तेरे मेरे बीच...

इक चिंगारी
शायद बरसों से दबी हुई आग से उठी
सही और गलत के धुंए को चीरती

कभी हाथ ना आने वाला धुआं
ज्यादा नज़दीक जाने पर जो जला देगा
मुट्ठी में घर नहीं है जिसका

होंठों से बस महसूस होता है जो
मोहताज नहीं जो रिश्ते का
क्योंकि जल के खाख ही होना है उसे

और फिर से जल जाना
और बस यूँ ही
बार बार जलना

जो भडकता है बार बार
पर वजूद की नहीं उसे ज़रूरत
हवा सा बेलगाम

छुओ तो आराम
बोलो तो बदनाम
दुनिया में अनजान
तेरी मेरी पहचान

ऐसा है ये
जो है हमारे बीच

नाम इसका जानते हैं बस
मैं
और तू

ऐसा है ये
जो है नींद सा मीठा
और गम सा गहरा

यही तो है बस
जो भी है ये

तेरे मेरे बीच
जिसे छूते हैं बस
मैं
और तू...

-घुमंतू पंछी

चमड़ी की चाह, प्यार का ढोंग!

स्पर्श के मोहताज हम तुम,
चमड़ी को चाहने वाले..
सुरंग तक की बस चाहें दौड,
या मांगे बांस की मार...

बीस मिनट का नाच,
फिर दस मिनट का जश्न.
दो पल का जादू,
फिर सुकून की लंबी सांस.

इसी मोह में,
सारे पहर,
दिन, दोपहर, शाम...

नस फाड़, कमर तोड़, छाती चीर,
खींचना है किसी तरह, कामना के कुए से,
सबको वही जाम.

बाज़ार से हो या व्यहवार से,
सोना चाहें बस किसी के साथ...

सारी दौड़, सारा पसीना,
आशिक और हसीना,
सब बिस्तर के नाम.

पर बोर्ड लटका है प्यार का,
सबके कमरों में,
अपने यार के नाम!

निकल आओ नकाबों से,
अश्लील कहलाती किताबों से,
उठा लो सत्य की ठेकेदारी,
समाज के ठेकेदारों के नाम!

शरीर जो कहता है
उसे भी पाक समझो
कम से कम अकेलेपन में,
खुद को बेनकाब समझो..

कम से कम अकेलेपन में,
खुद को बेनकाब समझो...

- घुमंतू पंछी

धुंए से दोस्ताना है मेरा...

जाने क्यूँ खुला आसमान झूठा सा लगता है
जाने क्यूँ हर सीधी सड़क गलत रास्ता लगती है
जाने क्यूँ कोई सुलझी बात घर नहीं करती मन में

शायद कुरेदना जिंदगी को
शौक पुराना है मेरा
जवाब जहाँ छुपे बैठे हैं,
उस धुंए से दोस्ताना है मेरा..

नज़र नहीं आती शरीफों में शराफत,
पर घुमक्कडों में ठिकाने ढूंढ लेता हूँ

जाने कैसे लोगों में आना जाना है मेरा,
खिड़कियों से दोस्ती,
दरवाजों से रिश्ता पराया है मेरा.

शायद कुरेदना जिंदगी को,
इक शौक पुराना है मेरा
जवाब जहाँ छुपे बैठे हैं,
उस धुंए से दोस्ताना है मेरा...

-घुमंतू पंछी

Transportation losses, fuck them!

I currently live in Daltongunj, a town in the Palamau district of Jharkhand, India. Since I have come here, I have been looking around only to find coal everywhere… The chaiwalas, nashtawalas, tandoor walas, all use coal… there are smokes rising out of almost every street round the clock… the whole town smells of coal… Black is the colour. Even before reaching here, it was pretty evident that this place has a lot of coal reserves. I was standing on the door of my coach in the train to Daltongunj, I was looking for how this place looks like. It was the first time I was coming here. I was expecting a lot of mountains which weren't in plenty. That part of the area looked like a plateau. The train stopped at Garhwa, a boy shouted “newspaper for 2 Rs”. Few more minutes and the train stopped somewhere in the middle. A goods train passed by from the right. There were at least 20 people over there around the tracks. As soon as the train went away, they started picking up the coal that had fallen out of the open bogies, trying to take back as much as possible. Everyone had a white cement sack on their backs to fill in their share of the fuel. Three and a half months later, I now realize that from the people’s point of view, there are no ‘transportation losses’, at least in coal. Let the losses rest in peace in the balance sheets of the miners. :)

