Baatein

नयी जगह, नये लोग,
हिचकिचाहट को, तोड़ देते हैं,
कई रास्ते, एक मंज़िल,
चलो बातें करते हैं |

कई दोस्त, कुछ ख़ास होंगे,
हर के अपने ज़ज़्बात होते हैं,
बना लेते हैं, यादों का किला,
चलो बातें करते हैं |

कोई गिर गया, तो उठा लेंगे,
कोई छूट गया, तो ढूँढ लेंगे,
याराना होगा, किताबों में शामिल,
चलो बातें करते हैं |

प्यार होगा, मोब्बत होगी,
देख उनको, आहें भरते हैं,
बड़ा ही प्यारा है ये समा,
चलो बातें करते हैं |

ये वादियाँ, हसीन है,
एक दूसरे को तंग करते हैं,
क्या पता फिर मिले ना मिले,
चलो बातें करते हैं |

Stop Laughing

Richa was coming from the front. A drop of sweat trickled down Raj’s face. He stopped his hastening to and fro movements and stood still like the statue in the nearby park. 

Blue salwar, white kameez, a flick of kohl in the eyes. 4 metal bangles on each hand, beaded earrings, a thin nose ring and a smile on her charming face. She was dark, not chocolate dark but enough not to be called fair. She jerked her head to let the strip of her hair flow back behind her ears. It would however come back any second.

They have been in the relationship for 3 years. Anyone would have fallen in love with her queer prankish personality. She came and proposed and he immediately said yes. The couple was a symbol of love and trust.

“You are sweating. Did I make you wait very long?” Richa held her ears with a tensed cute look.

“Naah, I came early. Need something to drink. Let’s go.” They took the last seat of the restaurant to maintain their privacy.

“You know, my mom is taking me for shopping today. It’s my brother’s marriage after all. I will leave in an hour.”

“I wanted to say something.”

“Since when did you start asking permission from me? You are the bossy one here.” Richa smirked but she felt the awkward silence. She kept her palm over his.

“We need to break-up.” Raj said for the first time looking straight in her eyes.

“What?” Drops of cold coffee spread over the table as she coughed. A pool flew out of the glass with the jolt and successfully landed on the red carpet. The straw took 3 merry go round trips and preferred to stay in the glass.

“I don’t like golgappe but eat it to keep you happy. We don’t have anything more to talk about at our night calls. You started lying to me about your friends. We are not so excited to meet each other like earlier. You talk more about your family than us. You would not miss classes anymore to go out for a movie with me. You have started scolding me for things you don’t like.” He said it all in one go. Every excuse he had thought of giving her.

She was gazing him right in the eyes. He couldn’t take it anymore and lowered his head. He was well prepared for a slap in the public and he deserved it. He was ready for it all.

“Ok.”

That was a calm reply. He was shocked and lifted his head up in amazement. She was walking away whistling. Instead of being enraged, she left him in astonishment.

“Wait, STOP.”

She halted and turned.

“Would you not say anything? Are you not mad at me? You would have been hurt but you are happy. I just can’t believe it.”

She stood there laughing. The laugh was even more infuriating than the whistle.

“Would you really not do anything to save our relationship?” His frustration was catching more eyes. 

“Please stop laughing.” He screamed.

The laugh stopped but the smile remained.

“I would come running after you. Do every silly bit till whatever it will take, to get us back together. But first…”

She took the dramatic pause. How could she miss the expressions on his face. He was eagerly waiting for her to finish the sentence. His expressions changed 100 times per second from all fear, astonishment, worry, and what not.

“But first, Learn to live without me.”

She walked away laughing hysterically. 

He & Her Birthdays

Raj woke up and didn’t find her beside on the bed. The clanking of utensils from the kitchen signaled that she had woken up early today. He got up, took a big yawn and moved towards the bathroom to clean his teeth.

Richa was preparing a cake in the kitchen. She remembers every date that brought a change in their life. She loves celebrating each one of them. He however has to be reminded of them. He can’t even recall the occasion by mentioning the date.

But birthdays are always special. Why to ruin it if he doesn't remember it. A cake and the surprise would bring excitement to his face. We will go to a movie in the evening and dine at their favourite restaurant. No, we will do candle light dinner today. Richa had been thinking while applying icing to the perfectly baked cake.

