आज फिर मेरे शहर में आया हूं

सालों बाद आज फिर मेरे शहर में आया हूं,

अपने साथ कई पुरानी यादें लाया हूं।

स्कूल की दीवारें चमक रही है, इमारत पहले से बड़ी है,

जहां साइकिल स्टैंड थी वहां आज बसें खड़ी है।

स्कूल का गेट वही है, बस उसमें थोड़ा जंग देख पाया हूं,

सालों बाद आज फिर मेरे शहर में आया हूं।

***

वो खुला मैदान जिसमे पापा ने साइकिल चलाना सिखाया था,

मालूम है मुझे, जान बूझकर उन्होंने मुझे गिराया था।

मां ने डांटा था उन्हें मेरे चोट पे मलहम लगाते हुए,

लेकिन दुनिया से लड़ने के लिए तैयार उन्होंने ही मुझे बनाया था।

चलते चलते पुराने घर के चौखट से टकराया हूं,

सालों बाद आज फिर मेरे शहर में आया हूं।

***

दोस्त कभी न छूटेंगे इस गलत फहमी में रहते थे,

किसी भी खेल में एक दूसरे से हार हम न सहते थे।

वही दोस्त आज सिर्फ वॉट्सएप ग्रुप में मिलते है,

अपनी अपनी जिंदगी की उलझने अकेले ही सुलझाते है।

जाने पहचाने शहर में सिर्फ अंजान चेहरे ही देख पाया हूं,

सालों बाद आज फिर मेरे शहर में आया हूं।

***

पार्क का वो बेंच टूट गया जहां शामें मेरे साथ बिताती थी,

याद है क्या तुम्हें, तुम मुझको कितना सताती थी?

जामुन का पेड़ वहीं है जिससे तोते बीज गिराते थे,

मेरी कमीज़ से तुम वो जमुनी दाग मिटाती थी।

तुम्हारे लिए शायद मैं बीते दिनों का आज बस एक साया हूं,

सालों बाद आज फिर मेरे शहर में आया हूं।

***

शहर शायद इतना बदला सा न लगता, अगर लोग पुराने होते,

उन लम्हों को फिर जी पाते तो यादें नई पिरोते।

फ़िलहाल मेरे बचपन के गलियों में फिर से समाया हूं,

सालों बाद आज फिर मेरे शहर में आया हूं।

Pune to Delhi during the pandemic - ordeal of a COVID phobic passenger

The dawn of 2021 brought with it a new basis of division among humankind; one section remained as scared and cautious of the virus as it was during last year and another stepped out to face the world with a ‘que sera sera’ attitude. I fall in the former category. After not budging from the safety of my Pune abode for the past eleven months, I started feeling the pressure from my wife who had to bear with me during this tenure. Instagram posts from her vacationing friends and family drove her to become more assertive. Eventually, I had to bow before her plan of us to fly to Delhi with our four-year-old kid.  

I was prepared for D-day; in fact, more than prepared. The first step was to book an open autorickshaw with a safety partition between the driver and passenger seat, instead of a closed air-conditioned cab, to drop us at the airport. Needless to say, I sprayed ample sanitizer on the seats and most other interior parts of the autorickshaw before stepping into it. All was going well, albeit with a slight apprehension in my mind, till we reached the airport. 

The first sight of the long queues comprising of hundreds of people standing inches away from each other, leading up to the entry gates, made me almost abort our travel plan and return to base. But the pinch on my arm by my wife, who probably read my mind, and the pinch I could foresee on my pocket by the non-refundable over-expensive flight tickets drew me into one of the dreaded queues. I spent the next forty-five minutes in the queue policing people sporting no masks or masks below nose and chin levels. 

“Seat numbers 14E, 24B, and 26B for you, sir. Have a nice journey,” said the airline staff who handed over our boarding passes. “But I am traveling with a child…”

“Sorry, we cannot help you as the flight is fully booked. Please try to adjust with the passenger in your adjacent seat after boarding the flight. Have a nice journey.”

Worried, I headed towards the security gates, where it was a complete bloodbath! Distances between people in the queues had shrunk and masks had slid further down from the nose. I spent the next thirty minutes in the queue again policing people sporting no masks or masks below nose and chin levels.

Finally, while boarding the flight I saw a ray of hope when the airline staff started handing over a PPE kit including a mask, a face shield, and sanitizer pouches to each passenger. Further, the security personnel ensured that everyone was wearing these properly before entering the flight. However, as soon as I entered the flight, I realized that we weren’t the only family with allocated seats strewn across the length of the airplane. There was a commotion with people negotiating with each other to ensure that they could sit with their respective family members. Heated discussions and frustration had brought off quite a few masks and face shields. Putting aside all thoughts about COVID, I jumped into the commotion, but fully armored with my PPE kit. 

Much to my surprise, even though the commotion caused a bit of delay in take-off, every family in the flight managed to negotiate adjacent seats for their members. The air-hostess announced, “We have kept complimentary bottles of drinking water for you at the rear end of this airplane. To avoid contact, we would request you to help yourself,” which triggered a stream of people to head towards the spot. Till now passengers had started complaining about the uncomfortable PPE robes, vision-restricting face shields, and suffocating masks which resulted in quite a few people strolling in the aisle with exposed nose and lips. Tired, but not yet entirely defeated, for the umpteenth time I continued policing people sporting no masks or masks below nose and chin levels.

