जो लफ़्ज़ों में न हो पाए बयाँ

जाने क्यूँ वो पूछते हैं हमसे हाल-ए-दिल की दास्ताँ

बेबाक धड़कनों को सुन सको तो जानो

नज़रों का नूर नज़र आये तो जानो

वो जज़्बात ही क्या जो लफ़्ज़ों में हो पाएँ बयाँ


जो ख्व़ाब का हिस्सा हो

जो तसव्वुर का किस्सा हो

वो जो हकीक़त बन जाए तो जानो

वो जुनूँ ही क्या जो लफ़्ज़ों में हो पाए बयाँ


जो अश्कों की हो रही हो बरसात

भीगी पलकों की ख़ुशी समझ सको तो जानो

अधूरे से अल्फाज़, अनकही सी बात

महसूस कर सको तो जानो

वो ग़म, वो ख़ुशी ही क्या जो लफ़्ज़ों में हो पाए बयाँ


जुज़्व-ए-ज़िन्दगी हैं वो पल जो हँसा के जाते हैं

जुज़्व-ए-ज़िन्दगी हैं वो पल जो रुला के जाते हैं

न जाने कितनी मरतबा ये मोड़ आते हैं

न जाने कितने शक़्स आते हैं जाते हैं

ज़हन-ओ-दिल पे मग़र बस कुछ लम्हे छा जाते हैं

वो लम्हे, वो एहसास , वो जूनून, वो सुकून-ओ-सबात

वो हर एक जज़्बात

जो लफ़्ज़ों में न हो पाए बयाँ


This poem is dedicated to all those moments that render us speechless, when the plethora of emotions, the nostalgia, the surreal feeling intoxicates us!
Life is perhaps a summation of all these turning points- those unforgettable moments, when you could not find any words to express yourself !!

Being speechless is an amazing experience, always !!

Feels great to be back to Urdu :)

Next Blog soon !!

Cheers!!!



 

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Mumbai Weekends : Marine Drive!!

Wake Up Sid, one of my favorite movies, ends with a beautiful song, boondon ke motiyon mein ghul ke ehsaas aaya, waqt se nikal ke lamha dil ke paas aaya..I have lost the count of the number of times I have watched that scene on youtube, but whenever I think of writing a blog about Mumbai, I tend to recall these lines from Konkana Sen's article, 'New Girl in the City', "jo bhi likhti, lagta ki kuchh kam hai, iss sheher ke bare mei aisa kya keh sakti thi jo pehle nahi kaha gaya" ..for now I can relate to these lines completely.. Right from its beaches to its people, right from its tall buildings to slums, right from its glamour to its lifestyle, there is so much about this city that evokes and arouses the observer, the philosopher, the day dreamer and above all the writer in you, that I simply could not put an end to it in just one article..And, hereby, after a hopelessly long phase without blogs, I am back with a series : Mumbai Weekends!!

Everyone here talks of a so-called fast life, where people fail to find time for themselves, time for their family, time to interact with their neighbors, but even with this fast life, you might not realize but you would always have time to think of your problems..So when you are fed up of your job or your boss, when you are heartbroken after a breakup, when you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, or simply need a break from your monotonous life, there is just one place that offers you incredible peace..and that is the subject of the very first blog of the series- Marine Drive.

You will find hundreds of articles describing the place, but you won't find any wiki-google-ish article here, I know nothing about its location or its history, for me, Marine Drive is all about desire, tranquility, ecstasy, love, happiness, freedom, inspiration, fantasies, romance and much more !!

You may stride along the beautiful walkway, you may simply sit and keep on looking at the waves, the rocks, the tall buildings, the enthralling scenic beauty of the palm trees, the heavenly breeze and the amazing view of the horizon which seems totally mesmerizing when the sun sets!
At night, the street lights on the C-shaped road look like a string of pearls and diamonds, popularly known as the 'Queen's necklace'

When you sit on the wall and look at the sea waves hitting the rocks, when you are walking along the promenade and the breeze caresses your hair, even when you are surrounded by so many people, you feel lost for you forget everything else and you tend to enjoy being free, emancipated from all inhibitions and apprehensions, all cobwebs of negative thoughts that preoccupy your mind, which are replaced by the feeling of letting yourself go, getting high !!
Your romantic side turns on when you come to this place, perhaps it is the most suitable place for going out for a date, or for simply sitting and talking to someone, or for day dreaming and fantasizing !!

You will always find a lot of couples there, couples with their public displays of affection, groups of friends clicking pictures, old couples sitting and talking, kids jumping around and people like me, sitting and smiling, enjoying the breeze, the freedom, the feeling that can't be put in words..

One may say that I take it as a medium to escape, but sometimes its better to take a break, when the past and the future becomes unimportant.. Perhaps everyone deserves someone like Marine Drive, someone who can make you feel free, someone who can make you forget everything for a while, someone who won't walk away, would always be there, would always stay, for you...
Such places and such people, aren't about escapism, they are about spending time with yourself, being happy and looking forward to life, for it happens to be beautiful, as beautiful as Marine Drive is!
Whenever I tend to forget this, I just walk around this place, and it get the same feeling again.. life is as beautiful as this place!

