gambler’s reward

gambling, on its face value, seems excessive, unnecessary & unnatural. why would someone spend all their life’s fortunes & riches on a roll of a dice (no pun intended). but on a deeper understanding of the subject, it is anything but unnatural. it consists of logic; there is a mathematical system (that has voluminous books […]

the drifter

on a long desert road with no living soul a distant voice is heard of a machine that roars two wheels & black in color unafraid & unrestrained a hopeless lover; that refuses to give up. drifting along the scorching sun brighter than the sunshine darker than the night the drifter has no name & […]

what are we?

what are we? guns in the hands of children instead of pens tears in the eyes of the women instead of dreams hunger pangs in the stomach of youth instead of excitement drugs in the veins of the boys instead of adrenaline graveyards & cremation grounds instead of jungles borders instead of bridges silence instead […]

the times

crumbled on that piece of paper flying away in the wind was a to-do list of dreams once during a sleepless night he had thoughts, ideas and plans to achieve means now as he sits having sold his dreams for alcohol, racetracks, resorts and riches beyond hope he sees the material life, luxury are nothing […]

drug.

words are pouring out through the sieve of silence peace is crawling out from underneath the body count of violence no sound is loud enough to wake up the dreamers from the dreamless sleep the houses are full, contrasted by the empty streets blood, sweat, tears: give without expectations and realise the meaning of life […]

it has been a minute

it has been a minute since the last few people that understood were in the room since the laughters that filled echoed off the walls in my afternoons since the moments of enlightenment tore away the gloom since i was in between maybe & soon. it has been a minute since the team of dozen […]

a paper boat called lifetime

ripples of rain drops on the street, a paper boat of past and future set by a child called lifetime concocted stories, flashing headlights, silent smiles, cocaine lines spray painted walls with words and pictures that contain frustration and hope amalgamation of promises, betrayal, stains of alcohol and dope rusted wheels of a red bicycle […]

23 till death

the night is up to its shenanigans again the alcohol is filled to the brim i taste it and your lips and casually put my hand around your waist is it a mistake? i’d rather remorse than regret life on the fast lane, full of laughter and bets do you not recognize me? this was […]

we; this generation

we are the generation that was promised that will hold our neighbours hands and break bread empower women and redefine the archaic & inane definitions/restrictions of identity & categorisation eschew preaching of tradition & culture that exploits our heartstrings at the price of our rationality & thought burn the books that have discriminated & pitted […]

mujh se hi

mujh me na bachcha mujhsa hi na laut paa raha mujh me hi khaamoshiyon ka sama chalta raha jalta raha khud me hi sulagti ja rahi intezaar ki aag dhua dhua hua mujh sa hi na dilasa, na panah, na jannat, na jahan tanha me bhi, tujh sa hi muqamal na ho jo vo khwahish […]

monsoon

i travelled beyond time saw the day rome crumbled saw the flying cars and men reading thoughts the dinosaurs, the skyscrapers, the plastic, the jungle. i travelled both beyond and through time each memory revisited, each desire resigned i forget the faces but not how they made me feel i left them all behind, giving […]

there are these waves

there are these waves which used to be melancholic before, curving, rising and falling now; her hair there are these moments when the earth stops spinning everything stops: just her smiling lying down all night listening and laughing deep and a death clutch, a forever and after: her stare her memories a ride, her laughter […]

whenever

20/12/2022; tuesday as and when the time comes to work on yourself; cling to that opportunity. it is important we evolve. important we change our ways & become better. i have quite a few lessons from my past that have taught me; i have had an amalgamation of relationships; all different from each other. i […]

the chase

raised fists believing in change the dawn of a new world order beaten up and chained bars till older the obliterating catastrophe is the journey to find peace the final conquering is the quest to tame the mind those dancing to a song others can’t hear are insane when thought of like this, lovers and […]

reminder

what i say is new because it is my unique story start writing your own story.

underneath/ over it

a few days have made me older i don’t recognise this place and the nights keep getting colder i do not remember your face stories of how it used to be are told while we lie cold on the grass bleeding they take time to process how it goes the pretenders just watch seething lets […]

h.

