Genesis of Hope

On a familiar solitary evening,

Pensive, or may be a Mope..

Wandering in my inward self,

I paid visit to a dying hope.

I asked of, genuineness of its life.

And the rationale of its birth,

The timing of its demise..

For whatever that was worth.

"Your mind is my mother", it said.

"Anticipation is my father dear..

I also have an evil twin..

You have christened it as Fear".

"Fear and I are in perpetual feud,

Yet sans the other, one can't fare..

If I win its blissful certainty,

For if Fear wins, its despair".

Assimilating the answer I got,

"I have seen many like you die,"

Answered I without much thought,

"Most part of your life was a lie".

"I am true when I originate,

And false, if you fabricate..

Your mind owns my fate,

Your honesty spells my state".

"What has to happen; anyhow will,

Like it has always in the past..

I have no bearing on the future, still,

You would wish to lose me last.

Inward life

The moment of triumph will not last..

Nor the moment of loss, nor the pain,

Soon it will amalgamate into the past..

May become a memory, or pass in vain.

The inward life has memories galore,

A few, seldom, in a few we live more..

Wishes and reality in perpetual strife

Bundle of contradictions, this inward life.

Authoring the rules, and breaking them too

Fabricating memoirs and hoping they were true..

An abyss of sorrow or happiness rife,

Such is the nuance of this inward life…

Living within a constructed paradise,

The bitter reality could be otherwise..

With closed eyes to believe its dark..

Such is the paradox of the inward life..

In a utopia with joys endless bout,

In the garden of love, weed of doubt..

A heart stabbed with insecurity’s knife,

Such is the treachery of the inward life..

Still couldnt think of a name.. do suggest! :-)

चारों और की यह कालिक जब और गहरी हुई..
कल्पना मेरी तुम्हारे चेहरे पर ठहरी हुई..

रात जब शब् की देहलीज़ पर आती है..
तन्हाई भी तुम्हारा ज़िक्र छेड़ जाती है..

तुम्हारे तस्सव्वुर को लिए साथ में..
हसिएँ यादों की मय लिए हाथ में..

हवाओँ को अपनी कहानी सुनाता हूँ..
अगली मुलाकात के अरमान उसे बताता हूँ..

तारीफ़ कैसे करूं, जब यह सोच सताती है..
धड़कन तेज़ हो कर, इसका जवाब दे जाती है..

सामने तुम्हारे, ज़बान इज़हार नहीं कर पाती है..
खामोशी आकोँ के ज़रिये तब, बयान कर जाती है..

हाल-ऐ-दिल, जो शब्द कभी बयां न कर पाते..
काश की तुम आखों की बात समझ जाते!

Renaissance..

Was I slumbering when the sun was out?
And Love was brightest at the Noon.
Shrugging now, in that endless bout..
Sleepless; beneath the Moon.

Was I lost, had I withered away?
Inert to the melodies of spring!
Haggard now, on a gloomy day,
Its winter and there's no one to sing.

Was I dazed, in charms of vanity?

Blind to autumn's brilliance rife.

Now, on parched, barren existence

Raining memories sprinkle some life..

You come by and I feel the sunshine,

In your touch, the soothing rain!

In your eyes, the autumn's design;

With you, I feel alive again..

किस्मत के मैदान में लगे ख्वैशोँ के मेले थे ,
खुशियों के झूलों पर हम घंटों तक खेले थे ..

आखों में हजारों सपने थे , और सपनों पर यकीन ..
यह मुकम्मल जहां अपना था , आसमान भी और ज़मीन ..

फ़िक्र का कोई इल्म नहीं , जहां वाले भी हमसे नाराज़ हुए ..
फैला कर अपने पर , हम अपनी दुनिया में परवाज़ हुए ..

ख्वाइश बन गयी दुआ , और चाहत इबादत हो गयी ,
खुसियों की लगी लत , और उनकी आदत हो गयी ..


जाने क्यूँ हर सपना टूट गया , वक्त ने ऐसा फेर लिया ..
उड़ते हुए परिंदे को ग़म के भवंदर ने घेर लिया ..

रास्ते अलग क्या हुए , वो थो मुँह ही मोड़ गए ..
और जाते जाते , सब यादेँ भी पीछे चोदे गए ..

यादों के बंजर मैदान में , अब ख्वाब बिखरे पड़े हैं
और इन आखों में आँसू लिए , हम तनहा खड़े हैं ..

Right to Happiness

“Every Body has the right to happiness. Thou are powered by free will to make a choice that makes thou happy, irrespective of the rationale, reason or consequence of the choice.”
Amol- 05:08

Having stated the right, which I firmly believe everyone has, I would like to speak of how it affects everyone.

