Imtehaan

Imtehaan - something that tests you, challenges you and stretches your limits. I believe every second of life is an "imtehaan" which has been kept only to make you a better person. I know it's a tough fight ahead and for some it makes life hard as hell. The following poem tells you how different people perceive the exam of life and it's up to you if you want to take it in a positive manner. Drifting away from the perspectives, the poem then stresses the need for a strong support system which helps us pass this test. Without them, there is a void difficult to fill. Without them, it is not the same. Therefore, I dedicate this poem to the pillars of my support system - my parents who first taught me about "imtehaan" and said that it is essential  you take it and take it fearlessly. They have been there for me through every thick and thin and it is only because of them that I have achieved whatever I have.

I wish you all the best for the "imtehaan" of your life.

Pal pal duniya se lad rahi thi mein

Aage badhne ko chal rahi thi mein

Haan raaste mein kaanta chubha tha magar

Dard ne li imtehaan aur kho gayi dagar

Jab dard ka aalam bardaasht na hua

Aur aankhon ke paani ne gaalon ko chua

Tab dil ke ek kone ne di mujhe awaaz

Haule se kaha usne jaise koi raaz

Yeh imtehaan bhi tal jaayegi

Ruki huyi gaadi bhi chal jaayegi

Aage kya hoga yeh pata nahi mujhko

Bas dil mein ek yakeen hai ke kar jaoongi

Manzil aur mujhme thi milon ki doori

Kaise karti poori yeh doori

Nakami ka dar satata tha mujhko

Imtehaan se dar - yeh khauf batata tha mujhko

Ban na nahi tha mujh ko buzdil

Par halaat bhi the bade mushqil

Tab dil ke ek kone ne di mujhe awaaz

Haule se kaha usne jaise koi raaz

Yeh imtehaan bhi tal jaayegi

Ruki huyi gaadi bhi chal jaayegi

Tu umeed ki roshni ko marne na de

Aur raah manzil ko paa jaayegi

Azaadi ki saans leni thi mujh ko

Jisme dil khush tha wahi karna tha mujh ko

Par zammane ki tikhi nazar se kaun bacha hai

Shayad imtehaan na dene ki yahi sazaa hai

Apne khwabon ko lekar door bhag jaati mein

Jahaan dusron ke soch ki mareez na hoti mein

Tab dil ke ek kone ne di mujhe awaaz

Haule se kaha usne jaise koi raaz

Yeh imtehaan bhi tal jaayegi

Ruki huyi gaadi bhi chal jaayegi

Teri aag se saare kainnat ko roshan kar

Is junoon ki aandhi mein tu bhi beh jaayegi

Yeh imtehaan sazish hai bure logon ki

Ya parakh hai tere asli qabiliyat ki

Aaghaz karaya is khayal se tune

Diya saath mera har imtehaan mein tune

Jab aatmvishwaas ki ho gayi chori

Tab marham si thi teri lori

Chali thi teri ungli thaame

Yahi soch beeti kitni shaame

Kal kya thi, aaj kya nahi

Tune hi bataya kya galat kya sahi

Aur jab jab himmat dher hua

Tab tujhse hi milkar mann sher hua

Isi liye ab jab kabhi hum pareshaan rehte hain

Tab tere hi lafz is bande ko yaad rehte hain

Yeh imtehaan bhi tal jaayegi

Ruki huyi gaadi bhi chal jaayegi

Jeet toh teri kismat mein hamesha se hi maujood tha

Par pehle waqt ka imtehaan bhi sabr se dena zaroori tha

Baaki hai abhi

There are times when you have achieved so much yet there is so much to look forward to in life. This poem is dedicated to those who like to take challenges and create adventures out of simple things and who make a mark on this earth with their "never say die" spirit. They like to try new things in life and thus every day brings a new ray of hope for them. They realise quite early that there are only 86400 seconds in a day but 864000 possible dreams they can give life to in this time. They put themselves at risk only to emerge as a winner in the end. It describes how the boundless nature of creative thought contributes to the beauty of one's soul and inspires man to achieve the unthinkable. In short, life is nothing but a combination of exciting ventures and artistic dreams and actions are nothing but sincere and committed efforts to reach them.

