Second Best

Rose up on the podium

To find myself standing

At your feet

Second ain't

Best

Just tried to do a reverse pyramid (if there's such a thing). No. of words decreasing by one with each line. Ended up with this.

Pic courtesy: shutterstock images

The Bird in the Sky

The bird: 

Even in its last flight
It didn't stop dreaming of that horizon
Where it could not reach
But never till death did its sight it missed

The hunter:

Even now that it's shot
She's dreaming of that horizon
It would have been fit if the earth where she was born
In her dreams and reality, if she could keep



There are always two sides of every argument. Every action can be looked at in two ways. Every word spoken, every gesture, every thought can be made to appear like a coin with two sides. It is for you to decide which is right or wrong. Just like the coin, which does not have a right or wrong side but only one can win a toss. Who am I or anyone to decide whether your choice was right or wrong? Remember, even if you fail, you were always a winner.

Pic Courtesy : http://www.floridasportsman.com/files/2010/09/florida_duck_hunting_2.jpg

Red and Yellow

 

Yellow, the colour of flame

Red, the colour of her dress

The holy colours of union

Yellow, the colour of flame

Red, the colour of her dress

The bleeding humanity's death

कर्त्तव्य

मांद में छुपा नहीं है, घात लगाये बैठा है

भूरी आँखें खुली हुई हैं, देख लिया हैं उसने उसे 

इंतज़ार है थोड़ा, बस कुछ पल की देरी, वो आएगा सामने 

उसकी भी किस्मत तो देखो

आज ही अपने घर, अपने परिवार से नाता तोड़ आया था

अकेले चल पड़ा था  अपने ज़िन्दगी के नए रास्तों को ढूँढने 

कुछ तो खफा था, कुछ खुद पर भरोसा था

आँखों में थे सपने, मन के किसी कोने में पर बैठा था हल्का सा भय

क्या जाने क्या होगा, ये वो कैसे जान सकता था

कुछ चमकता सा देख बढ़ चला, न जाने कैसी थी यह कौतूहलता 

कैसी थी वो चपलता, कैसा था वो अल्हड़पन 

जो भूल गया वो सब जो कभी किसी ने था सिखाया 

उसके हर कदम को देख रहा है वो

ह्रदय में कोई दुर्भावना नहीं, बस लक्ष्य को पाना चाहे वो

वो अकेला है, असहाय है, इन सब व्यर्थ के सोच में क्यों पड़े वो

आखिर ये भी तो है एक कर्त्तव्य, अपने कर्त्तव्य से कैसे मुंह मोड़े वो  

Imli Khatti Meethe Ber

Absolutely no idea why I wrote this. The movie is so cliched. Any one watching it can predict what would happen. Yet, I would watch it on any given day than watch the utter nonsense that's being thrown at the audience in the name of star power and being called path breaking movies in the Hindi film industry. I would rather watch a Manmohan Desai "bichhudna-milna" drama which still is so much sought after. That probably is the reason why I wrote this.


1:
Stop! Don't you compare us even for a while
I am not he and he is not I
Hell! We don't see each other eye to eye
We want to hurt the other even if we had to die
His smiles are the biggest whenever I cry
A moment of joy in my life, the walls of his house shudder
When his fist meets to bring them down with a try


2:
Oh! What happened, please tell me! Don't lose your calm
Remember you were once like brothers in arms
Now you hurt each other like no one else could harm
Speak! Don't act like you don't give a darn!


1:
Judge me wrong or judge me right
But I am not going to give up this fight
'Tis true once we stood side by side
Won a many, lost a few and together survived
Protected each other, shared the pains and even for each other we cried
But now no more, the feelings are gone, the tears have dried
The heart has locked itself away, the bonds all broken that held us tied


Don't ask me why this change has come
Don't ask me what of us has become
Don't choose a side for you'll never know
Who to choose as you saw us together grow
Don't try to stop what has already been started
Just watch till there comes the end
The end that neither of us wanted.




S.R.

Beauty

"Ma, you said that butterflies are beautiful. Why is that one so ugly then?"

