पिता से हर मुश्किल हारी है!

पिता के कंधो पर बोझ भारी है, 

कुछ काम आने की अब बारी तुम्हारी है।

ना बनाओ पिता को भगवान अपना, 

उनको बस अपनी जिम्मेदारी प्यारी है।

रहने दो थोड़ा सा गलत उन्हें भी, 

बडप्पन दिखाने कि उम्र तुम्हारी है।

जो लेने लगे हो फैंसले घर के, 

याद रखना, ये सारी समझ उधारी है।

भूल जाते है अक्सर चश्मा रख कर, 

फिकर तुम्हारी अभी भी जारी है।

थोड़ा रुक कर चलने लगे हैं, तुम रहना साथ ही, 

वही हाथ उनका, वही उंगली तुम्हारी है।

मेहफ़ूज़ रखते है मुकद्दर तुम्हारा, 

पिता से हरएक मुश्किल हारी है।

सैनिक

तुम कठिन अभ्यास करते हो, हम गर्व कर लेते हैं
तुम सरहदों की रक्षा करते हो, हम गर्व कर लेते हैं 
हर त्यौहार, घर-परिवार भूल कर, 

तुम प्रतिपल संघर्ष करते हो, हम गर्व कर लेते हैं 
कब किस गोली पर लिखा हो नाम तुम्हारा,

 तुम बिन परवाह किए, धुप, बारिश, तूफान में 

माँ भारत का सजदा करते हो, हम गर्व कर लेते हैं 

 

शहादत पर तुम्हारी हम परवाह करें ना करें, पर हम गर्व कर लेते हैं 
संतुष्ट कर लेते हैं हम खुद को, जो दोगुने सैनिक दुश्मन के मारे जाए 
शर्मिंदा हैं हम, कैसे जीवन की कीमत तुम्हारी कम कर देते हैं 
कुछ और शायद कर नहीं सकते, इसलिए हम गर्व कर लेते हैं!

Not Okay to Cry

 "Running behind a floating bubble, he was looking adorable so we decided to capture the moment but then he hit the table with his tiny toes and he cried his soul out." 

Said Arav's mother while showing a funny picture of Arav to all his cousins in which he was crying. He was three then and now he's eight. "OMG, Arav just look at yourself" said his cousins to tease him and then they all laughed. The little boy was bothered by how he looked when he cried. 

A few years passed and now Arav is thirteen. He fell down in the playground, injured his knee, and cried in front of everyone. A teacher came and said, "oh are you crying? Come on, brave boys don't cry. Get up and take a break." Again he experienced the same agony when he was fourteen. "Is he crying? Poor Boy" his classmates muttered, when he got scolded by a teacher. He felt humiliated and rushed to the washroom. He cried while standing in front of a mirror. Looking at himself crying and thinking how unacceptable it is for me to cry, as if it was a sign of weakness, and maybe holding on to your bottled-up emotions is somehow better than letting your tears flow down your cheeks with whatever bothering you at a moment. He heard footsteps, they were his friends. He immediately wiped his tears and washed his face so nobody could tell he was still crying. "Are you alright Arav? Have some water." His friend said. "Yeah, let's go back to class" Arav replied.  

Every time when Arav cried, people made him feel vulnerable or told him, "crying isn't something brave people do." and "he looked pathetic crying" like crying isn't a human thing or emotion to be expressed. He continued holding back his sensitive side and turned out to be the way the society expects him to be.
He no longer cries now, at least not in front of people. He might go numb or isolate himself or probably pretend, he doesn't care but never shows his sensitive side. 

In his teen years, while watching an emotional movie with his friends, he avoids paying attention so that his eyes can stay dry. He keeps seeing off sessions as short as possible and about a lot more matters he managed to tackle his emotions with a practical aspects in order to avoid getting affected deeply with any of them.In the end, he became a MAN, you know. Keeping a constant check on his sensitive side, when he still sees people crying their hearts out, he cannot decide who is truly strong and who isn't.

A Gentleman

"Who's a Gentleman?"

 

Parth, a 6-years old boy asked his father. "You! my boy" he replied with a laugh. "No dad, tell me na, I wanna be a gentleman but don't know how to be one" said the boy.  

The father replied with curiosity, "who told you about gentleman?" "My teacher" the boy answered followed by the words "My teacher said a real gentleman is someone with integrity." 

"Well, your teacher is right. Integrity is all about being honest to all your relationships and being a same person publicly and privately but your are not mature enough to understand all of this at this age but you'll be a true gentleman I'm sure" the father said. 

"Are you a gentleman?" The boy asked his father. 

He tried hiding his hesitation, tried to sound firm. "Of course, I am" the father replied avoiding eye contact. 

The little boy thought, he had found what he was looking for, "A Gentleman" surprisingly he lives with one. 

And he came up with his questionnaire, so the chat continued.  

"Dad, how would people know who is real gentleman and who is faking around?" the boy again asked a question tricky enough to be answered by his father. 

"Umm, they'll just know!" The father said, scratching his head. And the door bell rang. "I'll open the door" the boy said. "Mommy, you're here" the boy said with excitement" 

Unaware of the deep conversation going on between the father and son, the mother said "why are you still awake? Go to bed".  "No mom, first you answer my question, "Who is a gentleman?" The boy asked the same question to his mother and hoped for a more satisfactory answer than his father gave.  

"A gentleman is a man with ethics and principles." The mother replied. "How come we know who is a  gentleman and who is not" boy asked. 

The mother said, “Remember, you’ll meet many people who speak softly and wear warm smiles, yet are quick to be triggered by opposing thoughts or by being called out for things they do but refuse to take responsibility for. They appear refined and charming, yet beneath it all lies a fragile ego and a pretentious persona, worn for so long that they forget who they truly are. Ironically, these are often the people the world calls gentlemen.”

