=))

.

Chhoti-Chhoti Baatein

(Nanda Devi - Taken by RajaG)

I find it strange how, at times, something as simple as a photograph can make you feel. Well, in this case, this particular photo of Nanda Devi - other than making me want to go there - made me imagine (and think about) a whole lot of things (mind you, it's not a small achivement, given that of late nothing - no novel, no poetry, not a big amount of coding, no trees, flowers or smell - has made me think so much, and for so long. And I say 'so long' 'coz when you're all tired and exhausted, to lie in your bed thinking about a pic (and the place the pic was taken at) till 3 am in the morning, when you supposedly have a short attention span - it is.)

Anyway, to cut the long story short, it made me think of how the nights at Nanda Devi will be, how the moon will look - something on these lines. And I wrote a small poem about moon at Nanda Devi -

Chaand
Sanjeeda* pahaaDi ka
NaTkhaT sa beTa chaand
Barfeeli vaadiyon mein
ThiThura* sa gol chaand
Phir garm baadalon ke
Kambal mein dubka chaand
Baatein tumhari-meri
Sunta shareer* chaand
[Sanjeeda = grim; ThiThura = cold/shivering; Shareer = mischevous]
.

And that, in turn made me want to write something about the mornings/afternoons as well. I wanted to write about sunlight in mountains, but it turned out to be something about sunlight in general-

Dhoop
Sooraj ka haath thaame
Bholi si beTi dhoop.
KhiDki ke chaukhaTe* se
Chupke se jhaanke dhoop.
JhrumuT* mein khel khele
Chhaaya ke sang dhoop.
Har saanjh hai jalaati
Chanda ka diya dhoop
Taaron ke chheenT* waali
Raat oDh soti dhoop
[KhiDki ka chaukhTa = squares of the window; JhurmuT = grove; chheenT = print]
.

Well, there were poems in my mind about 'Nadiya' and 'MiTTi' too, but my thoughts were interrupted by a song on FM, a line of which said something about a guy standing on the kagaar (edge); and I, in turn, imagined myself standing on the edge of some high mountain, looking in the depths of the infinite valleys below. And here're the lines that came to my mind -

Gahraayi
Gahraayi ki kami hai mujhmein - yahi kaha tha na tumne?
Dekho, ab gahraaiyaan khud mujhe aawaaz de rahi hain!
Apna rahi hoon inhe, ab aur gile* mat karna.
[Gile karna = to complain]
.

And that, when I'm faaar removed from any suicidal tendencies of any sort! :-p
Anyway, that was the end of it - of my thought-train, i.e. And the result for you all is, a rather long post by me at last! :-)

Contempt

*
Waah! Vaaqaye ko fasaana banaane chali
Rasm-e-deewanagi,
Ek shakhs ko zamaana banaane chali

*

[Vaaqaya - Incident]