Friday, March 26, 2010

शहीद की व्याकुलता

इस शहीद दिवस पर , एक अनोखी बात हुई

स्वर्गलोक में भगत सिंह की प्रभु से जब मुलाक़ात हुई.

कुछ इधर-उधर की चर्चा , कुछ गहन विचार के उपरांत

भगवान् भगत से बोले, " भगते , तू है बड़ा शांत? "


"इस स्वर्गलोक में तुझे, क्या कोई परेशानी है?

क्या किसी ने तेरा अपमान किया? हुई मुझसे कुछ नादानी है ?

और आज तो तेरा दिवस है, हर कोई तेरा गुण गाता है,

फिर क्यूँ आज तेरा यह मन, खुद को इतना व्याकुल पाता है? "


कर जोर भगत बोले," प्रभु मुझको न यूँ लज्जित कीजे ,

मुझ तुच्छ प्राणी को न इंतनी आभा से आप सज्जित कीजे,

न मेरे साथ अन्याय हुआ, ना खुद को अपमानित पाता हूँ,

बस एक चिंता के समक्ष मैं नि:सहाय हो जाता हूँ ."


कुछ चकित हुए भगवान् बोले," ऐसी क्या विपदा आई है ?

बनकर जो घनघोर मेघ, तेरे मस्तक पर छाई है?

तू बोल मुझे, आज मैं किस संकट का संघार करूँ ?

किसपर रूद्र बनकर टूटूं ? या किसका मैं उद्धार करूँ ?"


सहमे हुए से भगत, हिम्मत जुटा कर यह बोले,

"महामहिम जो आप चाहें, धरती डोले अम्बर डोले,

पर नहीं आपसे आज मैं ऐसी कोई याचना करता हूँ,

ना किसी स्वार्थ की पूर्ति हेतु, मैं कोई प्रार्थना करता हूँ."


"सच है, आज शहीद दिवस पर, मेरा गुणगान तो होता है,

कुछ पुष्प तो डाले जाते हैं, किंचित सम्मान तो होता है.

पर नहीं मुझे इन पुष्पों, इन मालाओं की अभिलाषा है,

मुझको तो बस, हे प्रभो, भारत के उत्थान की आशा है."


"बस एक स्वप्न मैंने देखा , बस एक चाह यह मेरी है,

इस एक ध्येय को पाना है, बस एक राह यह मेरी है.

मेरे सपनों के भारत में, कोई भूखा ना सोता है,

ना ही जाड़े की रातों में अर्धनग्न विवश हो रोता है."


" इस स्वप्नलोक के भारत में, जाती का भेद न शेष बचा,

ना धर्म ही इसको बाँट सका, ना प्रान्तों में कोई क्लेश बचा.

इस भारत के वासी नहीं बस निज स्वार्थ साधते हैं,

मातृभूमि को माँ समझ, पूजते, आराधते हैं."


"इस एक स्वप्न को पूरा करने, मैंने जीवन अपना वार दिया,

हर सुख से मुख मोड़ लिया, हर मुश्किल को मैंने पार किया.

और एक दिन मेरे स्वदेश ने, मांगी जब मेरी आहुति,

मैं यज्ञाग्नि में कूद गया, न कढ़ी आह, उफ़ तक न की"


"यह आहुति इसलिए नहीं की मुझे अमर होना था ,

ना ही कुछ विश्राम हेतु मृत्यु-शय्या पर सोना था,

यह आहुति इसलिए की जिससे अग्नि और प्रज्ज्वलित हो,

मेरे अन्दर जल रही आग, हर अंतर में अवतरित हो"


"यह आहुति इसलिए की कल जब भारत पर संकट हो,

प्राकृतिक हो आपदा , या शत्रु ही कोई विकट हो.

या राजनीती के विषम भंवर में, भारत का भविष्य जब डोले,

तो भारत का हर एक युवा, एक स्वर में निडर हो बोले"


'हम डरते नहीं संकट से, हम डरते नहीं अंगारों से ,

हम पाट सकते हैं हर खाई, हम डरते नहीं दीवारों से.