raakh ka ubaal hun me vish bimisaal hun me peeth par prahaar hun sher ki dahaad hun shaitaan ki me chaal hun me zindagi ka saar hun. jo ant se bhi dar gaya vo jeete jee hi mar gaya suraj uska dhal gaya chitta sa vo jal gaya vo haarke hi ghar gaya mera ant […]

roads

days (years), events, tears, have buried you silence & finding meaning your home and i will not come to give you a shoulder for we are all on the same ship, soldier. you do not need me anymore just wanting to be heard but not finding the words lost at parties, bored at book clubs […]

childhood

trade my belongings for that summer rain when we played innocently on the terrace each rain drop a contradiction to the smiles each laughter louder than the raging clouds the chairs were used as imaginary walls or as palaces to pretend and play dirty hands and clean souls making animals out of clay i had […]

war

must a man live for all the stages of play each a burning saga of conflict and dismay the bullets lay spread, recoiled off innumerable rounds the office clerks refuse to dare a count all is lost, human blood on ground even the ghosts are scared to make a sound. the children still have hope […]

no god/all good

once in my mind and on the road, i came across a person (a man!), the story told. he told me to believe and renounce disbelief and take every word he said as truth. first he told how he is actually thirty three described in four books written by deities. it does teach to discriminate […]

s.

do i start ranting like a madman to anyone that would listen? how pristine, how petite, how divine is my vision? how maybe i have found religion? the meaning, the reason to what you call god love; an infirmary i caught. her hair a color of spectrum’s of day break her eyes a comfort and […]

imbroglio

expected of the night to play these tricks with me i try to not react and let it be but the night lets everything fall and before i know it the evil stands tall the reality that i can’t save all starts taking a toll and i, i try to fight with all my might […]

love happened

when we lie shattered in and within ourselves and the silence speaks more words than words ever can can i keep hugging you till sleep takes over? can i turn you into a bead string that i can keep counting? a meditation; a devotion. a childhood’s memory that i am living now. this soft addiction […]

i don’t have much time left

“partly truth, partly fiction; a walking contradiction.” i don’t have much time left before my contradictory needs and dreams consume the burning torch of passion and the words i say right now, unfiltered and uncensored become the fatal imbroglio of words that please words that spread like wildfire and are consumed by masses that will […]

maybe

we are on this swindling terrain created on a perceived facade dancing in defiance of the dark counting those long lost stars trying to understand, waiting to be loved dying away our lives silent to the words melting each day on the candle wax, bright and alone at night rising and falling like waves, broken […]

kisaan

you will never hear the complaints of your shortcomings or how i felt i was betrayed and left with my face in the mud cause i have better things to do for my ranch awaits and it requires me to milk that cow in the morning take the horse out to the fields for grazing […]

it has been a minute

philosophizing before i become rich before my hair turns grey; before i sell out for right now what i feel, i have existed before this and beyond this point my existence will be different i will feel different; i will know different. the fallacies will be more evident, the tics more difficult to control it […]

couplets

mile na mile kya farq hai; anjaan tab the, ajaan ab hai. ranjh-o-gam ki deevare uchchi kar do; javani ki ruhaniyat har manzar mar rahi hai. puchcha jab usne ashiyan kaisa hota hai; le kar usse aine ke saamne dhar diya. maza to talabh ka hai, pyaar to tab hai jab haasil me bhi maza […]

pretend

will i stop pretending that the rush is gone? close the door, turn off the lights and go on. we are doomed by our being; we are wrecked by nature. not understood, non defined, persona non grata. the skill is to feign. the art is the refusal to feel. together we journey on the long […]

soliloquy

sometimes we are entering at the end gnomes in a world of giants; courageous, hard working but gnomes nevertheless bleeding, hungry, eaten away, diseased. myths that do not make the headlines for the myths are of defeat. even the failures make it; as the what not to do columns. how knowing something can make u […]

paakiza

ilaaj asaan tha haal puchna tha dil to nadaan tha izhaar sochna tha mehfilen toh aati jaati rahengi dil-e-nakar anjaam sochna tha paani ki chah hi sirf pyaar nahi tha mera pyaar ka guldaston nahi, baag banana tha kitni mohbbat ho gayi thi tumse chila chila kar duniya ko jatana tha sirf paana maqsad nahi […]

last dance

when the world stops turning where will you turn to? hands clung to the broken memories of the past and the drugs that we are into will bring no relief and we will be gone from here without a trance filled on the nuisance of the usual world we forgot to take the time to […]

Awaaz do

Dhima ho chala hai waqt ka bahav Isse ab jazbaat aansuon se kehne do Rok lo bikharte rishte ko Iss anjuman ko aaj me hi rehne do Khol do darvaja, paar kar lo kivaad Baaton ko aaj jaam ki tarah behne do Mehsoos karo iss lamhe ko, Aaj aur ab me hi jeevan ka saar […]