Maana yeh din dhalne ko hai

Par sone ki jaldi kisko hai

Ab toh hai jaag kar sametna un palon ko

Jinhe jee kar khushi milti hai is mann ko

Baaki hai abhi kuch faslon ka safar

Jaana hai abhi us khwabon ke sheher

Kaid karna hain nazar se kayi tasveeron ko

Chhuna hai samundar ki un thandi leheron ko

Baaki abhi hai milni kuch duaein

Yaad abhi karni hai kuch khoobsurat si baatein

Maana yeh din dhalne ko hai

Par sone ki jaldi kisko hai

Aiyna dekh kar hai aankhon se kehna

Nazar apni hardam manzil par rakhna

Aur agar honsla kam pad jaye

Tu upar rehne wale us khuda ko dekhna

Aur agar yeh aankhen nam pad jaye

Toh kaajal ki lakeer se inhe rok lena

Aur in kaano ko yeh kehna

Ki sach sun ne ki zara himmat kar lena

Har sach bhale hi hame raas nahi aayegi

Par rooh ko roshni ke paas toh layegi

Maana yeh din dhalne ko hai

Par sone ki jaldi kisko hai

Baaki hai abhi baarish mein befikr jhoomna

Baaki hai abhi khule aasmaan ko choomna

Baaki abhi hai khamoshi ko sun na

Baaki abhi hai gili ret par chalna

Milna hai kuch yaaron se, kuch naye kuch puraane

Jan na hai ab woh kaise hain, suljhe huye ya ab bhi deewane

Baaki abhi hai apni alag pehchaan banana

Karna hai aage kayi mushkilon ka saamna

Maana yeh din dhalne ko hai

Par sone ki jaldi kisko hai

Baaki abhi hai jeena mujhe apne liye

Baaki abhi hai jeena mujhe apnon ke liye

Baaki abhi hai do cup coffee ke bahaane

kisi se dil ka haal keh dena

Baaki hai abhi is e-mail ke zammane

mein kagaz ke khat likhne ka lutf uthana

Aur kabhi waqt aur umr ki raftaar ko bhool kar

Yoon hi apne sapnon mein kho jaana

Baaki hai abhi tanhai mein gungunana

Aur thand ke mausam mein haath sekna

Maana yeh din dhalne ko hai

Par sone ki jaldi kisko hai

Bharna hai kuch aur samaan meri choti si kholi mein

Kuch aur rang bharne hain meri zindagi ki rangoli mein

Ek do ehsaas bayaan karna abhi aur baaki hai doston

Par soch ki gehrai bhi bohot imtehaan leti hai doston

Jalte suraj ko aane mein thodi der aur hai

Aur mere zindagi ki kahaani likhni...

baaki thodi aur hai

Maana yeh din dhalne ko hai

Par sone ki jaldi kisko hai

Hostel LIFE

Hostel: To me precisely it is a home for three and a half years for which I pay a monthly rental of three and a half thousand. For people in general, living alone can be viewed as an opportunity for self introspection, to lead the life as they want to, to win rewards at the strength of their own talent and to suffer at the cost of their own decisions. The youth calls it being independent.

Living in a hostel is an experience in itself. For me, its like living in an alien world away from your parents but eventually like everything else in this world you get used to this living as well. Strange things don't seem strange anymore and the aliens become your comrades. It is also a huge reminder that "Life's not a cakewalk, baby!" and that one day you have to wash your own underwear. What makes it easier to survive there though is the networking. It is an essential process I guess to overcome the most common states when living alone: loneliness and boredom. And of course how can we forget the joy of studying together, eating together, drinking together, staying up all night one day before exams together, gossiping about classmates together....its the togetherness which we miss the most when we say goodbye to hostel life. But the most important part which I look forward to at hostel everyday is the evening time from six to seven. Its when your lethargy from the morning classes melts away with the setting sun, your eyes picture the sky blended with a shade of pink and pale yellow, your brain makes an immediate "things to do" list now that it has got its much needed afternoon nap, the evening breeze brushes your hair slightly making you anxious to step out of the room. I see people marching their way to the gym determined to burn the high calorie pizza they had yesterday and hear the football players screaming with excitement "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh" from my balcony as one of them hits a goal which reminds me "Time for me to hit the goal as well". At the very same time hunger strikes, the phone rings, the alarm shouts and the clock tower starts singing. It feels like everything has come out alive all of a sudden.

As the sunlight fades away making way for the night sky, I turn on my room lights. It takes me some time to realize that its 6:30 pm, its dark outside, I am still on my bed since how long I dont know and I needed to do something to stop my stomach from growling. I quickly pulled on my jeans, laid my hands on to a jacket and rushed outside to grab something to eat. For some reason, I always look at the sky whenever I go out and try to count all the stars even when I know I cannot. Somehow I related it to our lives, just like there are countless stars in the sky but only some are visible to us, in the same way we all have countless ambitions but only some turn into reality in the end.

