पापा

6 मई को मधुरिमा(दैनिक भास्कर) के मातृत्व विशेषांक में एक छोटी सी कहानी या कहिए संस्मरण प्रकाशित हुआ। बेहद खुशी हुई, जिसकी अपेक्षा ना की हो, उसका मिल जाना जादू सा लगता है ना।

दो दिन पहले दैनिक भास्कर की तरफ से एक लिफाफा आया, एक cheque था। हैरान थी मैं और थोड़ा-सा खुश भी, लिखने के पैसे मिलते हैं?

मधुरिमा ने अपने अमूल्य पृष्ठों के बीच मेरे शब्दों को स्थान दिया, ये अपने आप मे किसी उपहार से कम नहीं था मेरे लिए। पापा खुश थे मुझसे कई ज्यादा खुश। ‘शाबाश’ कहा उन्होंने, ज्यादा बोलते नहीं हैं वो, मेरे नॉव्लस पढ़ने को या कुछ लिखने को वो सिर्फ शौक की तरह ही देखते हैं, लाइक अ टाइमपास।

“ऐसे ही खूब लिखा करो, और इस cheque एक शॉट (Photo) ले लो”

“रहने दो पापा, छोटू सा amount है, कभी कुछ बड़ा मिला तो पक्का लूंगी” और टाल दिया मैंने पापा की बात को।

पापा फिर उस लिफाफे को देखने लगे, मुझे नहीं पता क्या ढ़ूंढ रहे थे वो उस कागज़ के टुकड़े में। दैनिक भास्कर लिखा था और घर क पता, Ankita Chauhan, D/O ******* ***** Chauhan

शाम को घर आये तो वही लिफ़ाफा थमाते हुए बोले-

“वो cheque तो मैंने जमा करवा दिया, लिफाफे में उसकी एक फॉटोकॉपी है, इसको संभाल के रखना, पहला है”

शायद सभी पापा ऐसे ही होते होंगे ना, ज़िदंगी की जिन नेमतों को, छोटी छोटी खुशियों को हम बच्चे, नादानी में अनदेखा कर जाते है, हमारे पेरेंट्स उन्हें सहेज़ लेते हैं, उनके लिए हमारी वही छोटी-छोटी खुशियाँ किसी सफलता से कम नहीं होंती। हमारे बड़ों  का यही सकारात्मक रवैया और आशीर्वाद हमें एक हद से पार जाकर जीने का हौसला देता है।

Link of That Story

Yoga Sutra : A Short Story

An oscillation of shoulder joints and eventually he opened his eyes amidst beautiful valley, surrounded by green-capped mountains, there were couple of legs, reducing their cortisol production by performing yoga while few rock-headed fatties unwillingly shaking their bodies. He smoothed his limbs on silken sand, gave a perfect stretch to his arms, and bent himself into an arc.

“Enough for today, time for breakfast” she stated.

“I have a company, eh dog!” Words spilled from his half-paralyzed face.

“Height of hallucination”

“It’s an Imagination, What is now proved, once only imagined.” He flashed.

And, I.C.U died into silence again.

Happiness is when you watch your story Under TOP 4! Thanks a Ton #OFSLife 

Book Review - Mistress of Honour by Bhaavna Arora

Title – Mistress of Honour

Author – Bhaavna Arora

Publication – Penguin Books India

Genre – General Fiction

Pages – 191

Source - @Booksensed

Rating – 4/5

“No religion is more sacred than your duty.”

Although I have watched few army related movies but reading those lives is such a dazzling experience, it seems like exploring a new zone of an organization. And when I received a copy of “Mistress of Honour by Bhaavna Arora” couldn’t put down this book and the prose is simple enough, I read it in single stretch. In her book author beautifully managed to capture the real life events of an army life, a gripping novel about love, longing and the astounding sacrifice of soldiers and their brave heart wives.

“A soldier takes his world with him when he is away from it. And every soldier needs the memory of a woman to return to, to fight his bet battle. It gives him reason to stay alive and return home victorious.”

LIFE-CYCLE - A Short Story

“Today, of course walking troubled you but I had to sell it. Education will lead you to a new life where pool of filth won’t be your domain anymore.”

His legs started trembling with fatigue, yet he gave a courageous nod and silently headed towards Amma’s shadow, only way he knew about walking.

“But Baba’s bicycle?” he whispered with half-shut eyes.

“He is… Your Baba might be riding horses somewhere in heaven.”

She unfurled the cloth on her skinny shoulders, the cloth she often used as a crown to support those heavy head-pans of cement at construction sites. 

Curriculum Vitae

Kingdom: Animalia

Class: Aves

Family: My hen, my pullets, my cockerels, my omelets oh! Whatever!