हममे अब भी है वही आग की जिससे चिता भगत की ख़ाक हुई,

हर शहीद के बलिदान से, कुछ और पवित्र , कुछ पाक हुई.'



"पर, हे दीनानाथ , आज यह दिन कैसा आया है?

क्यूँ हर युवा के अंतर्मन में शंका की छाया है?

क्यूँ खुद पर विश्वास नहीं? क्यूँ देश पराया लगता है ?

क्यूँ हर कुछ एक ढोंग, कुछ बना-बनाया लगता है?"


"कहाँ गयी वह आग की जिससे भारत कुछ रोशन हो ?

जलकर जिसमे हर नौजवान का कुंदन-पवित्र अब मन हो.

कहाँ गयी वह ज्योति? कैसे बुझ गयी वह ज्वाला ?

क्या भरत-वर्ष में रहा नहीं, कोई उसे जलाने वाला ? "


"गर नहीं हो कोई, तो इस व्याकुलता का यूँ अंत करिए,

एक बार धरा पर फिर भेज, फिर से मुझे जीवंत करिए.

इस बार मुझे जीना है, और तब तक नहीं वहां से आऊंगा,

जब तक अपने सपनों का भारत, मैं धरती पर नहीं बसाऊंगा"


Saturday, June 20, 2009

The Black Man's Curse

Disclaimer

All the characters and incidents in this story are real . Any resemblance to any fictitious character , living or dead, is purely serendipitous .

I did not plan this. Not that i was not going to write about this. I eventually would have . But not now. Now was a time to write about other things , things less dramatic ... things more pleasant.

But as destiny would have it , and indeed its destiny which has it all the time, events took an unexpected turn and i am compelled to write about this now.

Before i proceed to the actual storytelling , let me introduce
the main characters :

Herr Venkataraman Santhanam aka "Venki"

He is the principal protagonist of the story. Well there is a lot i can tell you about this guy. Indeed i plan to dedicate a post for him. But for now a short intro would have to suffice.

Venki is a cheerful guy from IIT-K (Dept . 'Batti') . Don't be fooled by his name. He is originally from chennai but he is a born and brought up 'Dilli ka Launda'.
You know he has a good command of hindi because he passes the ultimate test ,
using the "desi " gaalis , with flying colours !!
Now what you need to know about him is that he is an affable chap with a happy-go-lucky attitude. He would befriend anyone and everyone he meets. Now this can be a dangerous thing to do ... As you are about to discover soon.

Herr Joseph (supposedly so) aka "The Black Man"

Let me now introduce the principal antagonist of the story . And as in any good story he is also the principal character of the story (Who wants to see a batman without a Joker ,right ?)

Well one thing you
really need to know about the black man is that ... well, he is Black . Now before you draw out your swords and start calling me a bloody f***ing racist , let me clarify that i am not alluding to his skin colour ( which , by the way , is black ) .

What i am referring to is his intent .. his diabolic mind . He symbolizes all that's dark and ungodly and wrong with this world. He is Satan's own son... no he is Satan himself . ( Alright this is too much of an exaggeration , but will help you get in the mood )

Extras
Will be introduced as they come along .


Now Let's delve straight into the story .


May 16 , 2009
Max Planck Guest House

"The day sucked ". Venki thought out loud while he cooked dinner ( Cooking being one of his many talents .) He was in a terrible mood , his usual cheerfulness gone.
" Who the hell stole the cycle?. And i thought Germany was supposed to be a safe place and all. And what would i tell him... " .

Suddenly he heard a sound and in a flash he was standing right at the kitchen door. It was almost as if his fears had materialized right before his eyes . Holding a basketball in his hands , sporting a muscular body , The Black Man approached a terrified Venki. He could feel a lump forming in his throat.

"Hi" , smiled Joseph (The name he gave to Venki) "How are you?" .

"Hey . i am good . So wassup ?" Venki managed. He was a bit encouraged , seeing that smile , but his fears has not yet been allayed.Understandably so.

