3. मैं ज़रा सा ठहर गया...

सारी दुनिया भाग रही थी,
मैं ज़रा सा ठहर गया...

रफ़्तार सभी की थी तेज,
मैंने पूछा, आपकी मंज़िल है कहां और क्या?

कुछ ने बोला यही संसार की रीत है,
कई बोले, मत पूछ सवाल, कदम चला...

मैंने सोचा, भाई क्या प्राप्ति होगी इससे,
आखिर किस चीज की तलाश है भला...

आया एक इंसान दौड़ धाम कर,
गिर पड़ा आगे, थका सा था उसका चेहरा...

बोला भाई, अच्छा हुआ तुम रुके हो,
हाथ देना मुझे अपना ज़रा...

बोला मैंने, थके हो भाई आराम कर लो,
वो चिल्लाया, दोस्त काम बाकी है दुनिया भर का..

आगे बोला, क्या पागल हो, रुक गए,
या भटक गए हो रास्ता, घर का...

जवाब दिया मैंने, जी आप चलते रहें,
मैं सोच रहा हूं, कुछ अलग, कुछ नया...

सारी दुनिया भाग रही थी,
मैं बस ठहर गया ।।।

2. Miracle... What Else?

Miracle – What else?

Albert Einstein once quoted – There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

Perhaps, I am not able to or may be eligible to believe either in an absolute sense. However, this post is about something else.

While I was residing at Cyprus, somewhere in 2002, on one dark night we planned a drive to curium beach that was around 30 kms away.

At 2.30am on an already isolated island, where even animals would scare to be on the roads, one cannot expect any human species to wander.

Hence, we were alone on the road with no signs of anyone around. However, it is a safe country and so, there was nothing to fear about.

I was speeding and to be honest, I was rough. At around 140 kmph, on a not-so-deadly curve, I lost the control. Although the car slipped off the road, flying a little and crossing over the fence, to our luck, we had a safe landing between the 2 trees. Below the front fender, a barb wire got stuck and probably that was the obstacle that prevented the vehicle from skidding further.

It was nearly 2.40am and we started wondering what do to next? The only option was to sleep inside the vehicle as the car was in such a position that it was not possible to get it out without getting it dragged by another vehicle having a finch and pulley attached to it.

It is hard for me to use an alternate word here and hence all I would quote is – A miracle was in making.

Suddenly, we could witness the lights flashing from behind and a group of few cars were approaching. They halted on the road and came out of their cars. They got the hint that we were stranded with no way out. All of them came out from their respective cars. On top of that, our fortune shone when we realized that one of the car had a pulley attached to it.

By 3 am we were out of the mess, back on the road and before I could ignite the engine, all the cars had vanished in the dark.

We headed towards the beach, earned some and were back home before the dawn but the most surreal part was we didn’t encounter a single vehicle, after we were back on the road. We kept wondering as to what just went right!

Even today, I feel the similar astonishment when I get reminded of the incident.

…and now when I analyse deeper, my life has been full of such and diverse miracles. Miracles… What else?

1. Walls.

Disclaimer:

1.       Not a true story but for the present day, it holds a lot of truth

2.       Adapted from a snippet of a celebrity interview

Reminisce of older times usually get tears into the eyes; and usually these come out of a nostalgic feel of missing despite the upgradation in financial status.

Talking about my childhood, our family of 6 people would stay in one room. Besides me, it consisted of my younger sister, parents and grandparents. Quite a few decades have passed now, but I fairly remember the life lived during those days.

In the night, when anyone in the family would cough or sneeze while asleep, practically everyone, especially our mom would open their eyes and ensure that everything is alright.

Time did pass at its pace but before I could realize it, we turned rich and hence we shifted to a bigger house. All of us were enjoying our privacy as now we had our own rooms. Sister got married and gradually, I also had a companion. Eventually, grandfather embarked on his journey to the heavenly abode.

One morning, I woke up to a typical day. Mom and my partner were managing the chores. It was nearly 7am, everything was usual but the only surreal thing that I noticed that there was no sound from my grand-mom’s room.

Her typical routine was to wake-up by 6.45 and play devotional songs. Since my room was next to hers and my wife would normally be in the kitchen, I was the only one who could daily and distinctly listen to the songs being played, once I would get out of the room.

I knocked the room, didn’t receive a response and hence I opened the door to realize that she was already on her voyage to meet my grand-dad.

Money got us into a bigger space and privacy but alas! also helped us construct the walls between our physical existence and hence the probable call by her for help went unheard.