प्रेम तुम्हारा... छोटू सा

प्रेम दर असल चिड़िया का
घोंसला है
पेड़ पर
जिसका रूप न रंग कोई
नियम विधान न मर्यादा।

प्रेम ऐसा ही कुछ
घर है तुम्हारा
मेरे मन में,
जन्म से
जात-पांत से परे
उम्र के बँधन बिना
परदेश-विदेश की सीमा क्या
नियम विधान न मर्यादा।

ऐसा ही कुछ प्रेम तुम्हारा
मेरे मन के घोंसले में
दुबका बैठा है
छोटू सा!  

The pleasures of Mud-bathing

The Tiffin-Box Car

Happy Dashehra

The only place where I don't hate Gandhi!!

The Scary Resort

James Bond aala re...

Child Line

My students called the Child Line for rescue from my courses. 

I'm glad the helpline is for 'children' only, not for 'students' ;)

Baseball in India... where else!!

The national championship of

the national game of erstwhile free-market capitalist nation

in the last bastion of erstwhile communist state

Rules for watching children below 10

Oh damn it!! I came here only to see a kid below 10 with your telescope. 

Ok, can I see a kid of 11 with the telescope?

P.S. - This is from a list of rules in planetarium at Ujjain, which prohibits children below 10 from seeing into the telescope. Or perhaps, they actually wanted us not to see a kid below 10 years of age with their telescope.

दिल की दवा वाला पहलवान...

सुकून-ए-दिल इतना ही अगर आसाँ होता
ये मकाँ भी मकाँ होता न बयाबाँ होता 

Some worshipper that was...

It was funny, innocent, idiotic, and ridiculous - 

all at the same time.

But some Ganesh devotee that was to write such eulogy.

Oh such a Long Long Tale...!!!

अब आगे इसमें तुम्हारा भी नाम आयेगा
जो हुक्म हो तो यहीं रोक दूँ फ़साने को!!

Jaipur - 1 Road, 2 Scenes, 3 Years ago

 

  श्वानों को मिलता दूध-वस्त्र, भूखे बालक अकुलाते हैं

मां की हड्डी से चिपक, ठिठुर जाड़े की रात बिताते हैं

युवती के लज्जा-वसन बेच जब ब्याज चुकाये जाते हैं

मालिक जब तेल-फुलेलों पर पानी-सा द्रव्य बहाते हैं

पापी महलों का अहंकार तब देता मुझको आमंत्रण,

 

छोटू और...

छोटू की कित्ती सारी यादें 

शुभ जन्माष्टमी

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे

The lilies of memoryland

Future of our nation :)

The Case of Curious Pigeon

मकाम-ए-सुकूँ

खैर दोज़ख में मय मिले ना मिले

शैख साहिब से जाँ तो छूटेगी

another Friendship Day.... कुछ दोस्तों से वैसे मरासिम नहीं रहे

...I have changed my name so often,
I've lost my wife and children

but I have many friends,
and some of them are with me.

There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
but I must go on;
the frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.

Nagraj's Headquarters

Life is a Beach

रंगीन छिपकली

यूँ जो तकता है आसमान को तू

कोई रहता है आसमान में क्या

Bird-feeders in Old Ahmedabad

चिड़ियों को दाने
बच्चों को गुड़-धानी
दे मौला

आवेज़ा

जाने उस ज़ुल्फ़ की मौहूम घनी छांव में
टिमटिमाता है वो आवेज़ा अभी तक के नहीं

बाढ़

उफ़ ये भीगा हुआ अखबार
पेपर वाले को कल से 'चेन्ज' करो

पाँच सौ गाँव बह गये इस साल

World Population Day

Message on a Bottle

Tata had launched this mineral water brand - Himalayan few years back. Recently, I noticed these wrappers on the bottle - some range of message and designs. After reading one, I ended up reading all of them and liked this one the most, which reads:
I look back on life - it's funny how things turn out. You, a connoisseur of fast food, now gaze at water that took years to make. And I, some of the purest water in the world, stand here, trapped in a bottle. Come, enjoy the irony.

400th on 235th

Best wishes to the newest civilization
from the oldest civilization :)

Velvet on Baobab

Above is a flower of baobab tree, so velvety - soft and smooth.

Below are the two possible destinies of this flower.
It may become a delicious fruit (like on the left) or
it may dry up to wait for a sad demise (like on the right).

Life is so much like a velvety flower!
I always thought of a 'fruit'ful life... and yet,
here I am - all dried up and waiting for...!!

Mangoes in my backyard

God is Dead.

God is dead.
God remains dead.
And we have killed him.

And then, Man created God

I don't know whether Man is the best creation of God or not,
but God is definitely the best creation of Man.

The Story of Adam - the Son of God - 7

And then,
when the God was done creating Man...

The Story of Adam - the Son of God - 6

The Story of Adam - the Son of God - 5

The Story of Adam - the Son of God - 4

The Story of Adam - the Son of God - 3

The Story of Adam - the Son of God - 2

The Story of Adam - the Son of God - 1

World Environment Day

World Environment Day... if we do not improve at a maddening pace, we'll soon be lost like them. Alas! There will be no one to remember either.