A PRAYER FROM OUR DEPARTED

They make us cry, now that they are gone

Yet, make us smile, with each memory

Their still photo frames remind us of the emptiness

But when we close our eyes, they are back to life

Just close our eyes, and we can see them

Take a deep breath, and we can feel their scent

Listen to the silence, and we can hear them talk

Stretch out our arms, and we can touch them

They are here, somewhere around, not gone

Not forever

For, forever they are here, as long as we are alive

Living in our hearts, instilled in our memories

Reminding us, about the times that we’ve share

The good ones and the not so bad

Our hugs, our kisses, our fights and our misses

That secret spot forever in our heart,

Yet the needless grudge that took us apart

“Time is short”, they say from the heavens of our heart

“Raise your souls, open your arms, wake up.

Share a meal, say a prayer, talk, reconcile, make up.

For when one is gone, the rest will mourn,

left with a needless scar that was so easy to heal,

with just a hug, a tear, a sorry, a thank you,

that came from a true heart, which was real”

Note: Wrote this for the 'In Memoriam' section in our 2017 'Baby Beach Cousins' family Calendar

Chahe manzil ho jaaye paar

Mahino, din bhar teri tasveer ko dekhte rahe

Tu itna badal gaya kaise, pooch te rahe

Jawab kuch mila nahin, raha buss yeh gila

Kahan muskurahat gayi teri, kaise tujhe yeh gham mila

Woh taqat, woh dilayri jiss ki tareef karte they log

Kaise bikhar gaya, kaise toot gaya abb pooch te hai log

Na toot sakta hai tu, na mera tehseen tere liye

Yeh ilm tujhe rakhna hoga mere na toot ne ke liye

Zindagi lambi nahi, yeh soch ke tu chal

Jo aaj bikhar gaya usey samet ne ko nahin koee kal

Kya hua jo aaj makan tera hai jala bujha hua

Jo aag tere seene mein hai usey na hone de dhuan

Yeh udas, yeh thaki hui teri aankhe sudhar le

Ja uss kafir ki baddua se iss mein bijli sawar le

Ek aag, ek vehshat apne andar tu paal

Ke laut aaye woh shaan aur rutbe wali teri chal

Ke abb thhan le, kabhi bhi na manenga tu haar

Na kabhi rukega tu rah mein, chahe miley mushkiley hazaar

Chahe manzil ho jaaye paar

Chahe manzil ho jaaye paar

That mad house called workplace!

mere rashk-e-qamar tune pehli nazar

jab nazar se milayi maza aa gaya

You reach your office well in time, and just as you park your car, this wonderful Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan qawwali starts playing on your car stereo. The couplets ring a chord in your heart, you decide to wait until this one is over, and as you do, you slowly melt in his mesmerizing music oblivious of the pangs of your work life. As it is always, this singing Buddha takes his own time, yodeling, chanting throwing you into a psychedelic spell from where you just don’t want to return.

But alas, like all good things, this one also has to end. It ends, and you are forced to shut down the engine and alight.

At the office entrance, as you swipe your attendance card, you realize that you are late to work, again! The watchman looks at you, nods his head in dismay, and leaves a sorry sigh. You smile back at him and walk away.

You climb the stairs and lazily walk down to your desk, and as you do, you are confronted with the sights of a typical middle of the week workplace.  People dressed in crisp formal wear. People scurrying around, running helter-skelter with sheaves of freshly printed paper in their hands, taking and giving orders. Not everyone is tense; some are content too, having breakfast at their desks, chatting on their mobile phones, ogling at pictures of their friend’s spouses on Facebook, leaving the loo after a satisfying dump.

Happy faces do posit a smile on your face, but alas, the sight at the end of the corridor vanishes it off. At the end of the corridor, right next to your cubicle, you see your boss standing with a grumpy smile on his face. Upset at your late coming, he throws a straight simple question “Have you sent me that file?” in a stern voice. You immediately transform from this smart office worker into this lost kid with innocent face and ask back “W…Which file, Ssss… Sir?” 

His face turns red; his hands turn into fists and his feet moves front and back, as the body gets in position for a boxing match.  That move is enough to teleport your lost spirit back into your body, and you blurt out “Ah, that report that you asked for yesterday? I have done it. Just give me half an hour. I will email it to you” At this point, there is utter silence in the office; just like someone has pressed the pause button, and everyone is staring at you both, waiting for the next move.

Eventually, the boss speaks. “Okay, I will wait” he says with a look that’s two degrees more sterner than the previous one and leaves, leaving you with a slight shiver and almost wet pants, because only you know that there is no such file like that!

