# Haiku शंकर

 

जा के बसे क्यूँ ?

कंकर में शंकर

भोलेपन में?

मनीषा शर्मा~

 

When pouring milk and ghee from plastic containers, throwing so many flowers on them that after one point you can't even see them; at least check if he is still there or has walked away because of feeling suffocated. God is there to help you, do not trouble him like this.

 

Agar kisi ki bhawna aahat hue hai, to mai maafi chahti hu**

Aankh maarkar ladki patao

Today, when a taxi driver smiled at me through the review mirror, trying to give suggestive looks, instead of getting scared, such confrontations from before came knocking on my memory palace. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry and had almost reached my destination and so I could not take any pleasure from the situation.

 

Hold on a second; do not get any wrong idea from the word pleasure.

 

Back when I was a college student in Ajmer, my friends and I had made a program for a movie. The group of us fifteen girls booked a tampo. We were all babbling on when one friend smiled and made a sign to look outside. Behind our tampo, a 13-14 year old boy was speeding up his bicycle. His smile was not an innocent one, and suddenly he started doing stunts; we clapped and seeing that he winked. By god, our inner villain woke up. We gave him a nice smile and the hero took out a small comb from his pocket and fixed his hair all the while riding his bicycle.

 

The tampo driver understood that he now has to do what we will tell him to do. And then started the filmy scene; we would slow down the tampo's speed, and then would fasten it and so on, with the changing tone of the tampo the speed of his bicycle would change too and so would the songs that he had started to sing.

Then the tampo that had been running on its full speed suddenly hit the brake, causing the bicycle and its rider to crash on it and we dragged him inside.

The tampo started again with full speed, the bicycle now far behind and the noise of the traffic was all around us. Yet, with us fifteen girls on the seats and the boy sitting on the floor, there was a pin drop silence; until what had actually happened registered on the boy's expressions and a scream filled the silence. There was panic on his face and smile on ours. He understood that he is now caught; even understood that we all were his "Didi". We requested him to sing any song, he did not; we even asked him to wink and he did not.  

When we reached the cinema hall, and let him, leave. We watched as he walked at first and then after a minute or two, he ran as fast as he could as if was being followed by wildlings. Maybe we should have been but we were not sad that he had most likely lost his bicycle, but were sad because we knew India has now lost a future roadside majnu.

 

Anyways, after sometime I came back to Jaisalmer and continued my studies from the college here. While sharing stories with friends here, I shared this story of Ajmer too.

One day a friend said that we should eat the lunch at her house. When returning to college the two of us took a taxi. While we were sitting there on the backseat, deep in our conversation, we realized that the taxi driver was staring at us through the review mirror. His age must have had been near to 45 or 50. His smile was not a nice one. A female knows who is looking at her with what intentions.

My friend looked at me and smiled, and the Ranjeet in me awakened again. Now call it bravery or stupidity, we told him to take a different road, one that was more secluded. Once we reached a point where there was nobody but us three, I told the driver to stop the taxi.

 

I got out from one side and my friend got out from the other and stood next to the driver. I told him to get out. My biggest problem is I never call any passerby "Bhae-sahab" or "Uncle Ji". Why should I? They are not to me; those who truly are related to them can call them so.

Therefore, "Utariyai awara aashik ji", driver's expression was as though I had asked for his kidney. I dragged him out by his collar, and my friend sat on his seat. I asked, "Why were you winking and smiling so much?” Then started the nonstop train of apologies, oh and we were informed that we were like his daughters.

 

We took the same taxi to the college and he promised that he will not even take the fare, but by then we had something else in our mind. When we reached the first entrance of our college, my friend ran inside to call out others and the driver understood our intentions.

He started the taxi and turned it towards the next exit with full speed; I was still in the taxi. Thus, the chaos began. He speeded up taxi without letting me out; I tried to drag him to the backseat. He kept apologizing but did not stop. My college friends grabbed their bikes and followed us whilst I kept pulling his hair and hit him as hard as I could. Then came in a full on filmy scene, a friend brought his bike in front of the taxi and the driver hit the break so hard that I fell down the seat and he out of the taxi.

 

He was brought back to the college, and we did not let him leave until the end of the day. To be honest neither the professors nor we students showed any mercy for his age. From cleaning the grounds to the toilets, we made him do it all. I do not know what happened to his taxi though, as we had left it behind when we brought him to the college.

