Tag: Identity

  • मेरी ही ज़िद

    एक रोज़ उठा तो एक शख्स मेरे पास खड़ा था…
    अलग सी कद-काठी और चेहरा उसका,
    आंखें थीं लेकिन होंठ नहीं,
    बाल थे लेकिन भौंहें नहीं,
    मैं चौंका और पूछा, “कौन हो भाई?”
    धृष्ट वो आदमी वैसे का वैसा खड़ा रहा,
    गुस्सा आया और मैंने पकड़ा,
    फिर भी वह हिला नहीं वहां से।
    मैंने और जोर से कोशिश की,
    जितना उसके पास जाऊं उतना वह मुझपे हावी हो जाए।
    कुछ समझ नहीं पाया,
    तो हार कर पत्नी को जगाया,
    “देखो ये कौन है?”
    पत्नी ने नींद से उठकर बड़बड़ाई,
    “पागल हो गए हो, कोई नहीं है यहां।”
    यह कहकर वह फिर सो गई।
    मैं विचलित मन से उस शख्स को देखता रहा,
    सोचा कि क्या आफत गले पड़ गई,
    धर्म संकट में था तो संकट मोचन को भी याद कर लिया।
    कुछ समझ नहीं आया और शख्स मुझे देखे जाए,
    मेरा पारा चढ़ने लगा,
    और मैंने उसे एक मुक्का मार दिया,
    हुआ कुछ नहीं, मुझे ही दर्द हुआ।
    कराहते हुए बैठ गया और सोचा, “हैं क्या ये बला?”
    मानो जैसे जिद सी सवार हो गई हो मन में,
    बहुत सोचा और समझ आया,
    ये और कोई नहीं, मेरी ही जिद है जिंदगी की।

  • In the Mirror of Your Eyes

    In the mirror of your eyes, I see a younger me,
    a tapestry of dreams, fears, and boundless possibility.
    You whisper to my soul the echoes of what’s past,
    guiding me with clarity, through shadows that were cast.

    You, a beacon bright, my future self unfolds —
    a vision of potential, where aspiration holds.
    No need to impress, or don a masquerade;
    in your presence, I am free — no truths are left unsaid.

    As steady as a mountain, I stand firm and true;
    as wild as the wind, I wander, chasing skies of blue.
    With fire’s fierce passion, my spirit is alive;
    and like water, I adapt — embracing change, I thrive.

    We converse in whispers, in a space beyond time,
    unjudged and unbound, our spirits intertwine.
    In the refuge of our words, we explore and unfold,
    finding solace in the silence, where our stories are told.

    Though troubles may arise, they are but a fleeting night;
    we name them, and we face them, in the morning’s light.
    The world may not fathom the depths we’ve explored —
    but in our kindred silence, our truest selves are stored.

  • Is It or Isn’t?

    Is it, or is it not,
    this weight upon my mind —
    these chains of expectation
    that tether me to time?

    Is it, or is it not,
    the whispers of the past,
    the duties and the norms
    that bind me in their clasp?

    To break, or not to break,
    from all that’s deemed as right;
    to wander through the shadows,
    to flee into the night.

    Is it, or is it not,
    the call of distant dreams —
    the urge to leave the structure,
    to tear apart the seams?

    To live, or not to live,
    in patterns so confined;
    to seek a path less travelled,
    to free the heart and mind.

    Is it, or is it not,
    a question that divides —
    the longing for the open,
    the fear of shifting tides?

    Yet somewhere in the silence,
    a voice begins to sing —
    a melody of freedom,
    a flight on unbound wings.

    To break is to discover,
    to cast off all we’ve known,
    to walk into the future,
    uncharted, and alone.

    Is it, or is it not,
    the courage we must find —
    to loosen all the bindings,
    and leave it all behind?

  • Real Face

    A face upon a face,
    we wear a new one every day;
    I cry today,
    I laugh today —
    contextual, sensual.
    But every day, I gain a new face:
    I hold my fear,
    I behold my thought,
    I scare my own life,
    I hide my tears,
    and wear one upon one,
    and say, “life moves on.”

    The longer I go and come,
    the farther I close off my thought;
    but again, on one more night,
    I wear another face —
    secluded, and scared;
    hideous, and gorgeous;
    lame, and shamed.
    And with the night, I put on my real face.

  • On the Mirror Side

    A long way of time, but another line just like it,
    dubbing the self so gracefully;
    I quest for myself, on the mirror’s side.

    The opened threads of memories,
    delicate enough to tear apart —
    disillusion is another life,
    with the person living on the mirror side.

    I throw myself into him,
    and lose my reflection in the grey;
    it ends with the start of a new quest:
    who is living on the mirror side?

    Holding it back with a few faint clings,
    I sit on yet another cliff of time;
    I am ready to leave behind, to begin —
    but the person on the mirror side?

  • Trail of Shadow

    As I move far from my shadow,
    it only seems to close on me more each time;
    the moment of standing comes with the grave of a lamb,
    and life ends with the sorrow of all left undone.

    Gestures only lead somewhere deeply lost,
    but the quest is to lose yourself;
    though it gives way to a better tomorrow,
    the question is — what is worse than satisfaction?

    The more you try to answer, every time,
    you weave another knot of paranoia.
    I know it would never end like this;
    but what I want to know is — if this is not the end,
    then what is it, and where?

  • Like a Shadow

    Everywhere I go, they follow me like a shadow;
    every time I try to forgive myself, they point back at me. Every day they burn my other self, and alone, I only hope to match them…

  • The Key to What I Am

    I am the sea of thoughts, the dusk of the herd;
    I am a message of love, a traveler of the world. To someone I am a single word, to another I am everything —
    but still I am looking for the key to what I am.

  • Crowd Has Many Faces

    I am someone’s lover,
    and bereft of another;
    I am a teller of truth,
    and an edge of sham.

    I am a crowd of people,
    yet aware of none;
    I am a dream to people,
    and a nightmare to the lonely.

    I am a hunger and a sorrow,
    starving for my desires;
    I am a hope and an agony,
    and the pretender of life.

    I am the part of a few mornings,
    but in lieu of some mourning;
    I renounce the grimaces —
    yet still, the crowd has many faces.

  • Don’t Have Now

    One day, hurt and confused,
    I looked around — where am I?
    I was trying to find myself again,
    but the mirror of my guilt stood before me.

    I looked at him; he stared back at me.
    Tired, at last, of trying to neglect him,
    he still followed me —
    am I his shadow, or is he me?

    Confusing… but at least it is my own.
    I thought as much, and moved on,
    yet paranoia was all I felt;
    there was nothing left to see.

    I have come to understand one thing:
    running away was never the solution.
    What shall I tell my soul now,
    lost in the depth of all I don’t have now?