Passerby

I was but a passerby

I saw you but from a frosted window pane,

A city came alive

You never let me in,

Into your many lives

I stood looking at all the things you were,

Your beauty mesmerized,

And just when I felt I knew you,

You left me again surprised.

 

I was but a passerby,

When you pushed past me to get to work,

And when you sat staring at the distant tide,

When you aimlessly walked home

 

I was but a passerby,

When you cruelly crushed dreams everyday

Of a million hopeful eyes,

And weaved new ones every night

 

I was but a passerby,

When you stayed awake all night,

In the alleys that breathed a different life,

Of the underbelly of dark, dark lies

 

In a million ways, in all these days,

I hated you with all my heart

Till now no more hate remains

And I leave now simply because,

I’m no longer just a passerby.

Khyal…

जब अधूरे चाँद पर ले जाओ,

कस के मेरा हाथ थम लेना ज़रूर,

किनारों पर से गिर न जाऊ कही…

जभी मेरे लिए coffee बनाओ,

तोह फून्ख मारना ज़रूर,

होंठ न जल जाये कही…

किसी शाम मेरी अगर याद आ जाये,

तोह आँखे बंद  कर लेना ज़रूर,

लम्हा न खो जाये कही…

यु ही कही बैठे हुए आँखे नम हो जाये,

तोह मेरा नाम ले लेना ज़रूर,

तन्हाई न छु जाये कही…

A little bit of you

A night so silent, not a wind in sight,
A darkness so plain, falling over the night,
In the stillness, something was amiss I knew,
All I wanted was, a little bit of you

The mountains called and the chill descended,
A bat flew by, the quietness offended,
A soft sorrow crept as the star remained unmoved,
If only I had a little bit of you

Somewhere far away, wind gasped,
And just for a moment, a leaf dances,
Once again, I could hear the owl hoot,
It was all here, except, a little bit of you

Another FYBMM…

Another day will dawn and Wilson College will throw its gates open.

ID-cards in their hands, dreams in their eyes and not a clue in their head, they’ll step in.

Another FYBMM will embark on their journey just like we did.

They’ll have that first lecture with Sudhakar Sir again and they’ll be scared of him…

They’ll make those quick friendships, those sudden ‘love’ affairs, started by some teasing…

They’ll spend rainy afternoons by the beach and of course,

Click those pictures…

They’ll have fun through their first Polaris, the ones in Security…the ones in 104…

They’ll discover themselves as they discover projects

The first night up before Suddhu’s (that’s what they’ll learn to call him) submission

It won’t help really. They’ll come five minutes after 7:30…the train was late of course!

Then they’ll spend the next two days getting him to accept the project.

Phone bills will shoot up, hours spent at home will plummet.

Parents will worry, wardens will warn and they’ll be at this one’s place…chilling…

The fights will happen too, big ones, small ones, i-can’t-do-another-project-with-him ones…

The breakups will happen too.

Bitter and frivolous…and we’ll be friends again

They’ll be divided and united…and maybe someday, they’ll boycott an exam of their own…

All this, before the first I.V.

Another FYBMM will embark on their journey just like we did.

I don’t know if this is their story or ours…

But it sure is one helluva story, isn’t it?

Moonlight

I see the moon every night, as he chugs along the train with me

He used to remind me of you, when you weren’t around

But today he seems to read my mind and refuses to smile at me

Half hearted he shines in the sky, hiding behind a cloudy veil.

The moon is incomplete tonight, just like my thoughts

I decide now and in a flash,

And delete the memories and lose everything with the click of a button

How I hate technology…

It needed to be done long ago, long before I ever started thinking

But it didn’t; because you didn’t believe me

I often said it would end, and often I warned you,

You refused to believe me and denied my fears

It’s happening now; less to you than me

But maybe you were right, because there never was anything to end

Maybe I made up that pretty illusion…

I hung on to it with all my heart, only to watch it die away in the moonlight

I feel happy now, happy to cut myself away

The cut might hurt, but only for a few days…

There is no cure, but to cry myself to sleep tonight,

And wake up tomorrow and talk to you

To you it will seem the same and nothing will have changed

We’ll meet months later, smile politely, ask how we are

We’ll even share a cursory embrace

You will never know, of tonight

Again I saw the moon tonight, as he chugged along the train with me

I thought of all this and smiled at the moon,

But he refused to smile back at me.