Species: G. gallus

About Me –

My common name is chicken, no! Not a roasted one just ‘Domestic Chicken’. What? Is your mouth watering? Feeling hungry? That’s what often sensed people. Either you take me as a food or source for cracking jokes, that mirchi murga with Naved, Stupid fellows and brutal too. You slaughtered my freedom. You striped my soul. By caging me into suffocating metal-bars, you’re actually killing your race, humanity. 99-words?

Waaaait! I’m not done yet. I’m not born for your abattoirs and…

Frame 36

Web of Love : A Poem

An alertness of dark and silent night,

She sensed the glimmer of images,

Hidden in the scent of dampened pages and

Her determination to undrape

The preface of veiled voices,

She closed her eyes and envisaged the reflections,

Expressions, and kaleidoscope of echoes,

Suddenly a spinning figure

Trapped in her constellation of silence,

It came with a promise that

She has to empty her heart, first!

She did so, Struggling with each falling teardrop,

Those past interactions flashed in her dusky eyes.

It’s time to light up the candle and,

Burn that paper, his lurid web of love!

One Frame Stories

रामराज्य : नीलेश मिसरा – एक आवाज़

Photo Credit: Google 

नीलेश मिसरा का नाम जब भी दिखाई या सुनाई देता है तो “उनका ख्याल” ज़हन में गुनगुनाने लगता है। इसी गीत के जरिये तो नीलेश जी मेरी म्युज़िक लिस्ट में शामिल हुए थे। शायद ही कोई भारतीय हो जो नीलेश मिसरा (Neelesh Misra Sir) , के नाम से अनभिज्ञ हो| इनकी शख्सियत एक गुलाब की कली की तरह है जितनी परतें खोलते जाते हैं उतना ही ये आपको आश्चर्य में डालते जायेंगे। अलसाई सी सुबहों में जब आप आँख मलते हुए उठते हैं तो नीलेश जी अपने अखबार गाँव कनेक्शन के जरिये आपसे मिलते हैं, दिन में उनके लिखे गीतों को आप सुनते हैं और रात में फिर रेडियो पर आकर धीमी सी दस्तक देते हैं जैसे कह रहे हों “अभी कैसे सोने चले जनाब, अभी मैं जाग रहा हूँ”, और फिर दिल को सुकून पहुंचाती उनकी आवाज़ व उनके नेतृत्व में मंडली द्वारा लिखित कहानियाँ। अभी इतना ही जान पाई हूँ नीलेश जी के बारे में पर विश्वास कीजिए अभी काफी कुछ एक्सप्लोर करना बाकी है, शायद।

फ़िलहाल नीलेश जी अपने एक नए प्रोग्राम “रामराज्य” को लेकर सुर्खियों में हैं। यूँ तो पहले भी नीलेश जी दूरदर्शन पर गाँवों के विकास  सम्बन्धित एक कार्यक्रम में दिख चुके हैं, और अब ABP News पर उन्हें देखना, सुनना, इस बार देखते हुए सुनना, अनुभव शब्दों में बयां करना मुश्किल है।

रामराज्य एक पहल है, कुछ-एक चुने हुए दिग्गजो द्वारा भारतीयों को विकास का सही मतलब समझाने की। जब हर किसी चैनल पर अपने अपने धर्म को लेकर राजनीति करते हुए कुछ नेता गण अपना आपा तक खो बैठते है। वहीं नीलेश जी अपनी मधुर आवाज़ में, इस छोटे से प्रयास से वास्तविकता में रामराज्य के दर्शन करा जाते हैं, दिल तक पहुँचती उनकी आवाज़ हौले से कह जाती है “मंदिरों और मस्ज़िदों से पहले खुशियाँ अपनों कि दी गई मुस्कानों मॆं बसती है, अपनों के लिए - अपने देश के लिए कुछ करके देखिये, वही रामराज्य है”

रामराज्य के पहले एपीसोड में नीलेश जी और ABP News Team  हमें घर बैठे क्यूबा लेकर गयी। क्यूबा का नाम सामान्य ज्ञान में Cuba’s Boxing Success के अंतर्गत पढ़ा था। लेकिन नीलेश जी ने एक नए क्यूबा से मिलवाया जो कि विकासशील देश होते हुए भी स्वास्थ्य सेवाओं को लेकर इतना जागरूक है,  कई देशों को पीछे छोड़ देता है। इस प्रोग्राम में दिखाए जाने वाले तथ्य और आंकड़े आपको सोचने पर मज़बूर करते हैं कि आखिर रामराज्य होता क्या है और अब तक हम भारतीय गांधारी की तरह आँखों पर पट्टी बाधें वही देख सुन रहे थे जो इतने समय से सिखाया जा रहा था।

क़्यूबा के एक अधिकारी कहते हैं -

“भले हमारे देश में नये मॉडल की कारें नहीं है क़िंतु आपको हमारी सड़कों पर रोते बिलखते भूखे बच्चे नहीं दिखेंगे।