Cheers !!

Mumbai weekends always have something interesting to offer, next blog from the series from a hard core Delhite trying to explore the city that never sleeps, coming soon!

Sonia

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Zarre Zarre Ki Ye Iltija Hai

Kyun kaagaz ke tukde ki lakeeron ki,

zameen se zameen ko juda karti sarhadon ki,

insaan ki zindagi se zyada ahmiyat hai..

Kyun aadmi ke banaye mazhabon ki,

vatan se zyada ahmiyat hai..

Kyun ek maasoom se,

uska bachpan chheena ja raha hai,

Kyun ek baap k kaandhe pe,

usi ke bete ka janaaja ja raha hai..

Har zarre ka noor wahi hai,

sari kaaynaat ka khuda wahi hai..

kyun usi khuda k bandon k beech hai ye nafrat..

Ki allah ki bakshi inaayat,

Aakhir hai to sirf insaniyat..

Aaj har dil se aa rahi ye sada hai,

zarre zarre ki ye iltija hai..

bas yehi guzarish hai,

aur yehi khwahish hai...

ki charon taraf ho sukoon,ho khushiyan..

Na koi aatank,na nafrat,na hinsa..

Zarre zarre ki yahi,

bas yahi,iltija hai..

[Dedicated to all those who desire peace and finally an end to war n terrorism....... to all those who believe that humanity is above every religion. ]

An agnostic theist demanding peace for the whole world......

Sonia Bhatia

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SIMPLY ASK YOURSELF

It was a few days back that I had to fill a form for a course. There was a lady who talked to me after the trial class. She asked, “your name?”, I replied, “Sonia Bhatia”. God knows how she heard Sonia Thakur, though Thakur and Bhatia don’t rhyme at all. She said “Sonia Thakur, so you must be a Bengali or a Gujarati”…I told her that the name is Sonia Bhatia not Sonia Thakur….
Something that happens always is that the moment I tell my name to people, they say, “you must be from a Punjabi family, right.” Now this is how people might be reacting to these names..
Sonia Sharma, …….. must be Hindu……..
Sonia Khan…….. must be Muslim…
Sonia Ghosh …… must be Bengali…….
I am not using the name Sonia because its my name but because it happens to be a very common name and almost every last name goes well with it……
I just kept on thinking bout this....... how the hell does that matter… why is it so very important for people…why are people wanting to know bout others’ religion…. Why are they wanting to classify people…..

Talking about religions, honestly I believe in ‘agnostic theism’…. I don’t believe in any religion at all… we can live without religion but we cannot live without human affection….I would have been exactly the same person even if I were Sonia Khan Or Sonia D’Souza……and why should Sonia Khan follow Islam and Sonia D’souza Christianity….. why cant it be a person’s choice to choose his/her religion.. I had actually tried to do so, but I didn’t find even a single religion worth following and I don’t even feel that it is essential for any person to follow any religion at all …. therefore, I am an agnostic theist….. Yes, people from different regions have different languages, different customs, different religions…this is diversity…but I don’t find any ‘unity’ in this ‘diversity’…I completely agree with Jonathan Swift , “We have just enough religions to make us hate, but not enough to make us love”…. Yes, more than 90% riots in India were due to religion…I was absolutely shocked when I read a scrap in a friend’s scrapbook on orkut…. It was regarding the number of Hindus and the number of Muslims who were killed in Gujarat riots…. How does that matter.. Something that is more important is that ‘innocent people’ were killed because of something which is actually not at all important, not at all required……It was religion that helped the British to divide and rule and it is religion that politicians use today to do the same.. I feel ashamed that parties like MNS and people like Raj Thackeray exist in my country…

Akbar’s din-i-llahi was a brilliant idea, great concept….. but it failed….and it failed because people didn’t even think about it…. people considered it to be ‘blasphemy’…… it was around 400-500 years ago…but even today people would never accept something like din-i-llahi, something like paganism, something like agnostic theism, something which talks of peace and humanity…….

I know…. After reading this article… some people would agree to this, some wont…but this is not a debate…. This is not even an opinion……This is a humble request…. The next time, if you hear a name…. please don try to figure out if the person is a Hindu or a Muslim or a Gujarati or a Bengali or whatever…. Just ask yourself this question “ Who are you?”…just try to describe yourself in 100 words.. I hope your answer wont include the religion that you follow or the language that you speak or the state that you are from……n then , try n imagine a world without any religion or caste… a world with humanity, love and peace…. We were definitely born with no religion….. we all are homo sapiens, human beings… there wont be any riots, any wars for things that actually do not have any importance at all…. And for the sake of peace and humanity, ask yourself “ Do I really need a religion to live..Why do I need a religion to live.?. Cant I have my own principles and morals instead of following rituals, customs and superstitions that constitute a religion ? We all are Indians, we all are human beings, so why do we need to classify ourselves, to divide ourselves...?" Just ask yourself. Simply ask yourself. Widget on