Apne haath ka bana khana- mattar mushroom

Apne haath se bana khana khane ka maza hi kuch aur hai....:-)

 

Unbalanced Life..

Life is strange ... when and how the bad time will come.... nobody can guess..... A woman came in Bersarai about 2 months ago ... her looks and attire gives an impression that she is a mentally disturbed woman.... and everyone recognize her as mad woman.... even I thought the same... but she never does anything so strange that she can be labelled as insane..... She quietly roams here and there in the market and always looks lost in her thoughts....

One night when I was returning from JNU.... she stopped me and asked something.... She was speaking Bangla ... I told her that I do not understand Bangla….but I guess she does not understand Hindi....But through her action I understood what she was trying to ask ... from where I'm coming so late at night ?... and I had dinner or not? ... I did not understand how I should respond.... Through gesture I told her that I have had dinner ... when I asked her whether she had dinner or not..she showed me her packed food she kept in her bag and told me that she will eat later... after that we walked together for sometime without saying anything ... then I went ahead and came back to my room ... Since then I sometimes buy her something to eat ...And she quietly takes without looking at me…...

As the time passed people started recognizing her... and she started recognizing other people of Bersarai.... she even started talking to people ... I don’t know whether anyone understands what she says as she speaks Bangla only...But without any concern she keeps on speaking whatever comes to her mind….and most of the time she keeps smiling....

One morning when I was going to office ... I saw that she has cut her hair and they were cut in a weird manner…I think she cut them herself…. On that day…first time I saw her face clearly...

Every time when I return from JNU at night ... I find her sleeping under a shop in Bersarai.... along with 2 stray dogs that sleeps on her blanket….. But it always looks like…. a whole family is sleeping together...

Yesterday I was coming back fron JNU a bit early... as it was so cold and I wanted to reach my room as soon as possible... As I was walking through the Bersarai market somebody called from back….I stopped and turned around to see…that was the same woman... today she has not slept yet…as I reached close to her….I don’t know from where….2 dogs came running towards me ... I got scared...as I was about to run that woman told them something in Bangla and they immediately stopped barking.....they were the same dogs who sleeps on blanket every night.... Then this woman asked me to help unfold her bed spread….She had a new Rjzai(quilt)... as I started spreading it ... she told me somebody gave her this Razai today... she was looking very excited to sleep on her new Razai in this bone chilling cold… after spread the Razai as I was about to go…she grabbed my hand and said .... ‘Please sit with me for a while’ ... It was like when somebody gets a new house and invites his friends to see the new place.... That was the joy and feeling on her face ... I sat down there .. she asked me my name and said something else also…which I did not understand... I don’t understand Bangla completely…. but I wanted to understand every word she was uttering...... she asked my name and age ... I understood that she was asking my name but the word she used for age…I did not understand…and after giving so much pressure on her head she said “age” in English.

This is how the conversation went….

Lady: What's your name?
Yogesh: Yogesh
Lady: Jogesh ... full name?
Yogesh: Yogesh Kumar
Lady: Jogesh Kumar ....then?
Yogesh: nothing else ... just Yogesh Kumar
Lady: arre ......there must be some Mukherjee, Sharma, Chatterjee after Kumar ...
Yogesh: No ... nothing…just Yogesh Kumar
Lady: Well..ok ... and age (in bangla)?
Yogesh :????
Lady: arre ... age (in english)?
Yogesh: oh ... 26 years
Lady: Well ... you are very young….you do some job?
Yogesh: yes ... what's your name?
Lady: I do not remember.... I forgot everything.... I'm a mad woman ...
Yogesh: no…who said you’re mad... You're not mad ... but how you forgot everything?
Lady: I had an accident ...near india gate …..a year ago...
Yogesh: Oh ... What kind of accident?
Lady: I came under a car ... my head smashed and teeth broken ... and after that I forgot everything ...
Yogesh: Now you don’t remember anything from past?
Lady: yes... a little bit I remembered ...
Yogesh: What?
Lady: I had 2 kids ... very small ...

(She told me other things about her kids and family but I did not understand)

Yogesh: What is your age?
Lady: 43 .... In February I have my b’day .... I 'll be 44 .... Now you go ...
Yogesh: Why?
Lady: Go ... otherwise they will beat you ...police.
Yogesh: Oh no ... nobody will beat me ...
Lady: No ..... They have big sticks..they will beat you
Yogesh: they ever beaten you??

Lady: No no ... you go now ...
Yogesh: Well ... you go to sleep now....
Lady: ok ... go…


After that I came back to my room….and now that small conversation is repeatedly playing like a struck tape in my head…...how a person's life change suddenly….. nobody cares .... Now the world looks so superfluous to me....there are some people who have all the comforts of the world….and some doesn’t even have a blanket to cover his/her body

We are really lucky that we have a home ...

For my 'pritam'

Its a poem written by Imroz for Amrita Pritam.

सामने कई राहें बिछी थी...