 

Laila, Shiri, Juliet or Heer; we hear about their love stories but never once did we hear that their lovers Majnu, Farhad, Romeo or Ranjha winked or whistled to attract them. Kisi film mai bhi nahi dikhaya ki heroin aisai pat-ti hai aur na hi kisi story mai padha, to saala yai chalan kisnai chalaya?

 

There must have had been some real scenario that inspired so many to do this? Kisi kai paas aisi koe prem kahani ho to please mujhai bhejna taki aagai sai mai maar-pitae kai bina maamlai suljah saku, pyar sai.. ;)

 

चाह की मंज़िल

चाह की मंज़िल
कब मिली किसी को यहाँ
फिर क्यों सोचते हो?
मिल जायेगी तुमको
सपनों की दिवार घेरे
यथार्थ को बाहर किये
किस लोक में घुमा रहे हो
अपने मन को
दूरियां बढ़ती रहेगी
इसलिये
आओ
कुछ पल बात करें
फिर न जाने
मिले की न मिले।

मनीषा शर्मा~

Cast or ability?

For years the Aarakshan movement has been the cause of riots and the loss of lives and property in our country. The damage caused after such movements is a damage on common man's life. To pay for this damage the government slaps the tax on the shoulders of the commoners. In short "khaya piya kuch nahi glass toda bara haana".

Is a physically strong body disabled mentally, which needs the stretches of Aarakshan for support?

Is the cast really the last option to do something incredible? Cast based Aarakshan is not the need of the public, but the need of the politicians.

India and Indian culture are often considered hostile towards change. These grounds are often seen as where work does not become successful by actually working but rather by luck. However, is this really true? Does Ramayana and Mahabharata teaches us that casts matter? What does these sacred texts tells us about blood-relations? What lessons do we learn from such texts about the classification of society?

The answer is- choice. The sacred texts often teaches us the same- It does not matter which family you are born in, what matters are the people that you select for yourself.

There are a few examples in Ramayana that shows blood relations comes after the relations we prefer.

Ram and Lakshman were not born from the same womb. Ram's mother was Kaushaliya and Lakshman's mother was Sumitra, in fact Lakshman had twin brother named Shatrughan. But Lakshman always stayed with his older brother, Ram. Lakshman was devoted to Ram his whole life. He supported Ram throughout the exile and on the battlefield. No one can question Lakshman's devotion towards Ram in Ramayana, because they were not related by blood.

Another interesting fact is that Dashrath was not the real father of any of his sons. After eating Kheer from a Yagya, Dashrath's wives gave birth to the sons.

In Mahabharata, none of the five Pandavs were the sons of Paandu. Although Paando accepted them as his own sons and declared them as his heirs but all five had different fathers.

Yudhishtar was the son of Yamraj, the God of death and the truth.

Bheem's father was the God of Air.

Arjun's real father was Indra, the king heaven.

These were the sons of Paandu's first wife Kunti.

Paandu's second wife Madri gave birth to the twins, Nakul and Sehdev, who were sons of the God Ashvin.

Paandu's sons were not related to him by blood, and we can say that neither were Nakul and Sehdev related to the other three. Paandu's name and Kunti's willpower brought these five close.

In Mahabharata Krishna and Balram were not brothers by blood. Despite that these two were thicker than thieves their whole life.

In Ramayana, Raavan and Vibhishan were related by blood, but Vibhishan faced away from his family and stayed true with his relationship with Raam and the Vaanar sena.

India found its independence many years ago, but we are still tangled in casticism. We have tied a knot in our minds over the thought that the cast we are born in is going to decide how our life will be. But our sacred texts says that the actions we take decides our future, not our birth.

Valmiki who wrote Ramayana was not a Brahman but a robber. But because he was the creator of Ramayana, everyone knows of him as a poet. It was not his birth but his choice that made him rise.

The creator of Mahabharata, Ved Vyas was not a high born; his father was a Rishi and his mother was a fisher-woman. Despite that his name is on the top of the list of poets. Hanuman is probably the most beloved Hindu god. He was associated with wildlife, and therefore has no cast. He belonged to the apes society where the priority was given to the one of the same cast.