It had been four years of their marriage. Not for a single time he remembered to wish her. She has now got accustomed to it. Birthdays are not so special for Raj. He wouldn’t celebrate even his birthday if Richa wouldn’t force him to. She forgives him now but celebration should not be affected.

“Good morning.” Richa came out of the kitchen.

Raj replied back with his face still inside the newspaper.

“Do you remember what it is today?”

Richa was very eager to find the same surprise look on his face. She would then let him make some wild guess until she lose patience and tell him.

“Oh yeah, I do. I have to fill this date in some documents every other month.”

Raj's face had a smile. He was confused and a little happy. The same look had started coming to Richa's face while her happiness was decreasing.

“It’s my birthday.” Raj exclaimed.

Richa brought out the cake hidden behind her and bumped it on the dining table. The cherry on the top tumbled down the floor.

Raj on seeing the cake, excitedly leaped towards it.

“You forget my birthday every year but remember yours. How selfish.” Richa slapped Raj, went inside the room and locked it.

Raj stood there perplexed holding the knife in his hand whether to cut the cake or not.

The best ones

“You are always chatting with him. You sure he is not your boyfriend.” Richa asked priya.

“I told you many times, we are just friends. The best ones.” She put extra stress on her last sentence to frustrate her.

“You are so close to him, don’t you love him?”

“Yes, of course I do. I don’t know what this love is but I like everything just the way it is. And I am sure that this will also be his reply.”

“Ok, what’s your favourite hangout place?”

She looked out of her laptop screen and to her, for the first time. Even she was not looking at her and busy combing her hair. She smiled thinking about her answer.

“We don’t have one. We never hung out much.”

“WTF”, the comb dropped and both of them got full attention.

“How did you both got so close and all those trust on each other things came up?”

“I don’t know. We were totally different from each other and we both just got better friends with time. We did meet occasionally and talked. May be that’s why this friendship is so special.”

“I get it. That’s why you don’t have a single gift given from him. Every one of those dumb head friend I made have always hit on me. And girl you are way prettier than me.”

“I haven’t got your attitude.”

“How come he never hit on you? Is he gay?”

Priya punched her lightly.

“No, seriously. Are you the only girl he talks with? May be that’s why you are so special for him.”

“He is a big time flirt. He would have dated more people than you have. But he never flirts with me. Although he calls me his girlfriend and promise to pester me till I find someone.”

The smile with occasional laugh about the memories made Richa feel so jealous.

“Yaar, make him my boyfriend. I need someone like him.”

“It is better you don’t. That’s the only bad thing about him. He will date you, flirt with you and then 

leave without any explanation. I don’t understand when he became like this.”

Richa saw her feeling sad and lost somewhere else. She needed to bring her back.

“Why don’t you both go in a relationship? You would be perfect.”

She looked at her and back to the laptop screen. He had been pinging her question marks for long time.

“That’s the reason I have a best friend and you don’t.”

Richa understood her friendship for the first time. 

Faith and Fate

Raj was listening to the preachings very consciously. Guruji was talking about the behavior of the heart at the time of death. The thumping and then the silence. He was so calm and peaceful. His charisma draw Raj towards him.

“Come here son.” Guruji called Raj after the lecture. He stood perplexed for a moment and then hurried to him, tumbling and managing his things. Guruji don’t talk to anyone much. He tried many times but Guruji never allowed anyone. Death was not something to be talked about like idiots. Guruji was a spiritual teacher but he had a special command when describing death. His followers believed that he has met with death more than once.

“I have seen you here often. They tell me that you are roaming around the Ashram and trying to learn from other people.”

“Guruji, I want to know the truth about death. I am scared of it but don’t want to be.”

“You look from a nice family son, must have a good job also. WHY?”

“Yes, I had a job which others dream of. I got bored of it. I want to understand what a relationship is. Why we are so much attracted and bonded with some people but not with others? Most of all I want to know, if there is an afterlife?”

There was a shine in Guruji’s eyes.

“How long have you been here? Your family knows about it?”

“Yes, they know. They tried a lot to convince me to come back but have left hope now.”

“Ok, go out and wait in the meditation room. Someone will come and tell you, what needs to be done.”

The smile of joy changed into that of victory. Guruji had accepted to teach him. He waited for more than an hour but no one came. His phones had already been taken at the gate of the Ashram so was very bored. But he knew, every great achievement needs a lot of patience.

