A tiny pair of naked brown feet on a black asphalt road
They hop! It's hot!

An old cycle on a deserted road. Stolen!
Accompanies a family of six. Drowsy!

The children taking turns to sit on the cycle
Four of them, teams of two each!

As the two children on the ground take turns
To wear one oversized chappal.

The tiny legs flapping it against the black asphalt
Break the mid summer silence with it's clatter.

All of a sudden it's strap falls apart, Unannounced!
And the system breaks down!

-

यूं ही पहलू मै बैठे रहो
आज जाने की ज़िद ना करो।

As I close my eyes I see the darkness change itno a hammer
Beating against my chest
as if my heart were a nail and my body a coffin.

On nights like this unable to defeat sleep
I walk across the room and switch the radio on,
Tonight as Farida Khanum sings, I look at her sleep.

Silence has built a wall between our eyes
And on nights like this I hurl futile words at it
In the hope that they would turn into stones and bring this wall crumbling down.

Rather they turn into black butterflies
flapping listlessly against a closed windowpane as they struggle to escape.

There is a river of apologies that runs through our bed
And we don't remember how to swim anymore.

As if we are soldiers on a battle ground
In which a cease fire has lasted long enough to forget why we were fighting at the first place.
But not long enough to forget that we are still enemies.

तुम ही सोचो जरा क्यों ना रोके तुम्हे
जान जाती है जब उठके जाते हो तुम
तुमको अपनी कसम जाने जा
बात इतनी मेरी मान लो
आज जाने की ज़िद ना करो।

And as Farida Khanum sings tonight
I wonder how do I beg someone to stay who is already here.

-

Maine kal raat sapne me samandar dekha aur shayad tumhe bhi
Samandar ke kinare hum humare bistar par baithe
Paas hi baccho ko ret me khelte dekh rahe the.
Hawa ke ek halke jhoke ne tumhare julfo ko bikher kar rakh diya
Tum mujhse kuch keh rahi thi magar in julfon ne tumhara chehra chupa rakha tha.
Achanak humare bacche bare hone lage
Aur woh kahi chale gaye, mere sapne se dur.
Tum baar baar bistar ke paas rakhi ghari ko dekh rahi thi,
Phir tumne ek haami bhari aur bistar se utarkar samundar ki taraf jane lagi,
Maine tumhe laakh pukara, magar tumne murke nahi dekha,
Aur yuhi dekhte dekhte tumhe lehro ne dhak liya.
Maine bistar ke khali sire ko dekha phir uske paas rakhi ghari ko
Ghari ab band ho chuki thi.

Sapna toota toh dekha bistar ka dusra sira abhi bhi khali tha
Magar ghari chal rahi thi.
Mujhe yaad hai kese kabhi subah ki dhoop tere chehre pe theher jaati thi
Tu har subah aaine pe chipki ek bindi apne sirhane lagati
Aur bare salike se apne baal sawarti.
Mai akhbar ke panno mai se kabhi tujhe dekhta toh kabhi mere is ghar ko.
Aur ek din yuhi sab kuch bikhar gaya
Mano achanak koi sapna toota ho.

-

Chali hai ye reet mohabbat ki, ai vatan
Ki jo bhi tujhse pyaar kare sar uthake kare
Seena taan ke kare, Chikh te chillate kare.

Magar hum jaise kaafir o ki mohabbat ka kya
Jo ishq kare toh nazar churake kare
Ghazal gaa ke kare, nazm suna ke kare.

Kabhi waqt nikalke dekh apne aadalat.o ke halat
Mohabbat kathghare mai hai aur nafrat azaad.
Teri aadalat meri daari se meri chahat ki saboot mangti hai
Yeh mujhse hi mere hone ki wajood mangti hai.

Mai inhe meri wafai ke daleel.e kyu du
Mai inhe kyu kahu ki kaise meri saari mushkile
Tere aakhon ke samandar me doob jaati hai
Ki kaise subah ki dhoop teri julfo ki saaye me bikhar jaati hai.
Kaise teri hatho ke chune par
Kabhi kabhi meri puri raat theher jaati hai.

Teri aadalat sirf kagaz maanti hai
Ye apni andar basi nafrat ko mere naam me dhundti hai.

Magar ye do pal judai koi nayi baat toh nahi
Jism hi toh qaid hai magar jajbaat toh nahi
Ghar hi toh jale hai ummeed toh nahi.

Waqt ka kya hai guzarti hai, guzar jayegi
Vale hi lambi ho hijr ki raat, seher ispe bikhar jayegi,
Meri jism si lipti ye beriya bhi pighal jayegi,
Kabhi naa kabhi toh teri yeh maang bhi
Mere inquilab se bhar jayegi.

-

It doesn't always need to be 3 am in the night
With you tossing and turning in the bed
For you to be reminded of the precise way
someone's eyes would lit up just a millisecond before they smile.