That’s when the next announcement happened, “Ladies and gentlemen. We have reached cruising altitude. Complimentary food and beverage service will commence in approximately fifteen minutes.” That was it. This ironic revelation put to rest every remaining COVID protection gear on the airplane and my already dwindled hope of not contracting the virus that day. However, to look at the brighter side, if I get out of this one scratchless, I just might turn into the latter category with a ‘que sera sera’ attitude. Only time will tell. Till then I will persuade myself and my family to forgo such complimentary food and beverage services and remain cocooned inside our PPE kits.

मेरे शहर में...

सड़को पर गिरे सूखे फूल और पत्ते अब बिखरते नहीं है,
खिड़की पे बैठे परिंदे अब किसी से डरते नहीं है,
मंदिर की आरती, मस्जिद की अज़ान अब गूंजा करते नहीं है,
घरों के ऊपर से हवाई-जहाज़ भी अब गुज़रते नहीं है,
किसी का पेट भरने के लिए मुर्गियां अब मरते नहीं है,
शायद मेरे शहर में अब लोग बसते नहीं है।

काम छोड़के अपने बच्चों के साथ लूडो और सांप-सीढ़ी खेलते है,
Video call से हर रोज़, जी हाँ हर रोज़, माँ-बाप की खबर लेते है,
Building के चौकीदार को, दूर से ही सही, "रोटी खा ली?" पूछते है,
पड़ोसियों को कम पड़ जाये तो घर का दूध, सब्ज़ी बांटते है,
अपने जमा पूंजी का गुल्लक Doctors Welfare Fund में डालते है,
शायद मेरे शहर में अब इंसान बसते है।

#coronavirus

Never again will I complain about...

The five o’ clock alarm for the gym,
Monday mornings at work,
The long and bumpy drives to office,
Guests arriving unannounced,
Watching a mediocre movie at the theater,
Noisy kids playing in my neighborhood,
Not getting my favorite table at the restaurant,
Overstretched queues in the supermarket,
Store-hopping endlessly with my wife,
Friends stealing sips from my glass of beer,
The boring party I am pulled into,
A hug from my sweaty friend,
Dearth of 'me' time.
…never again!

#coronavirus

तो दिल्ली में हो तुम

गालियां और शोर-गुल सुनके भी मुस्कुराये,
Mask पहनी हुई लडकियां सिर्फ आँखों से केहर ढाये,
लड्डू उठाओ और घी से उंगलियां moisturize हो जाए,
Supplement में दुसरे शहरों के main newspaper से ज़्यादा पन्ने पाए,
तो दिल्ली में हो तुम।

हर मोड़ में एक ऐतिहासिक इमारत तुमसे टकराये,
अकबर, औरंगज़ेब Roads के नाम बदले, प्रगति मैदान प्रगति मैदान ही कहलाये,
Malls में घुमते हुए सरोजिनी, लाजपत नगर और करोल बाग़ की याद सताये,
Waiter खाने के साथ complimentary लाल-सिरके वाला प्याज़ लाये,
तो दिल्ली में हो तुम।

सब दुर्गा पूजा, गुरपुरब और छत्त same जोश में मनाये,
अपनी गाडी छोड़ metro से सफर करने को दिल ललचाये,
बाजू में बैठा अजनबी घंटो तक केजरीवाल के किस्से सुनाये,
नवंबर ढलते ही Old Monk प्रकट हो जाए,
तो दिल्ली में हो तुम।

The message

The 'click' of the main door's latch-lock woke her up. With a sweep of her hand on the bed, she confirmed that Aadi had stepped outside the house. In her phone, she checked the time; it was 1:30 AM. He had quit smoking a year ago... but fights, like the one they had last evening, often provided him excuse to have flings with his old addiction.

Putting the mobile phone away, she closed her eyes, but sleep seemed to have distanced itself from her. She too was disturbed. Not merely because of the recent fight they had but owing to the high frequency of such fights they had been having since the past few months. Has this relationship run its course? Is it time for her to move on? Has she already given too many second chances to Aadi? This chain of thoughts was interrupted by the sound of main door opening.

Footsteps and smell of cigarette-smoke mixed with mint filled the bedroom air. Aadi slid inside the blanket and wrapped his arm around her. This concoction of fragrance, which she once used to find sexy on Aadi combined with the warmth of his embrace, felt so right. She hadn't experienced this feeling since a long time. Perhaps she had been a little too hasty in writing off this five-years old relationship. With a smile, she snuggled into his arms and set off to sleep, only to be interrupted by the message notification of her phone.

"I came down for a stroll & lost my door key. Am looking for it in the apartment compound... might take a while," read the message from Aadi.

© footprints-on-sand.blogspot.com

ढूंढा, पाया

Facebook की wall में, Mobile phone के scroll में, शहर के trendy mall में,
ढूंढा मैंने सुकून.
Beach के walk lone में, तालाब में फेंके stone में, No wifi zone में,
पाया मैंने सुकून.

Tinder की swipe right में, pub की disco night में, love at first sight में,
ढूंढा मैंने प्यार.
Kishore के गीत में, bike की back seat में, college के alumni meet में,
पाया मैंने प्यार.

एक ऊंची पगार में, latest model की car में, brand endorsed by top star में,
ढूंढी मैंने ख़ुशी.
Healthy lifestyle में, फुरसत की उस while में, अपनों की smile में,
पायी मैने ख़ुशी.

© footprints-on-sand.blogspot.com