Half Moon

The book'Half Moon'I recently edited is finally out!!Published by Bahrisons,New Delhi...waiting for its official launch!

Ghazal

The Crow

THE CROW

Perched atop a rusted grill

Embracing a vibrant park

Where people come to breathe and talk incessantly

Of Helios scorching the earth

And the parson’s wife

Who ran away with the blacksmith

Or the charity event

Where the governor wore a majestic purple robe

And disrobed in the shady bar

That served rum and smoky salmon

Revealing suppurating sores over body

Kissed by canines

Who now sit around a heap of bones

Thrown ever so lovingly at them

By the hands that tied their tails together

And locked jaws so that they do not bark

Yet they wince not in pain

Such is the pleasure of sucking the marrow

For in their veins

It’s not the crimson blood that flows

But the bile of sycophancy and lust

And in the shrinking bosoms

Ash ,just ash

For all the milk has dried

Perched atop the rusted grill

He waits

He watches

Dried skin of the salmon

Hangs out from his claws

He breaks the meditative trance

And bends his raven head to peck

At the shrivelled skin

As he bends the saturated night

Somewhat turns a shade of grey

The night he wears around his neck

Like the feathery cape  of Morrigan
The enigmatic diva announcing death
Or the beginning of a new phase
The banshee
Predicting it with shrieks
That rip the soul apart 

So black is the shadow of the shroud

So rich in texture

Hue and shade

So what if the dead was draped in white

Pristine,pure like a winter landscape

He thinks in silence and cocks his raven head

To mock at the whiteness of that white

‘Oh you may die a thousand lives

And live up to a million deaths

For I have blurred the line

That tells you Black from White

Go.

Sleep in tranquillity

In your crystal catacombs

You razed the forests to build these walls

The nectar in blossoms was sweet as long as you let it be’

As the bride puts kohl in eyes

And drapes her head in red

The crow

Gives a shriek

And flies away into eternity

Leaving behind the carcass that sticks on to the skeletal rails

Nothing remains

Only Truth

Thick and black as the Raven

Ghazal.17.5.12

Out of shadows

Emerge..

Radiate..

Shine on..

For You Amma!with all my love..

Untitled

(for you..Saba Shamim Hanfi..my  Amma!)

Would you have liked a jugnu if it had no fire in its belly?

A tulip reverently holding

Light in its hands,

folded in a silent prayer

throwing it away like the ash of a deceased in the vast thirsty sea?

the flame of the forest

burning out in fumes

not red but cold and blue ?

the camomile in a dusky maidens hair

white on the periphery

gradually turning warm

exuding the fragrance alien to the senses?

A laburnum without the sunshine

Smeared on each petal..

Would you?

Of all these flowers of the sun

The laburnum stands out for me

For when I look at it

reaching out to my balcony

It’s her I see in the flowers

The pods hang down

Pregnant with life

About to burst into dazzling light...

She left last night

To a distant land

For a while

Just for a while

For she will come back to me

With more sunshine in her hands

To bless me with the light

To see the world better...

the laburnum stands tall

devoid of foliage

waiting for her return

the pods hold back the passion

with bated breath

whispering her name

saba

saba

saba..

...(how i miss her!i hope time flies and she is back with the bursting foliage on the laburnum overlooking my balcony!)...12.00noon..22.4.12

Yellow and White

Its white and yellow

The colour for the day

With you across the landscape of the soul

The silver on the sides

Capture the twinkle of the eyes

As you lift it up

Ever so gently

So as not to disturb the serene ambiance

The water in the stem glass

Is witness to the whispers

That the music emanates from the heart

As I drape the sunshine around my neck

I feel the warmth seep in

And I cannot but help

Give a part of the sun to you

As that is all I have

So I hold some warmth

In the hollow of my hand

And pass it on to you

To take it back or let it fly

To some unknown distant land

Slush:Chill Summers!Chill!

                                                           SLUSH

Crushed ice, saturated loosely with your favourite fizzy drink, in the sweltering heat...The fusion of two forms of water, hard, crystallized and grainy on one hand and cool and free flowing on the other works as a catalyst to speed up your reflexes and metabolic rate when all you want is an everlasting siesta in an air conditioned comfort of your room. Slush...it flushes away the summer sores in a jiffy. Try it...Chill a glass of your favourite fizzy drink in the freezer for half an hour and see the difference you make to your life! This was suggested by a friend and is the definite mantra to ward off fiery summer blues! Thanks a ton!

Now let me make an effort to be blatantly honest about description of the process of trying it out without meaning to sound offensive or  vulgar in any way.(I hope so...)Hold the glass in your hand. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Feel the cool exterior of the glass, dripping dewdrops, quenching the thirst of your warm hands. Cup the glass, just the right amount of pressure so as not to disturb the flow of the meandering cola through the channels of crushed ice. You’ll be transported to heaven. Not even a thousand blazing suns can bleach the colours of vibgyor in the horizon of your soaring thoughts. Bliss is the word you feel.

Now open your eyes and use a spoon to stir up a mini storm in the glass .This is done so as to create a sense of harmony and fusion in the two states-the solid and the liquid, the hard and the soft.

By this time your taste buds will be craving to reach out and be one with the cool delight in the crystal glass...Winking bubbles on the brink throwing inviting glances ,you will just not be able to resist. Simply irresistible...You make the first contact, the warmth of your lips meets the cool crystal and you lose all track of time and space, of temperature soaring or plummeting.

You shiver as your tongue feels the grains of ice, each and every one of it coated with the flavour of the fuzzy drink. But wait! You are not yet satiated till you actually suck the grains dry, sweeping the floor clean, not leaving a trace of intoxication abandoned anywhere. You are not a betrayer of flavours. ..Certainly not. The slush hits you on the fontanel making you ecstatic and desirous of many more such heavenly sips.

Slush...brings a flush to your countenance. Try it!!Summers will not be all that bad!

What's in a cell phone?

A cell phone is not just a machine; it’s an extension of your being, like your finger, or your limb. If you happen to sit in a public place AND if you happen to face another human species like your own self, (such as in a metro) notice the number of hands toying with the cellphones.Watch the expressions. Some minds will be mindful of what they are indulging in while others will be lost in a world far away .The mobile phone acts as a defence mechanism in such cases, a protective shield against the onslaughts of gazes and prying eyes. But is it really so important to do so? What is it actually defending? The vulnerable being...the unbearable lightness of being. The machines are gradually and steadily taking over the cognitive, the affective as well as the psychomotor domains of our lives. We feel restless if we don’t feel the vibrations of batteries under our nimble fingers, or the sound of ringtones. An animated world with animated feelings is what we are shrinking and stuffing our souls into. It’s surprising how quick we are at reciprocating to the demands of the mechanistic world ,neglecting the holistic perspective of life.