"You want me to be a gentleman then?" The little boy asked. 

The mother held his little hands and said, "it depends, why you want to be a gentleman. If you want to be praised by people and society, if you want to be better than others or if you just want to be called "A Gentleman" then I would rather have a rude but a real man with character as my son. If you cannot mean what you say and portray, then it's just a little black hole which looks so fascinating at the entry but would never allow you or your loved ones to have peace of mind. But if you want to be a gentleman to acquire the real qualities of one, then you need not necessarily try to be one. Become a man who makes people believe in themselves, a man with enough tolerance for criticism, a man who chooses the right path rather an easy one and a man who never cheats anyone."

"Would I be a gentleman like dad?" The boy askes her mother as he has portrayed his father as a Hero in his mind.

"Either you can be a true Gentleman or like your father. Never both." The mother said in her mind. 

"You will be one, but not like me,” the father replied, masking his discomfort with a smile. That day he realized that a crafted image may hold for a while, but it begins to fade the moment your inner reality can no longer keep pace with it.

"He has always seen a hero in you, hope you won't make him regret that. The lady said to her husband.

Uninvited Hopes

It was a day of july, heavy rain was expected, the sky was covered with black clouds & it was no longer a sunny day. 

The shops were closing, the hawkers were wrapping their stuff, people were returning to their homes & I was headed to meet you. Unaware of my destiny I left home with a bag, water bottle, umbrella & a scarf. 

After standing for 15 minutes on bus stops in heavy rain & irresistible wind I realized that I had expected too much from the bus service. But I couldn't go back to home without submitting my form for the admission. 

Being a procrastinator, it wasn't new for me to rush at the very last moment but this time I actually thought I won't be able to make it. 

I finally got on the bus & reached to the stop you told me and you called me at the very right moment saying; "Where are you? Would you be able to reach on time? Okay just follow the directions" 

Running towards the building, all with my wet clothes and wet shoes I almost slipped in front of you but you didn't notice thankfully. 

"why do I have to be clumsy all the time?" I asked myself. 

Probably I was the last student in the batch but you managed to place me in the first row. I was keep thanking you & you said "No problem" with a smile. 

That was the day a new chapter started in my life and you were going to play an important role. Being a procrastinator I have a tendency to realise things quite late. But I must say, you were so consistent and patient too. I could sense the change in you occurred in the last couple of weeks but hope is a murderer of existing happiness. 

I was going with the flow without realising the flow was taking me towards you. I can't call it love but whatever it felt like was no less than magic. I remember the gleam in my eyes & that confidence was like an uninvited guest. Something was about to happen I knew. 

I had never come across a person so grounded, so polite, so helpful yet strict when it comes to his principles. There was a lot to learn from you. Where people lack basic etiquettes, you hold the every possible quality of a gentleman within you. How would I not fall for you?

I'm glad, the frustration you tried to hide when I purposely ignored you, to make sure it mattered to you, the jealousy you bluntly manifested whenever I hung out with others, were not enough for me to be sure of you as a girl. But there was something else that you neither tried to hide nor show but I still saw. That was your "Helplessness". It felt like you were keep coming to me but weren't willing to, like you regretted every time you had shown your feelings to me, like you wanted to hold onto me but couldn't come along with me. 

All these thought were fading the cloud of my imagination so that I could see the things clearly. 

Your sharp gaze was enough to make me forget all my doubts but I had to stop myself looking into those eyes. Your indecisiveness was getting on my nerves. But it wasn't something I could easily give up on. 

And the day came, when all my bubbles were about to busrt. No matter how much we ignore our gut feeling but we can't escape what is destined to happen. 

She came there to surprise you. She even greeted all of us. A wise person with beautiful smile. You are lucky to have her I must say. She was so good that I hated myself for a moment for whatever I had thought of us both. 

We got an invitation for your wedding & I got a lesson for lifetime. "Our feelings don't define us, our choices do." I congratulated you & you said "thank you". I could see an apology in your eyes for leading me on with the intentions and hopes that you were never supposed to fulfill. 

I don't judge you. There were no promises, no commitments that you had broken & sometimes we are puppets of our feelings & I'm glad, in the end you did the right thing by letting me go.

Morning Coffee

Woke up on time still I was running late

Almost skipped the breakfast but couldn't skip my coffee! Rushed to the kitchen, made a cup of coffee "Too hot to drink right away" I thought.

So I moved to drawing area, to polish my shoes, then to my room to tie my hair. Now I just wanted to have my coffee. I went back to grab it but wait, "did I pack my lunch and what about tank, is it full?" I again left it unattained!

The coffee waited, when it wasn't ready,  when it was ready and when it lost its essence. It just waited. The moment I hold the coffee mug I knew,  I made it wait for too long. 

Disappointments don't turn into new hopes everyday. So better we should not let ourselves wait for what matters. You can't put anything first and value that the least and then regret. Right time isn't about the perfect timing. Perfect timing occurs when things are done timely.

The Ray of Love

I know it’s not morning yet 

and it’s been so long I have seen any light

the shining stars gave up on comforting me 

the moon is keep fading away 

the ruling wind is no more resistible

but the dark, it remains the same.

I’m glad, you keep walking with me

and you make me feel the way I never been 

I don’t know what I have done to be worthy of this

But your love keeps me going with so much ease 

you treasure the tears I shaded off 

and wear them like they are full of sheen

Not sure if you are a firefly resting on my shoulder 

or looking at me with eyes full of gleam 

but except you, nothing is any more precious to me 

without you, even in the light nothing can be seen.