Reminiscence. . .

i almost forgot that i had a blog. . .i didnt want to be this busy. . .but, should i complain? i have been doing so much in the last two semesters!! I have taken a few things for granted these days. . .I think I need to value them more so that I realise how privileged i have been to be here. . .listening to lectures that talk about social change, going to slums for studies and spending weeks in tribal villages in dense forests- I need to value all of this. People who knew me and would now be able to connect with me would be very few and I would always love them for that, but the most amazing thought that this time here in TISS has given me is that I understand why people do something. . .I dont hate or love them from how they react to me. . .i try to find out what is the reason they are behaving that way. . .

it has always been a feeling of deprivation inside me as I could never realise that I actually did not miss anything at all. . .the long power cuts in my grads college taught me to value energy conservation, living in small places away from cities reminds me of how peaceful the life there is and studying from a small college makes me value the access i have to resources here. . .i can find out my answers to most of the questions now. . .and more importantly, i question. . .i question right from why i live in an area that gets water and electricity to why i find the malls and fancy plastic packaging uneasing inside my head. . .i question every basic fact that i always took for granted. . .

i should not feel sad for not being able to visit my blog for long. . .i was knowing it. . .the world around me and my senses. . .

After all that happiness, what am I really missing at TISS??

-Bad people. Rude ones in particular.

-Bad teachers. Arrogant and ‘oppressive’ ones in particular.

-Ragging! I got so used to it in engineering.

-Cricket! I hate ‘em for not giving me hostel.

-Ugly girls. All here look decent.

-Long power cuts ending up in long guitar sessions.

-Dirty talks about sex, particularly those that subjugate women. They were so enlightening that they are still helping me for my group research!

-Bad English! I just loved it.

-And especially ‘my mother’! Encroaching on my freedom space! I feel so liberated here. I’ll feel like an inmate when I’ll go home!

Smell. Rediscovered.

What do you expect to smell when you walk out of your place to start your day, my people? Or the question can be asked this way, “what do you smell when you start your day?”

I think I can guess some of the answers.

Flowers? Those ‘divine’ incense sticks? :P Brown bread from the bakery? That lady’s hair in your building’s lift? Desi baghaar from your neighbour’s house?

Every time I start my day on Mondays and Tuesdays, when I go out for my field work, I get myself prepared to smell a few things. I’ll list them in the sequence of events that result in my encounter with them.

1. Walk out of the building. Smell the left over wet waste by the Municipality people.

2. Take an auto to Govandi station. Feel the smell from the slaughter house nearby.

3. Enter the galli to the platform number 2. Smell the stale snacks.

4. Stand on the platform number 1. Smell the eatables at the IRCTC stall ‘dominated’ by Wada pau!

5. ‘Try’ to get on the train to CST. Smell a zillion body odours.

Before mentioning the next event, I must tell you people that I LOVE the Tantra t-shirts for their sarcasm. And I strongly believe in them. One of them said, “Indian Railways- Bringing people closer”. I can feel the closeness every time I get on a train to CST in the morning. Now, there are different types of ‘closenesses’ that you can be a part of. You will be enlightened in the following notes.

6. Be a part of Indian Railways' "Bringing People Closer" campaign.Smell Navratna tel’ from apne bhai log!

Research statement that is bubbling up for long now:

Navratna tel is the largest selling hair oil among young, skinny and busy men that commute in locals to CST on the harbour line!

7. If it’s your day, have armpits on your face- smell them. You don't have a choice.

Yeah. I know, I sound yucky at times!

8. Get down at the ‘task station’. You are out of vacuum now. Smell oxygen. Yes, it has a smell.

9. Go to slums for field work. Smell garbage again.

at times, hear the tales of people getting numb to those odours. Get shocked.

10. Eat and have tea with budding politicians. Smell food.

11. Come back to the room. Wash your face. Smell some dettol.

Sleep. Smell peace. :)