Most of us make most of our choice because of others or for others. Or at least we would like to believe so. I guess that’s how most of us are programmed. But the underlying reason is often selfish. It could be for our happiness or for others’ happiness which in turn makes us feel happy. A sacrifice is most often a choice we make to make ourselves feel good about ourselves and satiate our need to feel good. So, most mortals make choices which are consciously or subconsciously self-centered in nature. Most would debate that self centered is too Harsh a word to be used here, but truth usually is.

Objectively looking at the process of making choices in Life, we inherently put the “Right to happiness” in practice. But most would not like to believe so. Barring true love, every relationship is also struck by this Right . This true love could be between Family, friends, or anyone for that matter. Love is something which defies logic and any such intellectualization of Human Behavior. That could be an acceptable exception to this discussion.

Does exercising this right make us a selfish person? If by exercising this right we hurt others, do we become bad people? Life is a web where we are connected to a lot of others. Of these connections, we indulge in a few and call them friendships. We form a bond with a few people around and become emotionally attached. At this stage, there could be situations where something that gives you happiness, does not to the other person. Well, there comes a choice here. To exercise the right or not to. Well, pragmatism would preach you to.

And if you don’t, then either there is true love in your relationship or you are feeling happy about not making the choice that makes you happy. Then you choose to compromise which is what most people do in relationships.

Is expediency satanic? Is being practical a wrong thing? I guess there are no correct answers to that question, and neither wrong ones. If a choice makes you happy, and making that choice keeps you at peace with yourself; then chances are that the choice is the right one. And how others are going to perceive it should be the lasts of your concerns. It all depends on how strongly you feel about making the choice and how badly you want to make one. And to rationalize every choice you make, you have the “Right to Happiness”. And that does not make you a bad person at all. Just makes the people who are hurt, impractical.

Keep the Faith!

The Sky has been thundering for long;

a warm bright day is unlikely to appear.

when the roars are scariest, storm most noisy,

Dont be afraid as the calm is near.

when the road uphill seems endlessly long,

haggard and tired, you can't walk your toes,

when the road uphill is the steepest most,

it only means that the peak is close.

The night is dark, and darkness deep,

It deepens further, but have no fear.

In silence of death, when its deepest dark,

It only means that the dawn is near.

when the path of life is the roughest,

keep the faith, when you are worst in pain,

Hold on.. when it is the toughest,

everything is going to be fine again!

FATE X CHOICES

As a firm believer in the concept of destiny, I always attributed the gist of a person's life to a cross product of Fate and choices. I say cross product because Life is a vector and direction sensitive. I know not of any 'right hand thumb rule' which governs this cross product and the resultant vector.

Circumstance, in which a person finds himself, is often his own creation. But then there are situations beyond a man’s comprehension and thought where he finds himself not as a consequence. That could be fate.

Any choice depends a lot on the circumstance a man is in. Circumstance he is in as a result of a previous choice; makes this choice his own creation. Circumstance, he is in ‘fatefully’, makes this choice absolute! So, choice could be sequel of fate!

So, is fate the stronger vector, deciding the magnitude and direction of Life? What about the free will, reason and thought of a human mind? Does that not influence choice?

Destiny and fate, often used interchangeably are very far apart. To contrast them, here is an example. A pollen-grain. Almost invariably, a pollen-grain’s destiny is to become a flower. That’s the best it can be and that’s what it is meant to be! But, a pollen-grain can be eaten by a moth, plucked and cooked, fall down on ground and dry, become a bud and yet not blossom or actually blossom into a beautiful flower. What happens to the pollen-grain is Fate. There is no choice. Hence Fate is what makes a pollen-grain reach its destiny, the flower!

For humans, there is the element of choice which makes this equation completely different. Hence, I reckon choice is the stronger vector, deciding the magnitude and direction of Life!

To make a choice, without the influence of the circumstances is to have a free mind. A mind free of prejudice, likes, dislikes, preference. To choose the right path, even in adversaries - self-created or fateful is a choice each one of us has. Hence choice is what makes a man, reach his destiny!

Every choice one makes has a consequence. The consequence results in a circumstance, which influences further choices. A choice has the power to get you closer to your destiny, or throw you away from it. That’s the power of freewill. A crude analogy could be; you can lift one leg in the air and that’s freewill. But you can’t lift the other is Destiny. If you still go ahead and lift the other leg, you will fall down!

What you are today is a product of Fate and Choice. Fate is not in your control but choices are. Every choice that you make, be very wary of it. Make it with a free mind and chances are that you will walk the path of your destiny. Success and happiness will follow!

If you are happy and peaceful after making a choice, chances are it was the right one.