करो हमको न शर्मिंदा

करो हमको न शर्मिंदा बढ़ो आगे कहीं बाबा
हमारे पास आँसू के सिवा कुछ भी नहीं बाबा

कटोरा ही नहीं है हाथ में बस इतना अंतर है
मगर बैठे जहाँ हो तुम खड़े हम भी वहीं बाबा

तुम्हारी ही तरह हम भी रहे हैं आज तक प्यासे
न जाने दूध की नदियाँ किधर होकर बहीं बाबा

सफाई थी सचाई थी पसीने की कमाई थी
हमारे पास ऐसी ही कई कमियाँ रहीं बाबा

हमारी आबरू का प्रश्न है सबसे न कह देना
वो बातें हमने जो तुमसे अभी खुलकर कहीं बाबा|

--- कुँअर बेचैन

अगर तुम एक पल भी

अगर तुम एक पल भी
ध्यान देकर सुन सको तो,
तुम्हें मालूम यह होगा
कि चीजें बोलती हैं।

तुम्हारे कक्ष की तस्वीर
तुमसे कह रही है
बहुत दिन हो गए तुमने मुझे देखा नहीं है
तुम्हारे द्वार पर यूँ ही पड़े
मासूम ख़त पर
तुम्हारे चुंबनों की एक भी रेखा नहीं है

अगर तुम बंद पलकों में
सपन कुछ बुन सको तो
तुम्हें मालूम यह होगा
कि वे दृग खोलती हैं।

वो रामायण
कि जिसकी ज़िल्द पर जाले पुरे हैं
तुम्हें ममता-भरे स्वर में अभी भी टेरती है।
वो खूँटी पर टँगे
जर्जर पुराने कोट की छवि
तुम्हें अब भी बड़ी मीठी नज़र से हेरती है।

अगर तुम भाव की कलियाँ
हृदय से चुन सको तो
तुम्हें मालूम यह होगा
कि वे मधु घोलती हैं।

--- कुँअर बेचैन

For Life is

Listen, O friend, I shall tell thee of the secret perfume of Life.

Life has no philosophy, No cunning systems of thought.

Life has no religion, No adoration in deep sanctuaries.

Life has no god, Nor the burden of fearsome mystery.

Life has no abode, Nor the aching sorrow of ultimate decay.

Life has no pleasure, no pain, Nor the corruption of pursuing love.

Life is neither good nor evil, Nor the dark punishment of careless sin.

Life gives no comfort, Nor does it rest in the shrine of oblivion.

Life is neither spirit nor matter, Nor is there the cruel division of action and inaction.

Life has no death, Nor has it the void of loneliness in the shadow of Time.

Free is the man who lives in the Eternal, For Life is.

---J Krishnamurti

Kalahandi

In the shifting shadows of lantern light
Her hollow contours become yet more pronounced
Against the pitch darkness of the impatient man
As he advances she struggles with the suffocating stench
Of empty sacks stained with kerosene smoke
Smell of hooch, of sweat, of flesh, the Man's
Drunken half-smile, look of vague desire, the dark
Hollow of her dry hung elongated breasts, the dark
Gaping cleavages of paddy fields throw a mocking sneer.
Erratic fingers, nails digging into the skin -
Haggard looking crows swooping down in haphazard trajectories.
Twisting of bodies, arms clasping, unclasping
Emaciated naked children fight over a loaf
Of dark bread snatched from a tired dog :
silhouettes of puppets in a drollery
A woman wails by the body
Of husband crushed under a sack of relief rice
his breath, her breath, hot, mingling together :
Dry leaves rustle in the mid-afternoon air.
She cambers up, indifferent, like a crab, in spasms
As the hairy-chested man lunges for a decisive thrust :
Look of tiredness in the eyes,
ready to bite, but unable to move the underjaws.
Her body, breathing, lies exhausted -
A gleam of compromised content in her eyes
Having added two rupees to the forty she earned last
week by selling off her daughter.

---Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan

Love's Philosophy

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever,
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle;--
Why not I with thine?
See! the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven,
If it disdained it's brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

---Percy Bysshe Shelley (1803-1822)

Hour of Coming

Death does not come when you call Him
However much you call, He never comes :
He comes only at his appointed hour -
Playing hide and seek, biding his time
Comes Death one day
all of a sudden !
When you are lying alone in your bed of rags,
Flies on your face and blood in nostrils,
Knees full of pus, boils under buttocks
With nobody to say even 'Ah Dear !' to you
No strength left even to vomit things out
Eyes filled with tears mixed with pain
You cry out loud - Death ! Death ! O Death!
Can't bear it any more Oh Take me away Death !!
But never comes Death !
When you are sitting alone in the middle of night
Under village banyan tree wrapped in a blanket
Looking at younger brother's funeral pyre :
In the burning embers you see wife's dead face
Remember playmates, school-friends, dead face
And cry out loud pressing your aching heart to chest
Friends gone, kin gone, daughter gone to in-laws :
Why do you O Lord still keep me in this world !
You wish, if only
could just now
come Death !!
Never comes Death !
When you are relaxing supine in your morning bed
Pressing the radio close, listening to cricket :
India versus Pakistan - ah, final match,
Ten runs to win, and just another wicket :
Your daughter comes near and breaks the news
Son-in-law's promotion - ah what a good news,
Playing in her lap little four-month old grandson
with soft pink little fingers fondles your beard :
"Oh dear one ! my diamond one ! my golden one, my little one !
Umhh... my remaining years be all yours, O lovely one.... !"
You softly kiss your grandson's forehead -
Four runs to win :
Then comes Death !

---Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan

Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

--- Langston Hughes