You could be sitting at the dinner table having a conversation
With a news anchor reading out reports about an ongoing riot in the backdrop,
And you could let your mind stray for just a little while

And wonder how different the sound of a policeman's stick hitting a barren ebony would be
From the sound of your lips touching mine

And how angry a crowd has to be to feel the same shimmer
That I felt while running my fingers down your hair

How different writing a poem describing all the things I love about you would be
From a protestor listing down all his demands without following any rhyme scheme as such

Or if shouting slogans of hate against a regime felt the same
As of hearing you whisper my name into my eyes.

And just for you to know when I made love to you
I was caught in the middle of a rebellion too.

-

Ernest Hemingway once said "Sometimes all you need to do is write once sentence. But make sure it is the truest sentence you know".
Here's mine. I love you.

-

ভালপোৱা বোৰ আধৰুৱা হৈ থাকিলে বাৰু কলৈ যায়
চাগে উভতি যায়।

নিজৰ সমস্ত আচবাব, বাচন বৰ্তন এৰি থৈ
পৃথিৱীৰ গৰ্ভত যিদৰে উভতি যায় কোনো সভ্যতা

দিনৰ দিনটো অফিচত বহি কাম কৰা কবি এজনৰ
কলমৰ পৰা যিদৰে উভতি যায় কলেজীয়া দিনৰ কবিতা।

মিছা প্ৰতিশ্ৰুতিৰ আঁৰত জনতাক হেজাৰ সপোন দেখুৱাই
নিজৰ অজ্ঞাতবাসত উভতি যায় যিদৰে কোনো নিৰ্বাচিত নেতা,

ৰাতিৰ অন্ধকাৰত ভাহি অহা কোনো ধৰ্ষিতাৰ চিৎকাৰত
উভতি যায় যিদৰে মানৱতা।

খৰালিৰ দিনত কোনো দৰিদ্ৰ কৃষকৰ আশাত চেঁচা পানী ঢালি
যিদৰে উভতি যায় এজাক কলীয়া ডাৱৰ,

কোনো ৰাজনৈতিক দলৰ ভুৱা আহ্বান শুনি
যিদৰে উভতি যায় সংখ্যালঘু সম্প্ৰদায়ৰ প্ৰতি থকা সহিষ্ণুতা।

তোমাৰ খোপাৰ পিছপিনে উভতি যায় যিদৰে
কপালত আহি পৰা দুডাল আবিন্যস্ত চুলি

কলৈ যায় নাজানো
পিছে ভালপোৱা বোৰ আধৰুৱা হৈ থাকিলে চাগে উভতি যায়।

-

Jo chipi hai tere sirhaane* ke silvat.o* me kahi
Woh ghazal mai sunata hu

Ki koi patjhar* hai teri in nigahon me
Jo mai patto sa bikhar jaata hu

Kahi khafa na ho jaaye meri chahat se koi
Mai andhero se ishq nibhaata hu

Ruth gayi hai yeh kismat jab se
Thoda jyada mai muskurata hu

Jo farmaya hoga kisi shayar ne teri muskurahat pe kabhi
Woh nazm mai gungunata hu

Ki kisi barsaat si barasti hai tasavvur teri
Mai koi sukhe aangan sa mehekta hu

Khwaab aur haqiqat ke bich ka ye faasla koun tay kare
Mai roz ye duri nibhaata hu.

*(Sirhana - forehead; silvat - crease; patjhar - autumn;)

-

The dim lit room doesn't have much to hold on to.
In the pale light of a bulb hanging from the ceiling
All I can see is a painter and his dead eyes fixed on a canvas.

The canvas standing against the lone window,
Shuts off the little light that could possibly enter that small room.
The light wasn't enough for me to see his face,
And yet I was quite familiar to his story.

It was autumn, last year
When he started drawing life on that blank sheet
Sprinkling the last drop of every color he had in his palette
On that canvas he carved every story he knew, each poem he had read
As if he were some Da Vinci and that painting his last supper.

And yet, come the time when the stalls were set
Much to his disbelief, thou just didn't like it.

And only if he knew of some other means to earn his bread
So for now, he needs to paint another picture, tell another story
And hope to find someone who could cherish it.

But here he is, in this dim lit room
Staring at that canvas, as he fails to figure out could have gone wrong
And the moment his eyes turn to me
As if pleading for help,
All I do is switch the bulb off.

-

Oh you homeless wayfarer
In this desolate wilderness
Whom do you seek for?

The night is forging in
The wind wails and moans in distress
The rain screams in agony
Amidst these destruction standing so alone
What is it that you long for?

Come inside, won't you?
For my asylum of solace feels empty tonight
And it seems like you have been cold for a long long time.

What is it that stops you from being gay?
Make love to me if that can help you to sleep
For this night that you yearn for
Is a mirage you are trying to create ripples in.

Why don't you open your mask?
Let me have a look at those scars
Who hit you? Was it your father?
Were you bullied? Don't tell me your uncle touched you

Oh please don't stammer, calm down
I haven't cried for decades you see
I am too fed up with this bubble of happiness
Tell me your story, teach my eyes to weep again.

Why do you insist to leave?
We could have fallen in love.
Alas! you homeless wayfarer
So lost and woe-begone.

-