A man in a saffron cloth wrapped around his body, came to him. He had never seen him before. He took out a straight razor and signaled him to sit straight. His head was shaved and was given a saffron Kurta. It was too wide for him but he didn’t raise a single question. He knew the silence meant that he was not going to be answered. The guy then rolled the carpet and showed a hidden path. He followed him. The dungeon was quite dark and creepy. He was not scared. He had stayed hours in graveyard trying to understand death.

“You are now ready.” The voice of guruji echoed. The guy disappeared.

Guruji came infront of him and started to roam around. The dungeon was dark enough and he was finding it hard to follow Guruji’s movement, standing few feet away from him.

“You wanted to see death right.”

Raj just nodded. He didn’t know he was too excited or scared but he couldn’t turn back now.

“Have a good look then, you are standing with death.”

Raj looked around trying to understand the dungeon for the first time.

A knife swiftly touched his ribs leaving a stream of blood. LED lights flashed in the dungeon.

“Next lecture, I will tell how eyes behave at the time of death.” Guruji said in his calm voice, pleasantly resting Raj’s head in his lap. 

Dream - I forgot mine

Raj let his hand drop without any effort. Claps and claps, followed it. What a pleasant voice he had. His hands moved so swiftly over the guitar as if a rider was caressing his horse. Everyone came and praised him. Some suggested him to go for auditions at various competitions. Some just compared him with great singers. He was the star of the party for the next five minutes.

Everyone got busy in themselves and started to talk about their family and how frustrated they were with their job. Raj was packing his guitar in the backpack. 

"Would you mind if I can have a hand at your guitar?"

Mithun, his mentor was standing right infront of him. He got hold of the guitar like it was a baby. His eyes were shining as if he had met a lost friend after decades. Raj had never seen a man in 50’s with such love towards a musical instrument.

“How often you play it?” asked mithun, feeling the guitar strings. He then gave a gentle stroke to it.

“Not much, the office hours are too hectic to spare time for it. I used to play it in my college life.”

“You are good with it. You should spend even more time with it or you would regret it later.”

Raj knew what was going to come next. An old man finding his college love again but he knows they have to part once more. He is now tied to bonds of family, children, worrying about future and everything else.

“You know I always wanted to be a singer. We even started a band and won at many college fest. But money is too important in life. Just a single dream to became a rockstar, but I had to give up mine.”

“You are young kiddo, you would be 25 or something right.”

“26 to be exact.”

“You can make your own band, go play at weekends. Join music enthusiast clubs.”

“I would surely do, but almost every weekend you give some work to do from home. Spare me this week and I will give it a try.”

Raj smirked, he knew it was going to be a tough call for Mithun now.

“Why don’t I give you a leave this Friday?” Mithun raised his eyebrows and then laughed.

Raj stood there confused.

“There is a small club of around 50 members, all IT professionals. They organize a competition every quarter. It’s happening in the Red Clubhouse this Friday. Go and give a shot. The winner gets to perform his piece with one of the reputed bands.”

Raj couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Mithun was a very serious kind of fellow. He was the last person he expected to say these words.

Mithun who had walked few steps away halted and turned back.

“I forgot to tell you, Practise hard. I have still not given up on my dreams.” 

Broke-up - Still friends

He held the screen fixed infront of his eyes. The green dial option was shaking and teasing him to use it. Seemed that it finally lost hope and the screen went off. Raj had been trying to call her. Her name was pressed from the contacts books in more than two minutes. It had been 10 minutes since he had not pressed the call button. His screen timeout had reached.

The phone vibrated. ‘Richa calling’ flashed on the screen. He forgot to switch from vibrate to ringtone. The mobile kept vibrating and he kept blankly looking at it. No feelings, no thoughts. He picked up the call and slowly brought the phone to his ears.

“Helllooooo. Raj?”

“Happy Birthday, Richa.”

“Aww, thank you. But you forgot na. You forgot my birthday. You were always the first one to call.” A very cheerful, excited voice was coming from the other end.

“Oh no, I didn’t.” his voice was heavy than usual. “I must have lost track of time.”

“You didn’t. Leave. Where is my gift?”

“I can’t do this.” Even heavier voice mixed with pain came out.

