नक्काशी

 




शक्करपारे की महक से घर भर रहा था
ये हर साल तुम्हारे वापस लौटने की आहट देता
तुम आते तो समुन्द्र में नमक सा घुलता मेरा मन
धुप में इन्द्रधनुष सी अचानक दिखती थी मेरी हँसी
तुम्हारे होने की नक्काशी मेरे नब्ज़ में महसूस होती
आज फिर महक, आहट, घुलना, हँसी, नक्काशी साथ है
पर, मेरी काया के सावलेपन में, सिर्फ तुम्हारी परछाई बाकी है


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Poop of a Lifetime

Image
I woke up at 5 am. The small village at the Indo-Pak border where I worked had barely begun stirring. I left my house, dark providing me the privacy needed to finish my business. It was a first for me - going out in the open to poop! Awkward and dazed, I hopped from one potential spot to another. Then, I heard some women calling me - “idhar aa jao yahan baith lo (Come, poop with us!).” Yes, you read it right. It was an invitation to poop together. I wanted to ignore that invitation, but they insisted, and I joined them hesitantly. And just like that, I became a part of their inner circle. The all-accepting circle of poop where gas and gossip was accepted as easily as hopes, fears, and challenges. One woman didn’t hold back her rage at the dowry the groom had demanded. Another one flowed through her dream of becoming a grocery store owner. Yet another one pushed through the loss of her buffalo, and with it, her livelihood. From recipes to insights, skincare to embroidery tips, governmen...
Read more

नीले फूल और मुसाफिर

Image
सुना है आज कल नीले फूल और मुसाफिर के किस्से सुनाते हो तुम, तुम्हारी हँसी के ठहाको से सारे गलियारे और रोशनदान भर जाते थे हमेशा मिठाई के एक टुकड़े से बात शुरू होती और गुड के डिब्बे के खाली होने पे ख़त्म पान की गिल्लौरी खाते हीं  “इधर आओ बिटिया बताये”, बोल मुस्कारते  जब तुम्हारी ठंडी त्वचा को आखरी बार सहलाया था तो, थोड़ी सी हँसी खुरच के रखने की कोशिश की थी  सफ़ेद बताशो के साथ भरी दोपहर में दिखे थे मलमल के कुरते में झूमते आये और गले लगा के बोला अब जाने दो बिटिया  वही पहाड़,झरना,पुरानी दिल्ली की शाम और पान की गिल्लौरी में मिलते है 
Read more

What drives you ?

Image
As a Gandhi Fellow, I was sent for my initial field immersion to a government school in dire situation - worst learning outcomes in years, sky-high dropout rates and extreme performance difference by gender. My only hope was having some people in the school who were bothered by this. The vicious circle had caught the stakeholders in it. The school blamed the parents most of who were poor people living in a nearby slum. They, in turn, blamed the school. I needed to find a solution that would bring the school and the parents together and decided to create an open library owned and run by the community. It would be used by the students under guidance from the school and designed to ensure that women and girl students could access it without disrupting their routines as homemakers. To my happy surprise, the idea got accepted very well by the community, especially women. However, we faced several himalayan-sized challenges. Slum real estate was premium and our library needed space. In addit...
Read more