हमारे देश में आधे डॉक्टर ट्रांसफर को लेकर समय बर्बाद नहीं करते हम उन्हीं के शहर में रोजगार उपलब्ध करवाते हैं।“

घर बैठे स्वास्थ्य सेवाएं इसके बारे में हम भारतीय कभी कल्पना भी नहीं कर सकते, जबकि क्यूबा की सरकार मानती है कि हम अपने देश में prevention  पर अधिक ध्यान देते हैं, हम अपनी जनता को वह सुविधायें उप्लब्ध करवाते हैं जिससे इलाज़ करवाने के दर्द तक उनको पहुचना ही ना पड़े।

प्रोग्राम के खत्म होने पर दूसरे दिन “संभव है” के जरिए इस बात पर चर्चा की जाती है हल खोजने की एक कोशिश की  जाती है, भारत में वो सुविधाएं क्यूं अब तक उप्लब्ध नहीं है और हमारी सरकार इस पर क्या कर रही है। यहां सरकारे “मुफ्त दवायें, मुफ्त इलाज़” के नारे के साथ पूरा चुनाव जीत लेती हैं जो कि इन नेताओं द्वारा हम पर की गई कोई मेहरबानी नहीं हमारा अधिकार है। कई जवाबों और सवालों की ओर हेल्थ मिनिस्ट्री का ध्यान आकर्षित कर नीलेश जी और उनकी टीम रामराज्य का एक नया अध्याय खोजने निकल जाती है। इस महत्वपूर्ण पहल के लिए नीलेश Sir और ABP News Team को हार्दिक धन्यवाद! शनिवार का इंतजार रहेगा !

You can connect with Neelesh Misra via –

Twitter : @neeleshmisra

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neeleshmisra

Blog: Writer At Large

Gaon Connection : http://www.gaonconnection.com/

P.s – it is jus’ a small effort to show some gratitude towards the person who eventually became the important part of our lives through immense presence of his voice. Keep  Shining  Sir! 

Book Review : Autumn Moon by Gulzar

Title: Autumn Moon

Author: Gulzar

Translated By: J.P Das

Publisher: Rupa Pulications India.

Genre: Poetry

Pages: 108

Source: Kindle edition

Rating: 5/5

The Gulzar (Saab), name has been speaking for itself since decades. He is legendary lyricist, film maker and what stands him out that he is all time poet.

“Poetry has and always will remain my 'real' passion. It is in poetry that I find true meaning which urges me on through some turbulent moments in life. Poetry is my life line. The most exciting moments in my life, even more than the release of my films, have been when I have seen my poetry in print. ” Says Gulzar

Photo Credit : Google

When I got the chance to read his book “Autumn Moon” I was literally on the moon while enjoying his nazms or poems. I was in sense of wonder how could someone write so mesmerizingly. Although reading him in our language, hindi is a real charm. But when you pick this book which is translated by JP Da , a doyen of Oriya poetry and one of the very few 'true' poets on the scene today, you are being left with awe. 

Gulzar’s poetry radiates peace, a warm sunshine on your bare heart, once you started reading him, it is hard to disconnect from his world, which is always better than reality. Flowing words of Gulzar saab seem more than real. His short verses give you oxygen, reason for living.

His poems explore this beautiful world for you, you never knew if it is exist. Blank pages, few twigs, broken yarns.. He weaved a meaning of life into his words and it seems like a treat to enjoy his creations. Actually his imaginations are beyond the world.

Here I’m sharing his poems I loved the most.

Earrings

As the lamps stare

with blinking eyes,

chandeliers hum

a heavenly tune. 

I have plucked your voice

and worn it on my ears

like a pair of earrings.

Eyes

Your eyes—

are they two devotees

kneeling in prayer? 

When you raise your eyes,

your look resonates

the wet sound of temple bells.

When you lower your eyes,

now sad and pensive,

the call for prayer ends. 

Your eyes ——

are the genesis of creation.

Your eyes ——

are the absolute meaning of life.

So I’m going to read it over and over. It is highly recommended for those who live gulzar’s words. We’re actually blessed because of gulzar’s presence in our era.

Affiliate Link (Amazon India) : 

A Tell-Tale

“That shining leaf, Pluck Sudha, pluck it too!”

“I’m trying to locate some soft, blossoming flowers for mother, Dumbo!”

“But where has the moon gone, give me a piece of rope, I’ll fasten up the sun, wrap it into silvery clouds and gift her”

“You can’t do godly things, Kiddo”

“Then I’ll give her those glistening pebbles”

“Do you want to hurt her or what?”

“I won’t return until I too get something for mother’s birthday.”

He pouted, flattened on muddy ground and sudden spark bloomed in his mischievous eyes.

