As we wait

As we wait for each other
to make the next move
out there galaxies are
coming into and
moving out of existence
It’s difficult
we all have our own little world
where we need to play
our own little games
It’s a pity that I’ll not dance
to the rhythm of your heartbeat
You’ll not surrender
to the depth of my soul
I’ll wait for you at the
cusp of right and wrong
all alone bleeding
on its blade, or
should I call you
Not this time I guess
After all what’s love
If it has extracted
its share of blood.

अनवरत

जो भी लड़ा मेरे लिए
दुश्‍मनों से जा मिला
साथ में मेरी अधजली
रोटी भी ले गया

सदीयान बीत चुकी
अब मन करता है
नियती को मान ही लूँ

पेट से आई मानसी
दबी आवाज़ में कराह रही है
और कोने में रखी
चुराई हुई खाकी बंदूक
दिए की लौ में चमक रही है

कल पौ फटने पर
एक बार फिर कोशिश करूँगा
लकिरें बदलने की, एक पूरी रोटी की

Lost Elements

Like the view
that was lost in the journey

Like the wave
that was lost in the tide

Like the speck
that was lost in the storm

Like the dew drop
that was lost in the first rays

Like the love
that was lost in promises

Was the life
that was lost in living.

Souls and Bodies

The noise inside me stops
as you whisper
A poetry in stone emerges
as you sculpt me endlessly
Was it pain or meaningless happiness
that you chiseled away

A million flowers bloom- and I smell of
as the salt of your skin nourishes me
The scars within me heal
as you assault
Reborn is my fragmented soul
every time you dismember me

A prayer

for the initiated

....i want to break-free from the bondage of freedom.

A Room with a View

The current blog is all about serious stuff. But, then what about the world of crass entertainment, politicians, masala-cricket, idiot box, spoofs & other nonsense in general. Please follow this link for my ode to this wonderful-wonderful world of quixotic happenings.
http://theinaneshow.blogspot.com/

Rock on

The year has started on a different note; suddenly I’m spending time with my first love. It's difficult to pin-point the exact time or event when it bugged me like millions of other Indians, but the earliest of memories comprise of uncle taking me to a pandal in Burrabazar where a television set was placed on a high platform and hundreds were watching an India-Australia series, of balcony cricket played with a wooden plank and a ball the core of which was made from newspaper, wrapped by Mother Dairy packets neatly held together with half a dozen rubber bands, of Sushil Doshi requesting people with heart problems to switch of their radios in that big run chase against the ...(i don't remember), of the first day at nets in the cricket coaching camp and the sight of the best batsman from our locality getting bowled out 13 times, of my selections for the district under-19 team, of my college matches which gave us free passes to Eden gardens, and of a few heart-breaks in between. I used to keep wickets and open the innings (SG was my idol), but then life took over.

So this year in January when one of my friends came up with the proposal of playing for a cricket team christened 'Shekhawati XI' after the area to which we belong in Rajasthan, I just couldn't refuse. The tournament was super exclusive in the sense that it was only for the Marwari community and that too only for 'Mali-kshatriyas' within that. I was shocked to hear that 14 teams had registered for this tournament. India is well and truly cricket crazy.

We prepared for the tournament in all earnest and our performance was reasonable enough as we managed to reach the semi-finals. I had a good run with some 30's and 40's and the most important thing was that I had delivered on my role as a sheet anchor. The sound of the willow as the ball reaches the cover boundary and that quick removal of the bails on a ball that bisects the batsman into two. It was really heady stuff.

Now the setbacks. The ongoing corporate cricket tournament has been a complete disaster; we've lost two out of two. Lack of practice, team-effort are some of the probable reasons. But, for my kids it was plain and simple, "Papa you are not a good captain".

Desperately looking for redemption.