मगर कोई राह ऐसी नहीं थी

जिसके साथ मेरा अपना आप चल सके

सोचता.....कोई हो मंजिल जैसी राह

वह मिली तो जैसे

एक उम्मीद मिली ज़िन्दगी को

ये मिलन चल पड़ा

हम अक्सर मिलने लगे

चुपचाप कुछ कहते....कुछ सुनते

चलते-चलते कभी-कभी

एक दूसरे को देख भी लेते

एक दिन चलते हुए

उसने अपने हांथों की उंगलियाँ

मेरे हांथों की उंगलियों में मिला दी 

और मेरी तरफ इस तरह देखा

जैसे ज़िन्दगी पहेली बूझना चाहती हो...

कि बता तेरी उंगलियाँ कौन सी हैं

मैंने उसकी तरफ देखा

और नज़र से ही उससे कहा

सारी उंगलियाँ मेरी भी

सारी उंगलियाँ तेरी भी

एक तारीखी इमारत के

बागीचे में चलते हुए

मेरा हाथ पकड़कर

कुछ ऐसे देखा

जैसे पूछ रही हो

इस तरह मेरे साथ

तू कहाँ तक चल सकता है

मैंने कितनी ही देर

उसका हाथ अपने हाथों में दबाए रखा 

जैसे हथेलियों के रास्ते

ज़िन्दगी से कह रहा हूँ

जहाँ तक तुम सोच सको.....

कितने ही बरस बीत गए

इसी तरह चलते हुए

एक दूसरे का साथ देते हुए

साथ लेते हुए

इस राह पर

इस मंजिल जैसी राह पर......!!!!!

Saying goodbye with grace

Make everything creative, make the best out of the worst -- that's what I call `the art' And if a man has lived his whole life making every moment and every phase of it a beauty, a love, a joy, naturally his death is going to be the ultimate peak of his whole life's endeavour His death is not going to be ugly as it ordinarily happens every day to everyoneIf death is ugly, that means your whole life has been a wasteDeath should be a peaceful acceptance, a loving entry into the unknown, a.joyful goodbye to old friends, to the old world.

There should not be any tragedy in it. Zen master Lin Chi was dying Thousands of his disciples had gathered to listen to the last sermon, but Lin Chi was simply lying down -- joyous, smiling, not saying a single wordSeeing that he was going to die and he was not saying a single word, somebody reminded Lin Chi -- an old friend, a master in his own right He was not a disciple of Lin Chi That's why he could say to him, "Lin Chi, have you forgotten that you have to say your last words? I have always.said your memory isn't right.

You are dying have you forgotten?"Lin Chi said, "Just listen" And on the roof two squirrels were running, screeching He said, "How beautiful" And he diedFor a moment, when he said "Just listen," there was absolute silence Everybody thought he is going to say something great, but only two squirrels fighting, screeching, running on the roof And he smiled and he diedThat was his message: don't make things small and big, trivial and important Everything is important At this moment, Lin Chi's death.is as important as the two squirrels running on the roof, there is no difference.

In existence it is all the same That was his whole philosophy-- that there is nothing which is great or small; it all depends on you, what you make of itStart with meditation, and things will grow in you -- silence, serenity, blissfulness, sensitivity And whatever comes out of meditation, try to bring it out in life Share it, because everything shared grows fast And when you have reached the point of death, you will know there is no death You can say goodbye, there is no need for any tears of.sadness -- maybe tears of joy, but not of sadness.

But you have to begin from being innocent.So first, throw out all the rubbish you are carrying Life is simple; it is a joyful dance.The whole earth can be full of joy and dance, but there are some who are determined that nobody should enjoy life, smile, or laugh; that life is a sin, that it is a punishment How can you enjoy anything when the climate is such that you have been told continuously that it is a punishment; that you are suffering because you have done wrong things and it is a kind of.jail where you have been thrown into to suffer?Life is a reward, and it is given only to those who have earned it, who deserve it.

By- OSHO

The Finish Line

A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants,  all physically or mentally challenged, assembled at the starting line for the 100- yard dash. At the sound of the gun shot, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to finish and win. All, that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back... they all turned around and went back-- every one of them. One girl with Down's syndrome bent down and kissed him and said..."This will make it better....." 

                                   

All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together.  

Everyone in the stadium stood and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are stll telling the story.....

Why?

Because deep down we know this one thing: what matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What truly matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing the course.....

--Soul soup, The speaking tree, TOI

Bhopal Again....

Twenty-five years have passed since the country's worst industrial disaster in Bhopal which saw a cloud of deadly gases explode out of a faulty tank in a pesticide factory and silently spread into the homes of people. Over 20,000 people were killed within days, and the horrific effects of the gas continue to this day. The Bhopal gas tragedy verdict has taken almost 26 years to come, but has justice been done?

A poetry to support victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy and all those who are victims of any corporate crime....

Written by: Anusha Chandrasekharan (A journalist by profession and poet by nature)



Voice-over: Yogesh Kumar

Ant Nahin

After a gap of 2 years I went back to stage on 2 November.....though it was not a great experience but i felt good....:-)

Here are some pictures of the performance....