बर्फ के टुकड़े

एक लम्हा ही
उस बर्फ के टुकड़े में अटका पड़ा था
कभी जिसे कुरेद कुरेद कर
हम अपने ग्‍लास भरा करते थे

हाँ लम्हा ही तो था वो

जिसमें पहली बारिश में

हमेशा उन बर्फ के टुकडों  का ही इंतज़ार रहता 

यही एक खेल था

जिसमें बाबूजी मेरे साथ शरीक हो जाते 

एक आँख में इच्छा थी,
एक में अजीब सा सूनापन
और एक फासला  मजबूरी और जिज्ञासा के बीच 

आज जब तुम आई 

वही बरसात का इंतजार है 

वही सूखी धरती अपने ताप से फिर पिघला देना चाहती है 

तुम हाथों में गिलास लेकर खड़ी हो जाती
एक टकटकी के साथ मुझे देखती
उस परदे के पीछे से
जैसे ये बीत गए साल केवल एक पटाक्षेप ही है 

तुम्हारे लिए समय कितना स्थिर है 

ठहरा है अभी भी
उन दो टुकड़ों के बीच

मगर फासलों में बँटा इंसान 

कितने ही खंडित क्षणों को समेट चुका होता है

Immortality 2

That is what is

of what was not

for history was for victors

to create the immortals

while the poets wrote for

what lay at the margins

as the shadows

for the dark disorders 

 

It is in their grain

that I spring and

in their music I sing

its in the fleeting beauty that I lie

for that is all I have

nor desires to capture, none to conquer

to leave imprints on sands

to be blown away in the wind

for immortality was a desire

to be forever known through what they did

through what they wrote

to always etch themselves on the hands of time

 

My song was what I took from you and you and you

you who were all around me,

you who were born before me and will live after me

you who will live in me and through me

you which was the nature and the songs of birds

colours of rainbow and tranquility of moon

the sparkle of the dew and the coolness of the rain

the cry of the new born and the sobs of mother lost her child

you who lived torn, divided

burnt asunder and taken apart

by nationalities, by greed

by hatred, by forsaken loves

destinies unfulfilled, hopes denied

you who lived inconsolable griefs and still trudged on

still sung the song when everything was falling apart

still stuck by the last straw to create hope

you, the forlorn child of the decaying humanity

you who were caught like dangling leaves from trees

in the violence unimaginable

 

For you I write and like you I am

a mortal and like you I will

be burnt into ashes or turned into dust

for immortality was for victors 

 those who wrote history

and those wanting remembrance

and it was wars and violence in the end

 

Humans know mortality to feign immortality

how long will we play the game of ignorance?