You crawl down to your desk and a smartass wishes you “Good Afternoon” at 7:45 in the morning. You dump your bag, slouch into your ergonomic German office chair, and switch on your computer, open YouTube, search for ‘maza aa gaya by nusrat fateh ali khan full’, put on your headphones, close your eyes, dissolve and teleport your soul to some dargah across the border. Bliss!

mae-kade pe barasne lagin mastian,

jab ghata ghir ke chayi maza aa gaya

Rishtey

Iss dasht bhari veerani mein

Kya khoya, kya paaya hum ne

Raith ke in teelon mein

Rishton ko bikhraa paaya hum ne

Iss mast mahaul ke andhere mein

Khud ko apne mein dubaya hum ne

Jab aankh khuli subah savere mein

Jaam ka kya, woh saaki bhi gavaya hum ne

Iss rishton kay juaa khel mein

Aaj poonji gavaya hum ne

Joh teri muskurahat thi meri aankhon mein

Aaj, usey bhi udaas paaya hum ne

Hum ishq ke naam ke parindey hai

Jab se yeh parr lagaya hum ne

Udd te the teri aanchal ke saaye mein

Woh parwaaz bhi aaj gavaya hum ne

Kitne toote rishtey hai

Kitnon ko gavaya hum ne

Kureda jab raith ke teelon mein

Apni hi laash paaya hum ne

The trip of a lifetime.

Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din

Baithe rahe tassavur-e-jaana kiye huve

It is not even ten hours since I dropped my BFF at the Schiphol Airport, and I am already missing him like hell. I am aboard the second leg of my return journey, on a near empty flight from London to Abu Dhabi, and it hurts to see an empty seat next to me. He chose to fly an early flight to London this morning and preferred to stay back for the night. I hope he is having a good time.

What I spent, was one of the best escape journeys of my life since those good old college days. Spent three extra long twenty hour days with a best buddy, whom I have known for twenty five years now. Attended consecutive gigs by Gods, whose music I have been fan of since I started listening to music. Drove through one of the most beautiful country sides, got hashed and lap danced. Had a chance meet up with a very sweet bhabhiji, who exhumes sweetness that is more akin to that of a badmaash and kamina bhaiyya, in Europe, reminding me of how we met for the first and only time, bumping into each other some twenty odd years back on the Andheri Bridge, as she walked tugging along one of my buddies from CREC. It was all so good; what could I have asked for more?

What could I have probably asked for more? I did. I hoped to meet up with a chuddi-buddy whom I knew since childhood and with whom all links were lost since 1989, the year I finished school. A buddy who was, and I believe is still more than a brother. Yet, alas! I couldn't meet up with him as his work didn't permit. If we had, this would've definitely been the best three days of this lad's bachelor life. That way God is great, He never gives you everything in one shot. He makes you yearn for it, and keeps reminding you of this beautiful couplet:

'Har kisi ko mukkamal Jahan nahin milta,

kisi ko zameen, tho kisi ko aasmaan nahin milta'.

So true. So so true, and so for next year, I am already planning another trip into this beautiful land with my wife and kids. Maybe, I will meet him. Maybe like Ghalib once said, next year I might get lucky -

'Dekhiye paate hai khushaakh butoon ki kya Faiz,

Ek Brahman ne kaha hai ke yeh saal accha hai'

Yes. I hope the remainder of this year, and the next year, and all the coming years are harbingers of good fortune, better revelations and best times yet, in general for everyone. God Bless!

I am now, strictly of the opinion that each growing up man must make this similar kind of 'Pilgrimage Trip' or at least a 'Trip to Amsterdam' with a best buddy with whom he can open up and share all his secrets. Especially for all the men who are from this part of the world (read: the country where I grew up and the region where I currently live and work), such a trip to Amsterdam is at the least a must! I feel so because it has taught me few very important life lessons:

1. It is important to have a best friend outside your immediate family, someone in whom you can confide all your fears and secrets. Someone who will not judge you but listen and empathize. Someone who will not comeback, yet always be there.

2. Have a good work-life balance. Spend time with your dear ones. Respect their individuality, their uniqueness.

3. Respect nature. Use only what you want, do not waste. Don not spoil it. Be closer to nature all the time. Return back what you can.

4. Respect your health. Run, but if you can't, then walk! Exercise. Keep fit.

5. Make time for yourself. You are primarily a living being, not a machine.

6. Be grounded all the time. Shun superficiality. Give away what you have in excess, including food, money, time and love.

7. Never be judgmental. Respect others for what they are. Do not impose your ideas or ideals on others. They may look and act different, but actually it is you who is weird!

8. It is okay to break the rules, as long as you are not hurting anyone (include yourself)

9. Do not abuse. (All forms included)

10. Sex is not necessarily the culmination of love. It is just a necessary evil. A necessary evil like eating, drinking, security, respect, potty, soo-soo or breathing.

God Bless!