My Country

My country is inspiring & infuriating
Inspiring in its differences
Infuriating in its agreements.

(Thiruvananthapuram / 24-11-2013)

Holier Than Thou

I am holier than thou
I don't get caught.

(Thiruvananthapuram / 23-11-2013)

Zindagi To Nahin

Hotee hai sarey aam
Jindagi to nahin
Is tarah subah shaam
Jindagi to nahin

Jiney key wo baksey
Jinhen rakha tha sambhaal
Yoon jung khatey hain kyoon
Jindagi to nahin

होती है सरे आम
जिंदगी तो नहीं
इस तरह सुबह शाम
जिंदगी तो नहीं

जीने के वो बक्से
जिन्हें रखा था संभाल
यूं जंग खाते हैं क्यूँ
जिंदगी तो नहीं

(NID, Ahmedabad / 22-11-2013)

Kuch Khaas

Aaj
(Kal ki tarah)
Kuch khaas hai
Meri, aur tumhaari
(Kal ki tarah)
Dhadakti saans hai
Ham zinda hain.

आज
(कल की तरह)
कुछ खास है
मेरी, और तुम्हारी
(कल की तरह)
धड़कती साँस है
हम ज़िंदा हैं

(NID, Ahmedabad / 21-11-2013)

The Pretender's New Clothes

The Emperor has new clothes
The Pretender has none
We will stoop and steal
And do our will
Be it your daughter
Or your son.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 20-11-2013)

On the Fence

Between the devil
And the deep sea
Can I fence-sit
And be
An angel ?

(NID, Ahmedabad / 20-11-2013)

Living Upto Grace

A lifetime is not enough
To live up to the good
Done to one
In unselfconscious moments of
Unencumbered grace.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 19-11-2013)

Poem Interrupted

A bad poem
Is like you and me
Likable
For our failures
And having tried.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 19-11-2013)

A Crime in Rhyme

What if I was not really me
And you were not the seeming you
What if they were dancing naked
And still forgot to wear a shoe
What if I had tattooed this
On my back, and not on Facebook
What if it doesn't get many likes
But does get you a dirty look
Could be(s) make our lives richer
Being rich is not a crime
If you have read this crap till here
You are a sucker for holy rhyme.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 07-12-2013)

The ever ever

I so want to talk to you
Will you let silence
Be the ever ever
Or speak, and make me wish
The never ever ?

(NID, Ahmedabad / 18-11-2013)

Big Brother

I know that you know
All about me
And can put it together
In a jiffy
Me in the buff
At your will
Does that make you
My friend
Facebook ?

(NID, Ahmedabad / 13-11-2013)

The End

And so it was
That I came
To the end of the story
Once upon a time
Long long ago
When it began.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 12-11-2013)

Meri Kismet

Mujhe maloom hai key tu gair koi aur nahin
Meri kismet hai jo yoon mujhpe fida rehti hai
Tere aaney mein tere jaaney kee boo aati hai
Teri nafrat merey chehrey pe bayan kehti hai.

मुझे मालूम है के तू गैर कोई और नहीं
मेरी किस्मत है जो यूं जो मुझपे फ़िदा रहती है
तेरे आने में तेरे जाने की बू आती है
तेरी नफरत मेरे चेहरे पे बयां कहती।

(NID, Ahmedabad / 12-11-2013)

The External Hard Drive

My body
Often insufficient
Sometimes virus prone
External hard drive
Of me
Soft to my blows.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 07-11-2013)

Diwali 2013

Some celebrations
Take time
Planning arrival
Leaving no time
For celebrations

(NID, Ahmedabad / 03-11-2013)

Notes to the Camera

Did you get it right
Camera
The lifetime before the smile
The moments left behind
And the ones yet to come ?

(NID, Ahmedabad / 01-11-2013)

Wo Raaste, wo Musafir

Jo yaad the wo 
Thikaney to mil gaye
Par bhool na paye 
Wo raaste, wo musafir.

जो याद थे वो 
ठिकाने तो मिल गए 
पर भूल न पाये 
वो रास्ते, वो मुसाफिर

(NID, Ahmedabad / 29-10-2013)

Intimations of Mortality

In sickness
And in health
Let me laugh
Away my
Intimations of
Mortality

(NID, Ahmedabad / 28-10-2013)

For Abhi

01

Big Boss: Big Boss chaahtey hain key Arun confession room mein aayen
Arun: Jee Big Boss

बिग बॉस: बिग बॉस चाहते हैं के अरुण कॉन्फेशन रूम में आयें
अरुण: जी बिग बॉस

02

A story
Came to an end
Today
One of many
But one
Part of one.

03

Photo puranee hai
Footprints vartamaaan

फोटो पुरानी है
फुटप्रिंट्स वर्तमान

(NID, Ahmedabad / 26-10-2013)

Self-aware

I was going to go far
I did
And woke up near me.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 19-10-2013)

Truth be told

Some days
Take you down
To the truth
High above
Your flight.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 18-10-2013)

Lucidity

The long sleep
Of a tiring day
The wide-eyed vigil
On a riot-hit night
Life has its moments
So does death.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 16-10-2013)

Time, and its Memory

What is, never was
What was, is forever
Time, and its memory
Intermittently, and inadvertently
Recharged.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 15-10-2013)

What is a Film

Films
A Lullaby
Or
A wake-up Call
Rest
Or
Unrest ?