“Don’t Dummbo! Don’t dare to touch those Red-Velvet-Bugs.”

OFS : FRAME 34

Review: The Stranger by Albert Camus

Title: The Stranger

Author: Albert Camus

Translated by: Stuart Gilbert (French to British)

Publication: Vintage Books

Genre: Thriller, Literary Fiction

Pages: 96

Source: Kindle edition

Rating: 5/5

Few writers don’t just write, but create the whole new world for their readers. They phrase many questions in reader’s mind with their outstanding works. Although it is my first read of Albert Camus but it touched me to the core and more than a thriller it is great way to know the limits, a writer can think. Albert Camus was an Algerian-Born French Nobel prize winning author and philosopher of 20^th century.

The story starts with “MOTHER died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure.” and with his first line author captured you immensely in his journey. It is a story of Mersault, a young man who commits a crime, in a heat-dazed moment he shot an Arab and condemned to death.

Here author’s narrative skills played a fabulous role by giving a unpredictable turn to the story. When court just ignored the matter of fact why this murder kind of thing happened but they seemed more curious about ‘his unkindness towards her mother. ‘He was being judged for his real character that he has no opinion about anything, why he doesn’t feel much.

By his brilliantly told philosophical work, Albert Camus unintentionally gives you the power to read between the lines. There are more characters in the book as her mother’s friends at her funeral, Mersault’s girl, few so-called- friends.  There are places in this book where you will find a very well known stranger, living with a mournful solace.

The lines which makes you think more about the protagonist‘s character..

I tried to picture a moment when the beating of my heart no longer echoed in my head.

So, what with long bouts of sleep, my memories, readings of that scrap of newspaper, the tides of light and darkness, the days slipped by. I'd read, of course, that in jail one ends up by losing track of time. But this had never meant anything definite to me. I hadn't grasped how days could be at once long and short. Long, no doubt, as periods to live through, but so distended that they ended up by overlapping on each other. In fact, I never thought of days as such; only the words "yesterday" and "tomorrow" still kept some meaning.

The sun was setting and it was the hour of which I'd rather not speak—"the nameless hour," I called it—when evening sounds were creeping up from all the floors of the prison in a sort of stealthy procession. I went to the barred window and in the last rays looked once again at my reflected face. It was as serious as before; and that wasn't surprising, as just then I was feeling serious. But, at the same time, I heard something that I hadn't heard for months. It was the sound of a voice; my own voice, there was no mistaking it. And I recognized it as the voice that for many a day of late had been sounding in my ears. So I knew that all this time I'd been talking to myself.

If you want to know about your existence and the essence of life, Highly Recommended, an enigmatic work of Albert Camus!

Affiliate Link (Amazon India) :  

Review : The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel

Title: The Library at Night

Author: Alberto Manguel

Publication: Vintage Books

Genre: Historical Non-Fiction

Pages: 241

Source: Kindle edition

Rating: 5/5

“Who better than Alberto Manguel, that globetrotting, multilingual citizen of the world … to pay homage to the library as the centre of civilization? … The Library at Night is filled with odd combinations, unexpected transitions and wandering scraps of esoterica with aphorisms appearing as signposts along the way…. This book is utterly sensitive to the experience of reading…. Manguel, in this and his other books, comes off as quite the raconteur.” (Lines taken from a newspaper)

I haven’t read much yet so it is needless to say anything about The Alberto Manguel’s work.  But this book gives you a new perspective to see the world of libraries. Books are not just a compilation of few papers; they carry lives, energy and divinity.

Alberto Manguel is an Argentine born Canadian anthologist, novelist. He actually celebrated his journey with books along with their authors. The way he told us about the history of libraries, about medieval Arab authors, Canadian novelists, Montaigne towers and exquisite pictures. Here I want to share a thought that it is not embodied of some kind of story that you finished and marked as read. It’s a process to know more about human’s evolution. Every time you open the book you encountered with a different world, we shuffled from one library to another along with author.

Literally it made me teary- eyed when Manguel, The Author described the pain of burning books not a single book but a whole library I mean such a barbarian act, because you couldn’t control them physically you just made them mentally slave by burning the books, the history.  The conversational approach of Manguel left you speechless till the end.

If you are bibliophile or desired to be a one, must devour this journey of library!  Worth your time!

Few quotes I loved the most..

Every reader exists to ensure for a certain book a modest immortality. Reading is, in this sense, a ritual of rebirth.

But at night, when the library lamps are lit, the outside world disappears and nothing but this space of books remains in existence.

I like to imagine that, on the day after my last, my library and I will crumble together, so that even when I am no more I’ll still be with my books.

I have no feeling of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have unlimited patience. They will wait for me till the end of my days.

P.s - I can’t share the whole book here. Read it , Just Read it.

Affiliate Link (Buy Online) :