी नज़रों के ballastic missile
यूं िखंचा मेरा िदल उनके िदल की तरफ
जैसे nucleus की तरफ िंखचता है nucleophile

देखते ही देखते िदलों का ऐसा rearrangement हो गया
मेरे िदल का delocalisation permanent हो गया
जहां कभी था एक धड़कता हुआ िदल
मेरे सीने का वो orbital अब vacant हो गया
धीरे धीरे िदल का िफर िदल से agreement हो गया
और प्यार का bond, coordinate से covalent हो गया

पर िजस reaction की feasibilty पर मुझे इतना गुमान था
उस reaction की reversibility का नहीं तिनक अनुमान था

अब तनहा पड़ा इस jar में,
सोच रहा संसार में
stability और affinity में
कौन िकसका आधार है
periodic table में जो नीचे हैं
bonding में भी वो पीछे हैं
क्यों छीने हे प्रभु तुमने
उनके सारे अिधकार हैं

Rasta hai dhuaan dhuaan sa

manzil ki khabar nahin

Safar hai lamba aur

saath koi hamsafar nahin

Dhundh ke parde par yaadon ke saaye

saath chalte hain kuch door

phir kho jaate hain kahin

Aye kaash ke phir milen hum

kisi raah ke kisi mod par

phir se banayein ek nai pehchaan

phir chal padein unhi ajnabee raaston par

dhoondtey hue apne hi pairon ke nishaan

bas chand lamhon ke liye

gul se shabnam ki mulakaat hoti hai

jab kisi ka din nikalta hai

to kisi ki raat hoti hai

An ode to the woman in ankita's sketch

Wish I knew where she abides
What are the fears that she hides
Behind this unimpassioned face
The frailty behind this stoic grace
I wish that I knew.

Though devoid of colors
Yet so full of lure
Is there a contempt in her eyes?
Or she just wants to be sure
I wish that I knew

Is this ivy or myrtles
She wears in her braided hair
In her heart is love which kindles
Or just a fleeting flare

How I wish, that I knew !

A morass of blues

My window overlooks a landscape
But I keep it closed to ward off the chilly air
And for the view outside I don’t much care
For I know only too well what lies out there--
An old road, on which I never saw any one pass,
By the white mist, shrouding a blue morass

Often in sleepless nights I walk up to the window
With cold, lifeless darkness pervading outside
The glass of window mirrors only what’s inside
Thinking about the blue morass
And the road no more in use
In the panes I see reflected
Pangs of failures and a morass of blues

This morning, shafts of golden light
Filtered to my bed through the window’s sieves
With disbelieving wonder I heard
Punctuated by calls of cuckoo bird
Distant rustling of the leaves
Curious, I opened the window
So sure of finding the abandoned road and the blue morass
But what I saw was clear blue sky spread over lush green grass

Bhoot hun main

shunya se jab jeevan nikal gaya
to baki reh gaya kaal
jhoot, paap aur bhay ka janjaal
maut jahan nigalti jeevan ko
aise bhayawah shamshanon mein
ghor ghane biyabanon mein
barfeeli sard chattanon mein
soonsaan makanon mein
rehta main har jagah hun
milta par kahin nahin hun
paida hota mann mein
mann ka par main waham nahin hun

shaakh se gira k patton ko
fiza ne darakht se kaha

'kitne badal gaye ho tum'