Tuesday, September 23, 2008

ख़ाब चुन रही रात बेक़रार है ...............................

ख़ाब चुन रही रात बेक़रार है ...............................

ये शब्द फ़िल्म 'ख़मोशी ' के एक गाने से लिए गए हैं । हैरत के मुझे इन कि अहमियत का अंदाज़ पहले कभी नही हुआ यानी एक तिलिस्म कि तरह उत्सुकता और शब्दों में ख़ूबसूरती तो ज़रूर झलकती थी लेकिन गहरी साज़िश नज़र नही आती थी । दरअसल अगर शब्द होते "ख़ाब बुन रही है रात .............." तो फिर बात कुछ और ही होती यानी बुनना तो एक क्रिया है और उसमें एक अनिश्चितता है लेकिन चुनना? इसमें शरारत कि झलक है एक तक़लीफ़ देने का अंदाज़ है। चुननने में एक निश्चितता है और जिस तरह शब्द इस्तेमाल हुए हैं नुकशान पहुंचाने कि तीव्र इच्छा है। अगली बार जब आप ये गाना सुने और सहमे सहमे नज़र आयें तो मुझे कोई आश्चर्य नही होगा।

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Struggle


There is a failed attempt to contain pressurized gold which shoots out of openings in palms. There is a piece of dark cloth blown away by the violence of burst. Loose strands of the hairs dangle oblivious to action below. A dark calm sea below looks at the struggle petrified………………………


Thursday, September 18, 2008

Molten Gold

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It began with diffusion of gold spreading and dissipating down. The contaminated azure though soon overwhelmed yellow tinge. Deep dark mercury covered the bottom in bland geometric rectangle. In the interface stood silhouette of a breathtaking cluster of trees lonely and uncared. In the background the profile of mountains was barely visible. The picture has been taken in an inspired moment....................



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Tolerance

I think people by and large are same everywhere. The facade of tolerance in people is only so much deep until there is just the whiff of threat to their cozy existence. Haven’t there been cases of vigilante justice in the aftermath of 9/11! And how old is the Second World War!

The only religions that were tolerant were those which did not believe in proselytisation and this primarily due to their monumental smugness about the superiority of their faith।

Any reference to past for the purpose of comparison is bogus; the parameters of existence were totally different. Tolerance comes from a sense of security about not being overwhelmed by an alien philosophy we are not used and which could alter our life style. We, in general, hate life style alteration and would like to maintain status quo merely because it is a situation we are coping with no matter how bad it is. For this precise reason we fear ‘Death’ because it means certain alteration in life style. Deep down we all, if not believe at least crave for continuation of existence.

Haqeeqat-e-Muntzar

This Allama Iqbal sh'er is slightly altered :

कभी ऐ हकी़क़त-ऐ-मुन्तज़र नज़र आ लिबास-ऐ-मजाज़ में
के हज़ारों सजदे उमड़ पड़े हैं मेरी जबीं -ऐ -नियाज़ में

हकी़क़त-ऐ-मुन्तज़र - unfolding fate
मजाज़ - manifest
लिबास-ऐ-मजाज़ - show up in physical form

original :

"के हज़ारों सजदे तड़प रहे हैं मेरी जबीं -ऐ -नियाज़ में "

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

गौरय्या




गौरय्या जाने कहाँ फना हो गयी हैं
शायद मुझे देख कर निहां हो गयी हैं
इक वक़्त ऐसा था
हर सू इनका चर्चा था
आशिअना था हर रोशनदान
नीम, आम या फिर बरगद का पेड़
तन्हाई में भी रहता था कुछ शोर
भोर होते ही बढ़ता था जोर
सींक के टुकड़े और सूखी घास
बन जाता इतने में ही आवास
फ़िज़ा कुछ गर्म हो गयी है
गौरय्या जाने कहाँ खो गई है


---- काली हवा

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The Collapse of Lehmann Brothers & Dawn of Exclusivity Economy!


The collapse of Lehmann Brothers brings into focus how fragile modern economics systems have become. In the past value of an article was based on the perception of its utility and availability. The perception of value was much more tied down to ground than merely on a sense of exclusivity. Gold and land were always valued for rarity and utility respectively however all that changed in modern age. Take for example a 100 million dollars Rembrandt original; from purely functional point of view its utility as a work of art to provide a sense of exhilaration is only slightly better than a good fake worth some 500 dollars yet the 100 million dollar price tag for original has basis on value appreciation and our desire for the exclusivity. The same paradigm applies to stock values and currencies. The problem is that perception of value in modern times is a kind of bubble; while it lasts the returns are prodigious and when it collapses the fall is immediate and abysmal.

In old days the economic down turns were mostly due to wars and famines where as in modern age the down turns are cyclical, quite irrelevant to natural causes though may bring forward such a cyclical phenomenon. The basis of cyclical nature of economy is purely in are inability to correctly calibrate our response to supply and demand. When the demand rises investment is poured into manufacturing which with time over shoots the demand and generates surplus inventory and when this happens investment dries up in manufacturing so there is down turn but natural incremental demand again dries up inventory and manufacturing capacities setting off yet another cycle of investment.

We are in an age of cyclical economy!

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Bizarre House - II

 The house we lived in Kanpur was a soldier’s barrack turned into quarters. A long shed like structure converted into four dwelling units, m...