deforested se mann mein unse, khushiyo ki aayi thi
biodiversity
dheere-dheere bane the hum, ek doosre ki energy
alternate wali

duniya saari lagne lagi thi, jaise hai wo
zero emission
carbon footprint hi jaise, ho gaya ho
sabka none

par kaise ho sakta tha ye
sustainable?

emotional baggage wala pollution le aaya
global warming
particles badh gaye expectations ke, na rahe
emotions organic

dil aur dimaag ke ecosystem mein
hua jo imbalance
ho gayi pyaari wali wo feelings
ek-ek karke saari extinct

chalo hum bhi kar lete hain pyaar
apna recyclable
phir na hoga shikwa, ki hai ishq
unka biodegradable

जल्द आएंगी सूखी सर्द हवाएं, फिर इक बार अाहों को बहलाने,

गर्मी की लू भी ले ही आयेंगी रंगारंग फूलों वाली गालियां जैसे होता है हर बार,

ठीक वैसे ही जैसे तुझसे जुदाई का मौसम है बरक़रार सालोसाल।

मुस्कुराता देखना चाहते तो हो मुझे तुम हर दम,
पर क्या हो, अगर हर मुस्कान की वजह तुम हो जाओ।

मेरे पीछे से, हर कदम पर मेरे सलामती हो चाहते,
बस पलट के कहीं तुमको देखता हुआ मैं न देख लूं।

खैरियत मेरी तुम जानना हो चाहते कभी कभी,
खैरियत तुम बिन भी है मेरी, सुनना पर मुश्किल है ज़रा।

बेशक होगा ये खेल नपे-तुले से किसी रिश्ते का,
कैसे कर लेते हो तुम, आधी-अधूरी सी ऐसी चाहत।

उँगलियाँ तुम्हारी छूकर निकल गई जो मुझे
उछाल गई एहसास, हज़ारों-करोड़ो से,
आँखों को चूमना, आंसुओं को पीना,
लबों के कोनो को तुम्हारे, मुस्कुराहटों में बदलना…
ये सारे अनकहे वादे भी तो हैं वादे ,
वो लफ्ज़ो वाले वादों के लिए वक्त अब कहाँ ?

आज बालों में तुमने हाथ फेरे थे जब,
साँसों ने मेरी एक कहानी थी सुनाई,
उस कहानी को आगे बढ़ाने के लिए भी ,
क्या वादे देने-लेने पड़ेंगे अब?

काश वक्त साथ अपने
थोड़े अरमान भी ले जाता।

They chatted and giggled together. Making up stories of people around them at the airport. Their hands brushed every once in a while. Shoulders touched as one helped the other pick up a bag. They smiled a knowing, excited, awkward smile. Her pretty eyes met his charming smile.

Almost at the same time, both of them said it aloud, “Can’t believe we met just a couple of hours ago!” and they burst out laughing.

They talked and talked and talked, fingers sliding in and out of each others’ hands. As evening turned to night and night to dawn. Till dawn and evening merged, as they flew through time zones. Celebrating a movie-like coincidence of being next to each other in the check-in line.

”

“Ma’am, excuse me,” she was jerked out of her fantasy by a lady with an infant in arm. Her real neighbour for the next 9 hours. Her flight of imagination would now have to take a u-turn and giggle out baby-gargle. Oh well, until the return flight, then…

It was full. The bus, it was full. Hmph! I didn’t mind standing on the bus, reminded me of my own college days, even so “hmph!” I didn’t want to actually fall with him watching, you know. Oh no, I didn’t know him. In fact, I wondered how I’d never seen him on this regular route. But, I still didn’t want him to see me be my clumsy self.

I saw the vacant spot near the gear stick, next to the driver. On the floor of the bus. I dusted the spot and sat down. I could now face him for the next 20 minutes! But more importantly, I would seem so cool, not shy of sitting on the bus floor and all. I giggled my 16-year-old giggle – don’t worry guys, it was only inside – the internal giggle.

The bus started. I got my phone out, I had to seem nonchalant of course. Couldn’t sit there staring at him just because I wanted to, right? I went back to what I was doing on my phone, the last time I was on it – trying out various “silence my phone” apps that would sync with my calendar, to turn the “silent” mode on whenever I had an calendar event marked “busy”. Some people play games, I try out apps, deal with it.

As I went about my business, “Search → Download → Try → Uninstall → Repeat”, I could sense his appreciative eye on me. “Peeping Tom, you!” I said. In my mind, guys, in my mind. Why would I want him to be conscious? It was interesting that he was interested.

His look at my phone said, “wow, someone does stuff other than WhatsApp on their phone!” I could tell exactly what he was thinking from the way I felt he looked at my phone. My eyes were of course, focussed on the phone.

“Madam, your bus-stop!” said bus kaka. Oh oops, I must be looking cute as I fumble to get my things together. I got up. He got up too. Our sunglasses met.

I didn’t know if I should panic or smile at this thought. Could he sense my thoughts, like I could his, through our sunglasses?

Both of us wondered if we wanted to bump into each other or not, the next time we visited the school. Thankfully for now, off we went our ways, our kids’ report cards tucked in our arms

“Let’s go to the park today!” He said as she buttered a slice of toast and looked at him. Her eyes gleamed as a reflection of the excitement in his eyes, “Ok, let’s!” They hi-fived.

Later in the day, as they were getting ready for their day out, she instructed, “Let me know when you need to use the bathroom ok? Don’t worry, you have your diaper on. But still…”

“Hold my hand, babu” Another instruction, as they crossed the road. He even asserted his independence by shifting her hold on his elbow to holding just her little finger.

She is bossy, but it will be a good day. “I will have my ice cream for sure,” he thought. “I can let go today. It is okay if he has an ice cream today,” she thought. There was harmony.

She turned back after paying the ice-cream-wala, to the one thing she was scared of. He was not there. Wanting to break into a melodramatic scream, she reminded herself to “Not panic.” The first rule of parenting is to “Not panic,” her dad had told her when her baby had had a particularly bad episode of epilepsy. She breathed in, she breathed out as her eyes scanned the playground.

There in the corner, she saw him. Her relief lapsed in a moment as she saw him let a street dog lick his ice-cream! She slammed her head as he was about to bite in himself. She ran to him, snatching the ice-cream out of his hand and throwing it away. “shar..i…n..g” he mumbled. She didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

He happily licked on another scoop and was secretly overjoyed to see the dog run after the dropped cone. She gripped his hand tight on their way back home. Enough excitement for the day.

A bath and a bowl of soup later she read him a story as he nodded off. She switched the light off.

“We don’t think it through, when we ask to return to our childhood, do we?” She thought as she caressed her dad’s, her baba’s forehead. He smiled in his sleep as his daughter tucked him in.

~ ~ ~

This post was written to be read for the childhood theme at “The StoryBench” reading club.