Out of the room awaits a world of young who all are searching for something or the other, very much like me. I see a student sitting over the wall staring at nothing in particular; either she is dwelling over her past or worried about her future or just dissolving into nothingness. A few steps ahead I see a boy with headphones on; shaking his head constantly to a fast track. Next to the boy, I hear a gang of boys having a heated conversation about whether the world would really end in 2012. I moved on look at a group of girls debating over what movies to watch this weekend. Reflecting back on all these recent observations, I realised that we all have 24 hours but how we decide to spend it depends solely on our creativity. Creativity was one of the skills I had to use on a frequent basis as I started living alone to escape the monotony here. At first, the task of staying alone seemed daunting to me but as each day passed I started discovering something new. It was anything unusual or distinct I came across. Even small scale accomplishments such as making a cup of coffee on my own; exactly the way I wanted it to taste, made my day. There was a fresh feel every time I entered my room or walked my way to class despite the heat because I knew facing it would only make me stronger. And I think it was the feeling of standing on your own and realizing what you truly are capable of which made all the difference.

Coming back to the search, all students are in a search, some for a job, some for a tutor, some for a better grade, some for friends, some for love and some for a search itself. And in this quest is born an idea, a discovery which cuts across the deep ocean of knowledge and springs on to the surface creating a swirl of pressure. It's the youth pressure because when they decide to take things in their own hands even the greatest of odds have to back up. If it hadn't been for the hostel, the young minds would have never gathered, there would have been no search, no quest and no youth pressure.

And thinking about independence, hostel life, stars and the search, I am heading towards a restaurant for now. But I am also aware of the fact that this hunger is hard to suffice.

Cheers to Hostel Life!

The "Stranger" I met

We all meet so many new faces daily in this busy walk of life. We all become so preoccupied running after money, name, fame and career that our blinkered vision prevents us from seeing the subtleties of life. But one day you are forced to slow down,think things over again and look for a new fresh purpose which doesn't make you run but sets you free like a bird. All this happens when a stranger enters the scene who changes your perspective towards life. Sometimes strangers make you feel like you know them from ages. Have you met that stranger yet?

Chalte chalte raahon mein kyun tumse mulakaat ho gayi

Dekhte dekhte hum dono mein yoon hi baat ho gayi

Tum kehna kya chahti ho yeh nahi mein jaanta

Par anjaano ke beech mein tumhe hi pehechanta

Why does my life come to a standstill everytime I see you?

It makes me wonder as if I really need you

It's amazing how a stranger can create that big impression

Or may be you are just a thought of my subconsious vision

Ek urjaa ho tum, ek prerna ho tum

Mann ko jagaane waali chetnaa ho tum

Tabhi toh dil itna bharosa karta hai tum par

Na hote huye bhi lagta hai tum ho har kadam par

I can be myself with you

Not worrying about my imperfections

And you will constantly revive and rejuvenate me; coming to my rescue

Passing on your perfection

Ajnabi hote huye bhi apne kyun lagte ho tum

Sach hota hua sapna kyun lagte ho tum

Mein jaisa hoon waisi hi ho tum

Yaad tumhi aati ho jab mein betha hota hoon gumsum

I am not sure if this feeling is mutual

I am just delighted at the prospect of our dual

You are like an addiction or may be a temptation

God forbid but if you forget me and our relation

I will try to live on because I am no stranger to isolation

Of course there will be a struggle

But I will soon start the process of restoration

Meri soch mein ho tum

Us soch ka kaaran bhi ho tum

Jab khayalon ke bhanwar mein phans jaaye mann

Toh us se ubharna bhi tum

Raah bhi ho tum, manzil bhi ho tum

Us manzil ko paane ki chaah bhi ho tum

Jab zindagi ke saare raaste hi ho jaye khatm

Tab naye raaste dhoondna bhi tum

You were busy with your life; I was busy with mine

Then how come we met suddenly on a morning so fine

Do kadam tum chalo, do kadam hum chalenge

Tabhi toh kahin jaake raaste bhi milenge

You know so much about me, I dont know you at all

It feels like life is just you and me, is the world that small?

You are vital to my existence

You are essential to my subsistence

True, you are just a stranger

But not traitorous enough to pose me a danger...