Friday, February 22, 2008

My First (usual) Meeting!!



It is a moonlit night, I think,
I am sure the stars are shimmering in their utmost glory,
It is our first meeting!
I touched the modern sand clock and it felt seven thirty
I know I am an hour early
But could I help not being?
Two days ago, she had called me,
Saying she wanted to see me!
See me!!
I could not believe it then, some silly joke I thought.
She called me again.
You see, she had seen the inner me in my work,
She had read my pieces.
She told me from over the other side
That she admired me! Admired me?
She even wanted me to sign for her,
One of my creative pieces.
I was all delighted to see, err, and hear a beautiful voice ask me out for dinner then
Today morning, I was all apprehensive.
What do I wear, what colour do I wear
But then it struck me
How does it even matter to me!!
Called up my help and he dressed me up, I packed my typewriter and kept it in the safety of my black cupboard.
And now, here I am waiting for her with my eyes open
Oh! I did not realize she has been sitting here for the past fifteen minutes
And I! I have been thinking about her!
Oh! She is coming closer to me, I know she is, now that I am back to my senses, I think.
What?! I think I just heard her sigh and felt her tear on my palm
"Will you be able to sign your book for me"?
She is asking the man who has written it!
For once I thought it did not make a difference
For once I thought I would feel a woman smiling
But, such is destiny
This blind man in his endeavour to feel one smile, made another one cry!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A sad city of joy!!!


A SAD CITY OF JOY
hello all, i had done a little shoot for CNN-IBN on another beggar like bilal,,,,the shoot was not aired and the beggar dissapeared!!! i was too guilty[because i feel i was the cause of his loss of livelihood-god alone knows where that disfigured beggar remember;the one near the park street metro station went] and scared for bilal and thus did not do any shoot for him. Heres a little something that i found out abt Bilal..............
"Every Kolkatan at some point has walked on this footpath, but it is surprising how very few or none have noticed Bilal.I always remember seeing Bilal, in his mid 40s, with no hands and a body so frail that one could easily count his ribs. According to the hawkers of this choringhee footpath Bilal has been lying on his stomach, shiverring, for the past 10-15 yrs.
Kolkata is full of men and women like bilal, some handicapped, blind with no rehabilitation and some like this man outside the park street metro station, literally rotting away in pain! and some so old that it is shameful to see them, from the comfort of our cars and taxis, having to stand in the sun and beg!
Unlike others who have made begging their occupation out of choice, People like them beg because they have no choice; who will give an old man or a man with no hands or legs a job today? There are others who wander with no clothes on without a trace of shame as a lot of them are mentally challenged.
The question is, what is the government doing? Where are the ever active human rights activists and NGO's? When it comes to people like this, where does the spirit of the residents of the city of joy go?Its Eid, Puja and Diwali time, people like them do not require those extra ten rupees that you have generously decided to spare, they need HELP!!
The agencies concerned, the citizens have to join hands to rehabilitate them and ensure them of their basic right, their right to life!!"

Saturday, February 16, 2008

colours


Colours

Splashes of colour filled my eyes
I could see them all, red, blue, yellow and green.
But, but they all looked the same!
Strange? I know I had seen them all!
But they were all of the same colour, they were all black!
How do I known then whether black is black,
or like the other colours, just appears to be so!

It all confused me, but I came to the conclusion:
That all these colours were just playing with me,
Fooling me perhaps.
I smiled, shook my head, took my stick and left!