Ravan who was the Villain in Ramayana, was the son of a Rishi and yet he was seen as a horrendous creature who was killed by Ram because of his wrong deeds.

Karn was the son of Sun, and he spent his whole life as a "SutPutra". Despite the fact that he was from a royal family and was a demigod. His father was a God and mother was a princess, and yet he had to spend his entire life in pain. Eklavya lived in a forest and belonged to no cast. He had no teacher and yet he became a great archer. Even Arjun, who was Guru Dron's best student, felt ashamed of his lack of skills when he saw Eklavya's archery.

The sacred books not only shows the importance of stable social price and luck, but they also shows the importance of a person's will power and the deeds. They tell us about the existence and about what we become. Where will a person stand, it is not just decided by his/her name. It takes shape by what actions they take and what choices they make in their life.

Is you believe in these sacred texts, if you think of them as the proud past and future of India, then instead of feeling the need for it, step aside from the circle of reservations. Show the world that India will not move forward through cast-ism but through its own will and hard work. If you are under Aarakshan then step out of it shade.

Joke of the day

Height of misunderstanding:

Mr. Kapoor comes home one night, and his wife throws her arms around his neck: "I have great news, I'm a month overdue. I think we're going to have a baby! The doctor gave me a test today, but until we find out for sure, we can't tell anybody."

The next day, Mrs. Kapoor receives a telephone call from Reliance Energy because the electricity bill has not been paid.

"Am I speaking to Mrs. Kapoor? "

"Yes speaking"

Reliance guy, "You're a month overdue, you know!"

"How do YOU know?" stammers the young woman.

"Well, ma'am it's in our files!" says the Reliance guy.

"What are you saying? It's in your files HOW ???"

" Yes .. We have a system of finding out who's overdue "

" GOD !!! This is too much "

"Madam, I am sorry I am just following orders I have to inform that you are overdue.."

"I know that let me talk to my husband about this tonight. He will speak to your company tomorrow.. "

That night, she tells her husband about the incident, and he, mad as a bull,rushes to Reliance office the next day morning.

"What's going on? You have it on file that my wife is a month overdue? What business is that of yours?" the husband shouts..

"Just calm down," says the lady at the reception at Reliance, "it's nothing serious. All you have to do is pay us."

"PAY you? And if I refuse?"

"Well, in that case, sir, we'd have no option but to cut yours off.."

"And what would my wife do then?" the husband asks.

"Well I don't know. I guess she'd have to use a candle !!!

 

दिल न तोड़ना

तुम मेरे दिल में रहते हो

  अगर कभी

  यहां से जाना चाहों तो

  ऐसे निकलना

जैसे बच्चा रेत के मकान से पैर निकालता है।

 

मनीषा शर्मा~

रद्दी

किसी कबाड़ी वाले के इंतजार में

दुछत्ती पर रखा रद्दी के रूप में

पुराने अखबारों का ढेर,

दिन और महीनों के हिसाब से रखे वे

ज़िन्दगी के कितने ही पल बिताये इनके साथ

कितनी ही कतरनें काटी थी, इनमें से

अनोखी और दिलचस्प

आज तक जमा हैं, एक रंगीन किताब बना कर,

ज़िन्दगी भी किसी अखबार सी ही लगती हैं

कुछ रंगीन कुछ सनसनीखेज और

बहुत कुछ बेकार और बेमतलब सी

कितने ही पल और दिन ज़िन्दगी के भी

रद्दी समान ही लगते हैं

ज़िन्दगी के इस कबाड़ के लिए

किसका इंतजार करूँ?

दिन ब दिन रद्दी का भार बढ़ता जा रहा है

दिल, दिमाग और दुछत्ती पर भी।।

मनीषा शर्मा~

Love is like...

प्रेम चंद्रमा के समान है,

  It lessens; it grows...

 

प्रेम सूरज के समान है,

  Blinding the eyes, holding fire...

 

प्रेम बर्फ के समान है,

Vivid and Soft...

 

प्रेम रेगिस्तान के समान है,

Distracting, confusing...

 

प्रेम संमदर के समान है,

Profound, infinite, unbound...

 

प्रेम वट वृक्ष के समान है,

Worshiped, from centuries to centuries...

 

Manisha Sharma~