Poems that Rhyme

The shadow of a pen on paper in the candle light

A lock of hair that just won’t stay right

Old greeting cards that say ‘I love you’

And pretty pictures that say ‘Seasons Greetings’ too

Paper napkins in coffee shops with tea

With a little piece of cake for you and me

Children who scribble with crayons on the wall

And a little lamp burning in a lonely hall

Memories of warmth and a nice evening walk

Meaningless conversations and a meaningful talk

Lying down on the cold floor in summers

Of rock bands I don’t get- Guitarists and drummers

Waiting for it to rain by the window sill

Waiting for the clouds to loom over the hill

A song from about ten years ago

A wildflower voice and away I go

Of missing someone in the dead of the night

The shadow of a pen on paper in the candle light

The Stuff You Write Poems About

Of drops of rain falling on the earth,
Of love and faith and joy and hurt.
Of fire in the night in a field somewhere,
Of pretty garden trees and eyes that stare.
Of a million stars shining on the night sky,
Of a spider trying as much as he can try.
Of walruses and carpenters and daffodils and all,
Of tigers and hunters and Humpty Dumpty’s fall!
Of dreams of believing you can fly,
Or maybe the scream of a butterfly.
Of hopes and dreams and a lonely night,
Of victory and defeat in the same fight.
Of strangers and wonderlands far away,
Of loss and love and growing up someday.
Of cold winter afternoons spent reading,
Of warm summers with friends singing,
And snuggling in someone’s warm fuzzy coat,
And sometimes of poems, other people wrote!

Sunshine

I held her for the first time,
Like sunshine’s first kiss,
I felt so complete now,
Nothing in life amiss.

She let out a silent yawn,
And twitched those tiny toes,
And whisked away in a breath,
All my worries, all my woes.

The world seemed brighter now,
As I held that fragile body of hers,
Like sunshine came from behind the clouds
And melted frosty winters.

I wanted her to stay little forever,
And always be by my side
and today is the when I begin to dread,
Being the father of the bride.

Another Chance

I don’t remember mom and dad,
I don’t remember all we had.
I don’t remember sweet dreams,
School notebooks and football teams.
No one to wipe off the tears,
No one to fight all my fears.
Never had a big warm bed,
Or anyone to stroke my head.
I want to sing I want to dance,
All I want is another chance.

Another tear, another day,
Another breath, I take away.
Another tune, another song,
Another right, another wrong.

I roamed the streets everyday,
Blank eyes, and nothing to say.
Used, abused and tear-stained,
My face so immune to all the pain.
After a while I forget to cry,
Violated, and feeling undignified.
Every face in the crowd was his,
Every voice in the noise was his.
I wish I could leap, I wish I could prance.
I wish I could get another chance.

Another tear, another day,
Another breath, I take away.
Another tune, another song,
Another right, another wrong.

And as I lie here, alone on the street,
Wrapped up in rags, and barefeet,
I look up at the sky and ask all the stars,
Tell me, will I get another chance?
Another chance…
Another chance…

Yaad

गर्मियों की एक रात में, बुझी हुई candle,
उसकी जलती महक, तेरी याद दिलाती है।
भीगे बालों से टपकता पानी,
उसकी भीगी हुई सी धार, तेरी याद दिलाती है।
जब अचानक से बिजली चली जाती है,
अजब से अंधेरे की आहट, तेरी याद दिलाती है।
खामोश कई वह लम्हे, जब यूही बैठे रहते है,
उन लम्हों की खामोशी, तेरी याद दिलाती है.
पुरानी कोई किताब खोलकर, पीले मुरझाये पन्नों में,
कोई अपनी सी कहानी, तेरी याद दिलाती है।
बारिशों के पहले पहले दिनों में,
हर बूँद की छलकने की आवाज़, तेरी याद दिलाती है।
जब कभी तेरी याद आती है, येही सोचा करते है,
कि सिर्फ़ याद ही क्यों आती है?