"I want to talk. We sit in your room? " . (English is not Joseph's forte) Joseph seemed pretty cool about it.

"As if i have a choice " rued Venki. "Sure " He said aloud.

Once inside the room , Joseph began " I meet English guy at basketball today. I surprised , he with my cycle. So i asked him..."

"Your cycle .." Venki tried to clarify.

"I talk. You quiet. He tell me, you sell my cycle to him for money. You fucking the wrong guy. I a drug-dealer. If you lie, i kill you. You try to fool me!! "

To say that venki was scared shit would be a gross understatement.. He was all alone in a new country and here this black , muscular guy was sitting in his room , claiming to be a drug dealer and threatening to kill him .
As he later put it " Meri buri waali phat gayi !!" - Maybe this expresses it better.

" That cycle cost me 400 euros. I want my money. " growled Joseph. And before Venki could react ,he hardly was in a state of mind to react , Joseph began rummaging around . He snatched Venki's wallet and took out all the money.

"All the money !!!" Venki sprung back to life . "Please " , he pleaded, " I need the money . I have no more. I did not sell the cycle. It was stolen today morning. " He has lost all hope of not being robbed. He was thus trying to minimize the loss. "At least leave some!!".

Joseph looked at him. Venki was cutting a sorry figure. " Okay. I leave with only 230 euros rite now.But i find out the truth. And i kill the liar" he threatened menacingly.

And as suddenly as he came, The Black Man left.

(To be continued ...)

Friday, June 19, 2009

One Month Later ...

"Its been a month ", i thought, as i sat on my chair , staring at my laptop ,listening to 'desert rose' , eating an apple (two actually) and enjoing the bliss of laziness which seemed to descend upon me from the overcast skies . Its an unusually lazy day , Not that i am usually active , But even the hyperactive shashank(More on him later) was feeling lazy so i guessed it must be the weather.

I looked at my computer screen, this time with more purpose ," June 19" . So it indeed has been a month since the day i arrived in tuebingen. For the uninitiated (Really why are u even reading a blog about a guy u hardly know!!) , i am here at Max Planck institute to do a summer intern. And ,as you know by now , it has been a month since i got here .

So what's the deal with it being a month ? I mean its not as if it has been a month since when you first met your girlfriend (You better remember that !!) ? Why write a blog about it ? Well , well folks ... i conceived of this blog long back , a month back to be precise...

" Good Morning Everyone . This is your Captain. We are approaching the Vienna International . Please fasten your seatbelts. We will be landing in 10 mins " .
a male resonating voice woke me up on the 19th of May as i was aboard flight OS-34 of the Austrian Airlines. I looked outside ( As a true indian i had asked for a "window seat ") and was dumbstruck ... As the morning sun rose and illuminated the clouds ... it looked so ethereal ... a heavenly kaleidoscope.

Suddenly the plane tilted to its right . And we began to descend into the clouds. And as the wings cut through the layers of clouds ( You could feel the resistance) and the vision below became clearer , i was greeted by another pleasant surprise . You see the way i used to picture Europe was a very modern place with tall skyscrapers and traffic rush. But the scene i beheld told a different story. I saw acres of farmlands and farof forests . The houses looked all quintessentially non-urban. The streets were not crowded. It was one of the , most picturesque sights i have ever seen. A perfect Kodak Moment.

And it was then , in that moment , that i decided that i would shed my characteristic laziness and would certainly write a blog about my stay in Europe .

So why did i wait for a month to do it ? Well to understand that you have to understand something very fundamental about me .. I am Lazy. Its not always apparent , indeed some people refuse to accept it , but those who know me the best know this for a fact. So keeping with the spirit of being lazy , i procrastinated... and again... yet again... till i got tired of procrastinating ( M too lazy even to do that) and i set a date " Alright , I am going write a blog after one month has elapsed since my arrival in tuebingen . On the 19th of June that is ." (Alright May was 31 days but u get the point , don't you?)

So here i am , on the 19th of June , writing the first post of this blog. But now i am tired of writing . Hopefully , i would continue this some other day. Till then ,

Take Care
-Aman.