Krishna

i saw Krishna yesterday, he descended from top of of a forklift truck and gave his blessings and few Garba lessons to an eager crowd.Krishna was wearing imitation jewelry and a colorful dress that some artiste must have imagined that people 2000 years ago used to wear..
It became apparent that Krishna didn't belong here and now, it was a fossil that was on display..

Rebirth of Neo..

Mehnat ki loot sabse khatarnak nahi hoti,


Police ki maar sabse khatarnak nahi hoti,

Gaddari, lobh ki mutthi sabse khatarnak nahi hoti.

Baithe bithaye pakde jana bura to hai,

Sahmi si chhup me jakde jana bura to hai,

Par sabse khatarnak nahi hoti.

Sabse khatarnak hota hai murda shanti se bhar jana,

Na hona tadap ka, sab kuch sahan kar jana,

Ghar se nikalna kaam par, aur kaam se loutkar ghar aana,

Sabse khatarnak hota hai,

Hamare sapno ka mar jana. -- Paash

Neo was about to finish reading another of his favourite poems when someone knocked on the door.
reluctently, adjusting his patent leather tights uncomfortably, he shuffled to the door..
It was the dead guy from the 'Paan" shop. He was very regular, punctual, right on time with his white deathly face. It had been exactly 1 year since the dead guy died. since one year he had been coming regularly at his home, to fill in the second chair at Neo's dining table that Trinity used to occipy when she was around.
It had been one year since the old world has ended and a new one had began.In the brave new world Neo was feared. He was an outlaw, No one really knew him. House of Neo was invisible to the citizens of Kashi. the youngsters doubted it's existance, the old hands did, but they thought tht the destruction on old world had claimed his house... Neo had become a cult figure...

Age of Disbelief

"You must never tell me a lie.”


"That's not possible."

"Why not? Are going to lie to me? How do I trust you then?"

"I may or may not lie to you. You may trust me because there is no reason not to and because it doesn't matter whether I tell you the truth or not in any case... "

"Yes but isn't it all about trust & commitment?"

"Is it? I thought it was about understanding the truth and lies and commitments and betrayals of each other?

Isn't it about ability to live and plan without any reason to believe that life has ever yielded anything but naught to anyone?"

"But there is whole life between the naught and the naught...”

"Yes. And there so much of truth between the lies, and betrayal matters only when one has had enough evidence of commitment...”

"All this is sophistry. You know very well that one mustn't lie...”

"Do believe in a universal truth that has not been completely true even once? Not even fables?"

"You believe then that one should lie to people?"

"No. but people should not expect anyone not to...”

"But if you can't trust anyone to speak the truth, life will stop functioning... you will not believe when your cab wallah says he will take you wherever you want to, and He will not trust your money.

This complex web of life functions because people trust each other...”

"Precisely...”

"In order to function, one must trust others. It’s not a choice, its necessity.

In order to live in a way normally considered sane, one must believe in today and tomorrow.

In order to make the grand spectacles of human achievements, it is important to believe in legacy."

"Is it all a facade then? Nothing is worth anything? Morals, values, legacy, goodness, nothing?"

"It is important I believe... Hope is important, it's vital, values and morals and belief and trust are vital for life to function...

The catch is it's not our choice... life is not our choice, neither is death, neither are yin and yang, good and bad, truth and lie, trust and distrust... They are vital for the web of life. Life as we know it exists between interplay of so many of these poles...they structure our universe...."

"You speak too much... and not a lot of it is connected with what is happening in real life....Life is not about thinking it, but living it...”

"Right... That's why I must not lie, and I must..."

I give up on you. You seem to be incapable of living life, any sense of humor"

"But I am alive...”

"And you believe that it doesn't matter. Maybe that's why truth doesn't matter to you"

"But I just said it matters to me"

Why can't you simply promise to speak it then?"

"But I mustn't lie to you, by promising what I might not deliver"

“You just argued that you might lie if you must, why mustn't you then?"

