बस आ जाओ तुम ...

इस  बार  के  पतझड़  कुछ  इस  तरह  की  हुई
कि  बहार  आने  से  पहले  ही
मैं  थक  गयी ..

इस  बार  धक्का  जो  लगा
मैं  जो  गिरी
कि  उठने  से  पहले  ही
मैं  थक  गयी

इस  बार  भी  इक  तस्वीर  बनाई  थी
जिसमे  रंग  भरने  से  पहले  ही
मैं  थक  गयी ..

इस  बार  आप  आओगे ..
उम्मीद  तो  थी ...
पर  इंतज़ार  करते  करते  ही ..
मैं  थक  गयी ...

.............

पतझड़  तो  भूला  सा  लगने  लगा  है
गर्मियों  कि  ये  पहली  बारिश
मिटटी  कि  वो  गीली  खुशबू
वो  खुशबू  भी  तुम
वो  बारिश  भी  तुम

गिर  कर  उठना तो  फितरत  है  मेरी
पर  आज  एक  हाथ  साथ  है
एक  बात  साथ  है
वो  साथ  भी  तुम
वो  बात  भी  तुम

रंगों  को  तो  कहीं  पीछे  छोड़  आई  थी  मैं
खुद  ही  खुद  से  भूली  भूली  सी  थी
पता नहीं  अब  क्यों  तुम्हारे  ही  साथ
फिर  कुछ  रंग  चुराने  हैं  मुझे
वो  रंग  भी  तुम्हारे
और  वो  तस्वीर  भी  तुम

इंतज़ार  तो  है ..
कुछ  डर  सा  भी ..
कुछ  सपने  भी  हैं   ..
और  उम्मीद  भी ..

और  वो  सब  ही  हो  तुम .
थक  कर  भी  इंतज़ार  होगा  तुम्हारा
रुक  कर  भी  सांस  तुम्हारी  ही  होगी

आ  जाओ ..
बस  आ  जाओ  तुम .

.......................

Women's Day ,Yay!!!!!

The cynic is here again..make way...

as the country battles it out in the parliament with two parties pulling out of the alliance protesting against  reservations for women, the largest and the most ignored minority in india, you sit back and relish it all..

you can't help it but turn your eyebrows at all congratulatory messages in the newspaper and the television ads that salute the woman  and think what actually has changed today??

my mom would still be cooking cleaning at home..my mother in law and sisters in law  would still be balancing home and work..being the best in their fields of choice and sometimes not..and i am still torn between the battle of my heart and mind..

what has changed?? the battlegrounds may have..but not the battle..from the sita, the first single mom probably, to ruchika and arushi..we still are fighting the same demons with new weapons..sometimes you just want to let it all go...the battle, the battlegrounds...but then, you know if you let it go, what will happen to the courage of women who are battling it out,the sole abhimanyus...and who have not had the oppurtunities you have had..domestic violence is the new terrorism, declining female ratio the testimony of the marginalisation women still face..Women still fight to get ownership over resources from the tiny obscure backward villages to the top managers in the corporates...from fighting for their beliefs to understanding their own individuality..from the hijaab to mini skirts..where  life isn't actually a matter of choice, but what choice you can make within those pre-decided and laid down for you...and as every woman knows, the choice is most times , if not totally absent, absolutely limited..what does she say to a guy who pinches you , feels you up in a crowded place? what do you choose to do when a jeans invites catcalls? what do you do when you are known by your curves and beauty and not brains? what do you do when some men will go to length to put you down because. let's face it, they do not want to acknowledge you can stimulate them anywhere except between their legs...

yes..sometimes being a woman comes with advantages..but..yeah..there's a huge 'but' in between..yes there are men who are not  the chauvinists..yes there are opportunities..yes the generation next is more equipped,..yes , a woman, a while back, won the oscar for best direction..yes, there is hope..but...there's the 'but'  again...it's 100th woman's day celebration...irrespective of religion, of country, of race, women have had to fight for being women..where women of extraordinary strength have led battles when no one else had the courage to raise a finger..it is not because they had the choices, but because they were extraordinary women under the less ordinary circumstances.

female literacy is still is 54. 16 % in india, the largest workforce but  limited rights over resources, with every pregnancy, be it in rural or urban area, a dangerous one, where a  woman still cannot have a choice on her reproduction, where she still cannot prove herself just by being herself and every day is a battle because she is SHE..can life change? will tomorrow be different..well..we'll wait for tomorrow's headlines...

to every one..a happy women's day..the men, thank you for giving us the impetus to be..yes..either ways, even when you're pushing us back or giving us the strength ...and the women..don't give up..keep going...good luck..