"It's not a butterfly, son. It's a moth."

"But it looks like a butterfly, doesn't it?"

"It is very similar to a butterfly. It has a life cycle same as a butterfly. It even does the same things as a butterfly, helping new plants to grow."

"Oh! Then I made a mistake by calling it ugly."

"And how is that?"

"Didn't you say that our beauty lies in the work we do? Then how can she be ugly?"

"No, she can't," she said and hugged him.



So very often as a child we thought that we could never make our parents feel proud except by getting good results. We never realised that the times we ran to our homes to bring that Dettol bottle and cotton to clean the wounds of a friend who got hurt or the times we asked our father to give a small change to the beggar or when we said something like above without realising how deeply meaningful it was, we made them feel proud of us. 'coz in the end, all they ever wanted was us to grow as a good human being.
This is a tribute to all parents without whose teachings we would not be what we are today.

यूँ ही

बड़ी ही अजीब पहेली है ये जिंदगानी
कभी मीठा सपना, कभी कड़वा सच
और मानो तो एक अनजानी कहानी
कभी मानो तो है सब का साथ
कभी लगे जैसे अकेले ही है सारी राह बितानी
कुछ इच्छाओं, कुछ अपेक्षाओं को पूरा करने की
कोशिश में, अंधे होने की पड़ जाए कीमत चुकानी
दौड़ते दौड़ते पा ली गर मंज़िल जो कभी
राहों की कद्र ना करने की जो है वो आदत पुरानी
कुछ छूट जायेंगे राहों में, साथ हाथ थामे चले थे जो
अब ना मिलेंगे कभी, सोचो तो होगी हैरानी
कब हाथ छूटा पता ना चला
अब उन्हें ढूंढना हो गयी एक बड़ी परेशानी

पर सच मानो तो भूल जाना ये सब
क्योंकि खुश हैं वो जिन्हें बातें याद नहीं पुरानी
जिन्होनें हर गुज़रे विषय से मोह तोड़ लिया है

जिन्हें आती है हर बीती याद जड़ से मिटानी

Dark is this night

Since Google is deleting Buzz forever, I could not have let this joint effort go away. To follow, a few more of the amazing work we did on Google Buzz. 

[sid]
Dark is the night filled with dread
Dark is the road upon which I tread...

[saket]
My feet sway wildly, so dizzy is my head
The hounds stare hungrily; desiring to be fed
The blood from my wound makes a trail
And dark that was the road now turns red...

[samir]
The danger to me is not what I dread
It's the girl in my arms who'd have died instead
Her arduous breathing must not fail
'tis not in vain that i will have bled...

[sid]
Upon my shoulder she rests her head
I can hardly discern her anguished breaths
She whispers weakly, "Oh! Why this happened?"
"Why were our lives torn into shreds?"

[saket]
Her eyes start closing, a sudden fear grows within me
I shout in her ears, she does not even blink
I look around for help but not even a soul do I see
My mind starts racing, to save her is all that I can think

[samir]
Were it not for her, I would not be
It's only through her that my past does link
The howl of the hounds breaks my reverie
Now the beasts are chasing us to the cliff's brink

[sid]
I feel her slipping away
She whose life I held most dear
I pull her and gaze into her face
Her eyes are tearful and without fear

As I kiss her she kisses me back
With whatever strength's left of her
I whisper, “ It's better to leave them all
Then let go of each other.”

[subhra]
Heaving n' sighing,carrying her in my arms..I drag myself to the cliff's end
The sapphire silver skies shine at the deep dark abyss...
So is a choice born out of it staring back at me,needy,meagre n' simple though cruel n' a gamble
Peace has sheltered itself in fear
And of what is left,a li'l life , a few seconds worth of love so dear
Vouched with the lines,"till death do us apart." but death shall not be a chosen fate
Stripping of every piece of cloth on me n' her,stained in blood n' strongly smelling of rust..
I lay them on the edge.
the cold wave of autumn night cuts through my naked self.
I wrap my arms around her,and wit last ounce of living strength..
Reach for the cover of the bushes nearby..
The feral senses have come into play
n' so has my life tied in the threads of time.
Fear of death in love is fiercely powerful,but so is the lust to live....another second,every minute,carnal n' brutal in its last intensity