Meaning

Unless we voyage the unexplored thoughts Is this facade worth showing the blots? An emotion, a hug, a tear, a scent, A feeling that removes the distinction between beginning and end. The adrenaline rush with every sunshine A speedy high every night Without drugs and drinks, With curiosity simmering from the glass’s brink, A quicksand […]

The Crowd

Though the long gone ghosts are still fighting for their kings Going out on a limb, cutting through the smoke & finding nothing Their belief in their false gods have not yet died They still have hope inside They keep the weapons high To somehow feel that their deaths mattered They feel alone, all the […]

Quote the Raven,”Nevermore”

When it is time for the world to see Will you come over & be with me? Will your long hair fall on mine as we lie down to sleep? Will your lips taste the same, will your eyes stay petite? Will your cheeks still remind me of the monsoon glow? The dawn of time, […]

One Day

If you try to find hate in the oppressed; Even with words & abuses hurled at the oppressive; You will find an absence of hate. The hate stems from being hated on, The anguish of feeling inferior for variables beyond their control. Variables that were created by the oppressive to stay in the position of […]

The Jungle

Darkness. No sun rays on the ground. Blood. Carcass. Teeth. Sounds. Birds. Jackals. Hunger. Trees. Rain. Gorillas. Sun. Seeds. Survival is the only solution. No handouts, no absolutions “Feeling”, is a concept that does not exist. Raw. Uncensored. Relentless. Raised fists. You eat what you hunt, no knives no guns. It is not about the […]

I am You

Will there be keen ears to hear the lessons by the hair turned grey? The burning candle flickering through & beyond the pages of yesterday. Will my dear wait & anticipate another prose about her lovely smile? Or the kids rejoice to hear my stance on the historical political demise? Will the people hear about […]

9-5

“Kill your masters & run away”, Said the farmer to the slave. “Run, run till your soles cannot anymore Make, make that necessary escape. They will kill you for their empire Till you are a walking corpse, Then feast on your body till dawn, And not pay you what you are worth, exploit you like […]

HR 12

Bring me back to life to those summer times I still live here; in your head These recent times might have made me soft But I ain’t dead. When we ran on those lanes where we belonged And fell together and bled When the coffee tasted sweeter & the movies more intriguing Where waters ran […]

Sidhu Moose Wala

My thoughts I know that burn a hole Through the pages of the time And innocence can’t comprehend The dying of the light All escape to serenade The preachers of the dawn While you sit to wait and contemplate The meaning of the songs By singers long dead and gone While their echoes are still […]

When did we?

All crave & pray to the same evil That will take away their life Conqueror of thought & views Demon of the night All of us will die away Repeat the same mistakes History revisited, no rectification. Same results, same commotion. While the dead wither away from disease & hunger. The prime leader grows in […]

Do you know?

Do you know the peace when love is happy & true? Do you know when you smile at night the moonlight becomes you. The chaos, the disaster, the havoc, the wreck; All in the rear view mirror, forgotten and dead. The only moving parts are the road we are on, our lips when they meet […]

The Driver

A survey was conducted by the Central govt. of India regarding the condition of roads, with emphasis on the National and State highways, and the sample consisted of truck drivers, known to commute & shift load from one state to another. One question stated: “Which road/highway do you consider to be the best?”; this is […]

Teri wafa me daga thi

Teri wafa me daga thi jaan-e-jaan Kyu ki agar kaatil zamaana tha To bhi ishq to nibhana tha Agar nibhaati to ye bagairat zamana na hota Aur tere aashiq ka pata maikhana na hota Teri wafa me daga thi jaan-e-jaan. Kyu ki agar ishq ka paimana tha To abba kya kahenge to bahana tha Abba […]

I spoke? Naught.

I saw the burning houses on the second cross street. I heard the charred women screaming for their charred babies. I smelled the burning mortar on the road fresh beyond its melting point. I spoke? Naught. I saw the mob running to kill the distinct. I heard the scream of the pain while the clubs […]

The Drunkard’s Day

Each morning I wake to the sound and grace Of the birds chirping away innumerable days With their sound giving rise to light While the coffee simmers in the boiling pot And the aroma creates words that guide Till the day brings the gloom, usually by afternoon Pealing away the smiles & shining the pain […]

The truth’s story

True till the end of eternity Lying till the beginning of time, Crushed by the obscenity of the dying And the blood that leaked from the eyes If you wanted the wheels to fall off If you wanted an escape If you wanted the lights to flicker at night If you wanted to continue the […]