"Hmm... maybe a bit of coffee and fresh air might help in clearing this matter...?”

"Yeah maybe...”

"You know I was really thinking about how people don't believe in truth anymore"

Yes they don't them prefer procrastinating and chewing on it between coffee breaks...”

Irreverant, irrelevant spring of politics.

elections in 6 states are being followed by Indian Janata like never before. It is obvious that people want change. except that not much is making that change happen
. 'Apni saali koi auqat hi nahi' lamented Aamir's Charecter in Rang De Basanti before they decided that it was onto them to avenge their friend's death. There will be many among us, some camped for Anna Hazare, some camped for Ramdev, some took out rallies, some painted the social media red, many did nothing because they were too occupied to come out on streets, but secretly they also wanted change..
then there are many for whom status quo is of existential importance, and others who wanted things to change, except for themselves, except for their own tranquil island of status quo' as late author Sharad Joshi would put it.
The question is what exactly do we want to change? how strongly we want it? what can we put on stake to make that change? will it happen even if we put everything on stake and let it turn to ashes?

these questions are important for us, law abiding god fearing citizens, anxious to conform and yet be different, fearful of 'acting white' and yet straining to act out our dreams, responsible, stable, tamed men & women- we have a responsibility to love right people, and hate some, we have a responsibility to look at the stars each night with long and never to strain our hands enough to touch them.. it is our duty to kill our wildness unless we are an anonymous, faceless brutal mob of beasts..

Yes  we want to change, and fear the day when it happens, because we know not whether we'll be able to recognize ourselves, will we get approval from right people for doing good things, and for the bad ones.

 My dog hates it when he is collared, chained, he strains and pulls, even though it must hurt, and when we are back from the little walk, he puts his chain back, in hiding,  if anyone touches it, he resents it.. it's his,part of his identity for his times...
Apni saali koi auqat nahi.. i saw it in the eyes of a colleagues of mine, as he gave me some of his collection of literature, as a parting gift before he switched jobs. He was moving from a small flat tucked in Mira Road to another city, with his ' happy family'.. He spoke for a long time about his dreams and why he was right in not living his dreams..

Apni salli koi auqat nahi.. whispered the indebted farmer as he stepped down from the table and untied the rope from ceiling fan..It was no use..

Apni saali koi auqat nahi.. murmurs the young unemployed youth as he punches his vote in favour of candidate with more muscle, right caste, it was not long ago that he had fasted for days along with 'Annaji'. He has reasons for betraying his convictions... it's no use...

Apni saali koi auqat nahi.. spits out the trigger happy ' private security' guy manning one of the under construction sites.. He is angry, he breaks window of any car which is parked near the gate' unauthorised' . It is rage and empty stomach, and liquor in the nights that keep him going, breaking glasses and being slapped..it is a game that he has learned well..He is our fidayeen in extreme slow motion..a fidayeen tree, death growing ever so slowly, imperceptibly, magnificently all around the fidayeen.. He has a cause,  it's not as glorious as protecting certain god from certain caricature, but merely protecting a commercial interest,  neither of the protected would have called for such fervent protection,.. but..we know god works in mysterious ways...

Yes people want change, not a glimpse if change, not a drop of it, but a change that is powerful enough to consume them.. Some are fighting a war against state in jungles and mountains, in hope that their masters will one day stop being extortionists and bring them what the bounty hunting state is taking away...
Others have changed into the monster that they feared....

The eternal optimist one prays that these little mutinies do not land up buried under unmarked graves, hung on trees and ceiling fans, drowned in happiness of those who approve.he murmurs under his breath
."Let the rage fire up the sun within..let it power life..let us dare to dream..
abhi abhi hua yaqin
 ke aag hai mujhme kahi.
. hui subah main jal gaya,
sooraj ko main nigal gaya..
roo ba roo roshni hai.."

the pessimist smiles.. it's no use.