[saket]
I look at her, so beautiful, nothing but pure innocence
And I think -- Will she ever love me again?
I look at myself, a beast is what I see
I know I am no worse than those chasing us
How could I even do this to her?
Why was I not able to reciprocate the love and trust she had?
I sit down, finding a shelter amongst the trees.
The darkness is not a fiend, but in disguise, acting like a friend
I start crying for I know this is the end.
I lost her the day I had betrayed her.
Even if she forgives me some day, I won't be able to forget her
And one thing that for sure is true
I can't go on living bearing this burden forever

I kiss her hand and say goodbye for one final time
Someone's gonna love you just like you deserve to be loved........

[saket]
As I pull myself away, she holds my hand
She won't let go off me, but i know i have to go
i wish i could hold on to that hand forever
now that my feelings are true, i wish i could say all that to her
but the guilt prevents me from doing so before i tell her my truth
and that is the biggest punishment for my sins
i can't tell her that lest she never trusts anyone ever again

she calls out my name, i try to ignore
she pleads in her weak voice not to leave her alone
oh! i wish to die than hear her say that..
it's difficult for me to withhold anything from her
i hold her in my arms and tell her everything.
of the betrayal, of me not being what she always believed to be,
and the love which now is as true as was the deception
and then i stay silent, waiting for the judgement to be delivered
the wind rustles through the leaves and i can hear them whisper
Liar, cheat--- they call me and slap me hard
she opens her eyes and looks into mine, her lips open wide into a smile
"i know it all, sweetie and i have long forgiven you for that",she said
tears run down my eyes, she raises her hand and wipes them
"i love you and i don't regret that,
i don't need anyone or anything now that i have you by my side
you're my present and i worry not about the past
only if you promise to love me till death do us part"

[sid]
The beasts roar, the sticks rattle
But soon it'll all be over
Rolling and heaving I feel her breaths
There's nothing left to fear
The moon casts a pale shadow
And the wind rustles in my hair
I cling onto her as she draws me near
The ground beneath seems tender and loving and inviting
Her eyes are luminous and bright and sparkling
I kiss her eyes as we fall through the skies;
And she whispers in my ear:
The end is here and there's nothing left to fear
The end is here and there's nothing left to fear

Numb

Tears didn't come out
They froze in my coldness
Cries were not heard
They were muted as I choked, I felt suffocated
Blackness grew around me
As the darkness started to embrace me
But I felt no pain
Cause finally numbness had found me


S.R.

Honour in Killing?

(1)
It's a proud day for me, the smile on my face shows it
Today I stand amidst these unknown angry people
Knowing that I am like those few
Who also had to face the wrath in their lives
For standing for what they believed in
Just like me, they were hated, punished and killed
But history tells us that these were the ones who brought changes
Who were crowned martyrs, saints and patriots
Some day they will realise why I did that
And why I had to do it
That day, they will acknowledge me as a hero
But even if that day comes not, it won't matter
I'll know I didn't die in vain
I died for my principles, I martyred for our "honour."

(2)
Face cut, bruise marks on the body, black eyed and handcuffed
He looked as though there can't be a hell worse than that
And yet his half opened eyes were gleaming from satisfaction
The smile on his lips conveyed the happiness he felt from his action
The mere thought of which disgusted me
Seeing him so, turned that into anger
Till that day he was a loving brother
That day he turned a hated killer
He proved that the strongest hatred
Had roots lying in the strongest love
How could he do so and even more, justify it?
Why was there no remorse for an act, so gruesome?

They had to die, I killed them to protect our honour --- he said
And in this way, a dangerous path for others he laid
One that shall be tread upon by so many others who are blind and misguided
Please stop them, punish them --

For the honour of those; in the name of honour who are dead.



Part 1 is loosely based on excerpts from newspapers and built up on that. Not all of it can be verified.
Part 2 is my Point of View and a little imagination.
Pic courtesy : Mohit Bhutra

S.R.