(NID, Ahmedabad, in an Animation semester Jury / 14-10-2013)

Ode to a rhyme

Let's make a poem
Whose rhyming verse
Does make you
So want to curse
But one that has stayed away
From afflictions
Even worse.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 14-10-2013)

The Recharge Song

Charge
Recharge
Top up
If only our well at ease
Lives
Were Mobile
Reborn on demand
Any much, anywhere.

(Delhi Domestic Airport / 06-10-203)

Airport 2013

Asian airports
Showcases of
Colonialism
Of the colonised
Meanwhile the Whites
Brahmins in their eyes
And ours.

(Kathmandu Airport / 06-10-2013)

The Documentary

Documentaries
Are well-meaning reality shows
With similar regard for
Their infamy
And our fame.

(FSA, Kathmandu / 05-10-2013)

Life Lines

01

Life is
A four letter word
With an unlettered faith
In life.

02

Happiness and despair
Carry a price tag
Letting go is
Free
Of happiness and despair.

(Ahmedabad / 30-09-2013)

Garba Gujarat

Nine days
Of going around in circles
From the tenth
The straight path
Buddha has the last laugh
In Garba Gujarat.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 11-10-20123)

Mayajaal

01

It wasn't till
Reality
Hit hard
It dawned
All is illusion.

02

Jeevan key kuch kurkurey
Kararey laat ghoonsey
Khaaker samajh mein aya hai
Key boss mast raho
Yahan pados ki Maya nahin
Poora ka poora pados hee maya hai.

जीवन के कुछ कुरकुरे
करारे लात घूँसे
खाकर समझ में आया है
के बॉस मस्त रहो
यहाँ पड़ोस की माया नहीं
पूरा का पूरा पड़ोस ही माया है।

(NID, Ahmedabad / 11-10-20123)

Belghoria

This house
I was in
These people
Of whom I am
Much is same
And nothing no longer
Such is stuff

(Kolkata / September 2013)

Kuch Khwahishen Wo Dhak Ki

Keh to diya ki kehke lenge
Par lagi hui hai aapki
Kuch mardangi ke khyab wo
Kuch khwahishen wo dhak ki

कह तो दिया की कहके लेंगे 
पर लगी हुई है आपकी 
कुछ मर्दानगी के ख्याब वो 
कुछ ख्वाहिशें वो धाक की।

(NID, Ahmedabad / August 2013)

Samay ki daud

Sheher hai so gaya
Safar bhi neend mein
Ye bholey raastey
Yoon saath chal padey

Wo chand chupkey bhi
Lagey hai kyon khila
Chupa chupi ka ye
Ajab hai silsila

Thami imaraten
Bujhi ye khidkiyan
Subah ki aas mein
Unineendi syahiyan

Samay ki daud ko
Chala mein laangh key
Mein uskey peechey hoon
Ya uskey saamne ?


शहर है सो गया
सफर भी नींद में
ये भोले रास्ते
यूं साथ चल पड़े

वो चाँद छुपके भी
लगे है क्यों खिला
छुपा छुपी का ये
अजब है सिलसिला

थमी इमारतें
बुझी ये खिड़कियाँ
सुबह की आस में
उनींदी श्याहियाँ

समय की दौड़ को
चला में लांघ के
में उसके पीछे हूँ
या उसके सामने ?

(Mumbai / mid-90s)

Ek Nai Shuruaat

Nagn vrikshon ko achanak
Sharm aa gayi
Sukhsm komal haritima
Sarvatra chha gayi

Soye pakshion ne kiya
Jaagna shuru
Gunjti hai har taraf
Kuhu kuhu kuhu

Mokey is suhane par
Aao ye dam karen
Bhoot bhool ek nayi
Shuruaat ham karen


नग्न वृक्षों को अचानक 
शर्म आ गई 
शूक्ष्म कोमल हरितिमा 
सर्वत्र छा गई 

सोए पक्षिओं ने किया 
जागना शुरू 
गूंजती है हर तरफ 
कुहू कुहू कुहू 

मौके इस सुहाने पर 
आओ ये दम करें 
भूत भूल एक नई 
शुरुआत हम करें।

(Delhi / 1980) 

The Wisdom Tree

I once sat
(And honestly how much!)
Under the wisdom
Of an overrated 
Mango tree
My FTII days
A melancholy haze of
Desire, despair
And cinema
And the freedom to be
Such an asshole.

(NID, Ahmedabad / 25-09-2013)

Uski Aankhen

Uski aankhen kuch
Kehna chahti hain shayad
Kankhiyon sey baakhbar
Rehna chahti hain shayad

Wo jizhakana wo 
Mooh chupaney ki ada
Dosti key hak ada
Karna chahti hain shayad
Kankhiyon sey baakhbar...

उसकी आँखें कुछ 
कहना चाहती हैं शायद 
कनखियों से बाखबर 
रहना चाहती हैं शायद 

वो जिझकना वो 
मुह छुपाने की अदा 
दोस्ती के हक अदा 
करना चाहती हैं शायद 
कनखियों से बाखबर...

(NID, Ahmedabad / 1997)  

Love is a four letter word

Love is
A four letter word
On sale
At Budhwar Peth

(FTII, Pune / 1987 ?)

Short and Sweet

My poems

Are short

And sweet

Like me

(NID, Ahmedabad / 24-09-2013)