“Raj.” A pause followed. “We broke up but that doesn’t mean it will end our friendship. We will still remain good friends right.”

Silence was there and both needed it.

“Ok, where do you want the treat? Let’s meet at the Tikki wala, I haven’t been there for a long time. Don’t be shocked, we will then go to a good restaurant and have proper dinner.”

He was listening and breathing.

“You will come right?” The voice was a little concerning this time.

“Yes, I will surely come.” Raj said in a confident voice.

He removed his finger from the doorbell. Kept the mobile in his pocket. Placed the bouquet of flower on the doorstep and left.

Love triangle - boy, girl and religion

“I love you Ankita.”

“Even I like you faraz but we are from different religions. We can’t be together. No-one will support us. It’s better not to start a relationship which is impossible to exist. ”

“What if I change my religion?”

She gave an irritated look and left.

Thousands of questions were going in her mind. What if he really does? Could they be together then? What if he just wishes to listen her answer and would not change his religion. Like flowcharts, If, Yes and No were making a lot of outcomes. Some would bring a smile and others would confuse her even more.

They met again tomorrow like every other day. But today, both were uncomfortable. He was the first to start the conversation.

“You didn’t reply to my question yesterday. What if..?"

Ankita stopped him in between, she was prepared for the answer. She had wasted whole night and was ready to give response to his any argument. She had already done this conversation hundreds of time playing both the roles.

“Firstly, I don’t want you to change your religion. You should not do that for anybody.”
She went on and on and he was calmly listening. She finished but unprepared for his reply.

“You know even if I had been of same religion and caste, you would not have fallen in love with me. The problem is not religion but you don’t want to fight the society. You are just too scared. You just needed to found out one reason not to fall in love.”

“Yes, I am. You should be too. You can’t survive being anti-social.”

There was a pause and they could each hear other’s breath. Ankita could feel the difference. He was still calm. She knew, he is neither stupid nor arrogant to understand her words. But yes, something else was driving him right now.

“How could you be so confident of us being together?”

Another pause. He kept staring at her.

“I would have to break my every relation to be with you. My family would abandon me for sure. Tell me why should I be with you then?”

Faraz smiled.

“LOVE. I would never leave you, no matter what.”

With You

Ask for love, I would give it to you,

Try to smile, I would laugh with you,

Light a hope, I would shine for you,

Leave me later, why can’t I be with you.

Ask a shoulder, I would weep with you,

Be the weird, I would be crazier than you,

Say the words, I would sing for you,

My heart is with me, it looks better with you…

Try to sleep, there would be silence and you,

Walk the road, there would be shores for you,

Climb the hill, there would be stars by you,

Don’t give me hope, when I can’t be with you.

Listen to your heart, I am ready to follow you,

Come little closer, I just wanna hold you,

Have some faith, I still only love you,

Just answer with yes, Can I be with you?

HeadPhones

“Sorry, baby. I was stuck with some work. I hope you didn’t wait for long.”

Raj smirked. “Don’t worry, I have now got used to it.”

Richa hugged him and held her ears till a smile brightened his face.

“What did you do all this time. Must have been looking at those cameras and mobiles and other electronic junks.” 

“Yup, I actually bought one.”

“Ahhhh, ok, I am hungry, let’s first get something to eat.”

“Hmmm, you go and take a seat I will order two coffee and some snacks.”

Richa opened the purse and checked her looks while raj went and ordered.

“So what did you buy today?”

“I got a very good deal. I purchased these headphones at a very low price.”

“Oh wow, how much?” She took the headphones and struggled to find the price tag.

“It was just for 2000 bucks and it got a very good surround sound…”

“2000 bucks!” her loud voice just surprised him. “And you say it’s cheap.”

“Common, it’s SkullCandy. SKULLCANDY.” Noticing she had never heard the name before, he felt disappointed. “You atleast try it for once.”

“Yeah, whatever candy it is. I don’t understand you guys. Why do you waste so much money on these electronics items you actually don’t need? You got earphones with your mobile phone. You could have used it. Why not spend on something more useful like clothes.”

Raj just stared at her for few seconds. He then loosened his grip, took his hand out of his jeans’ pocket and signaled to leave the topic. They chat there for some time, had dinner at a good restaurant and left.

Next day Raj gifted his sister two beautiful earrings.