Sunday, May 31, 2009

A fairytale kiss

For the mortal it began with a single touch...
While the rain came down from the heavens above...
He never believed that a kiss would bring...
The missing piece that he forever searched...

As the clouds began to dance away...
He held her face within his hands...
To the sound of thunder and the pouring rain...
Lips would touch and time would stand...

On that night beneath the stars...
She became beautiful and forever was...
He would never forget that kiss...
For he became complete like he never was...

A kiss to pierce the heart of stone...
A kiss to remember the moments gone...
A kiss for a future that is yet a dream...
A kiss for a dream that one day could be...
A kiss of angels pure and white...
A kiss that burns the soul to life...
A kiss he would forever miss...
A fairytale love...A fairytale kiss..

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Irreligious

I say this right now...I say this without fear or remorse...I say this without the slightest thought about the implications...and I say this without caring about what people think...

I don't believe in Religion.

No...i am not an atheist. My faith in God is infallible... immovable, but religion is nothing but a man's way of separating and controlling. God is for the strong...religion is for the weak. God was...is...and will be...for God is Eternal. Religion is man made. It was made...is made...and will continue to be made by man with his limited knowledge. What...did God not exist when the first cell divided to make two? Where was religion when man learned to make fire? Some may call me blasphemous...some may call me "spiritual"... while others will say that I have no idea what I am talking about...but i really don't care.

You are divided from the moment you are born...based on gender....just like caste... skin color... race... nationality... economic status. Wars...invasions... crusades... all because of the differences. Everywhere I look I see a way in which man is categorized and separated from everyone else... until he stands single. They call it as being unique... I term it as being alone... and in his loneliness he forgets his own brother. The recent incident in Vienna, Austria disgusted me. It made my thinking even clearer.

But I am not that close minded. I respect every person's beliefs. I visit a temple...a gurudwara...a mosque...a church...they're all the same for me. I see no difference in any of them as i pray... taking only one name regardless of where i am. I don't think man will ever find peace as long as he continues to divide himself into pieces.

Protect

What does it mean to "Protect"? Is it the shell that covers the embryo chick...or the fierceness of a lioness for her cub? Maybe its the way we snatch our fingers away from the flame....or the way one takes the bullet for another. I never knew what this word meant until one summer evening...when I was only a child...maybe around 5 years old.

As I walked to the sweet shop to eat jalebi while holding my grandfather's finger...he unintentionally taught me the greatest lesson in life. On a narrow and busy two way street of a crowded Delhi road...we both walked slowly to our favorite hangout as the orange sun began to descend. I was walking on the side towards to the road and not the sidewalk...grandpa took hold of my hand and moved me towards the inside ...closer to the sidewalk... away from the road...and said "bacche andar ke taraf chalte hain"...and that was it. He looked straight ahead and continued to walk...even as I looked up at his fragile body and his graceful face...not paying attention to the traffic around me.

With those six simple words, he had implanted in me a thought...a feeling...a role....which would become a part of my identity. He unknowingly taught me how to protect. The older soul protecting the infant for it believes that the child has more life to see. The young life is more important than the old fragile body...which has lived through its years. What captured my mind at that moment was the look on his face...he was fearless. He didn't care if a vehicle came and hit him...all he cared for was that I would be protected...even if it meant putting his own life on the line.

I've come to do the same...keeping my younger siblings and sister on the inside while walking on the road. This feeling of being protective...of being a protector...a guardian...gives a man a unique strength which no other act can. This protection does not restrict...or hold...or constrain the one being protected...it actually frees them. A friend once told me when I did the same with her while walking down a road in the middle of the night...."Akash... you are very protective"...with a smile on her face. At that moment I remembered my grandpa...just like I am remembering him now.

Thank you Grandpa...I miss you.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Loving Moons

As i walked past the open doors to the balcony on the second floor, a gust of cold pleasant wind hit me. I stopped...looked out into the night sky...dumped all the thoughts from my head...and walked out under the new moon sky. As i sat on the edge with my feet dangling over the railing...a feeling of blankness came over me. Not emptiness...but one of nothingness....no desires...no regrets...no memories...no love...no hate...nothing. Its a very strange feeling which can shatter a man if he isn't strong enough to handle the solitude.

...but as I looked up at the new moon...i couldn't believe what i was seeing. Up in the sky...there were two moons....nested in each other. A smaller moon...within the crest of the bigger moon. No...this was no miracle...but only the blurred vision of my eyes (i didn't have my glasses on). Never had i imagined that my incompetent sight would ever show me something this beautiful. The moons seemed to be in an embrace, almost as if the bigger one was protecting the smaller inner one.The two peaks surrounding it like the arms of a guardian...or a lover....embracing...protecting...supporting.

I watched the small imaginary moon lean on its partner and thought to myself... "maybe that's what it means to be in love"....and then walked away...

Monday, May 18, 2009

These are not my words...though i wish they were! From Uzma Yousuf's Notes on Facebook...i just couldnt help but steal them!...she got them from somewhere aswell!

"Kal raat urr rahay thay
sitaray hawa key saath.

Aur mein udaas betha
apne Khuda key saath.

Ya tau qabooliat key tariqay
seekha mujhay.

Ya merey dil ko baandh dey
Apni Raza key saath:)

Amen."

....'Raza' means ' happiness'. i've read these words over and over and over...yet they get more sweeter each time.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Why thou take a heart...only to break it and let it be...
What did a heart...ever do to thee?

If ever there was a creature who had been betrayed and destroyed by the soft hands of love...it would be the Sun...for nothing burns like it does.

Of Music, Love and God - II

"Sanu ek pal chaen na aave..
Oh sanu ek pal chaen na aave...
Sajna tere bina...
Oh sajna tere bina..."

For the untrained ear...it may have felt as if they were walking into a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan concert. It was not to be....for there sat seven men...surrounded by monitors and candles...wielding their instruments...dressed in their best...with an enchanting voice...reciting Qwwalis to the mesmerised crowd before them. Having grown up listening to Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's qwwalis being echoed through my home in Pakistan...I had never listened to a live performance of qwwali before...i'm glad i didn't miss this chance.

I could manage to understand most of the lyrics that they sang... but the music and not the lyrics did most of the talking this time. The tabla...the harmonium...the dholak....and one man clapping to give rhythm while the three ustads led the vocals. The way they sang...the rise...the falls...the turns...the pauses. They sang in Urdu...in Hindi...in Punjabi. They sang of Love...of God...of Peace...as I came to understand the meaning of "Sufism". Krishna and Khuda were there in the same place...

"Ab tu hi hai, tu hi hai ke tu...
Ab tu hi hai, tu hi hai ke tu...
Ab tu hi hai, tu hi hai ke tu...
Aur rahega bhi tu."

Sitting there listening to a form of music which is solemnly heard...life seemed to become peaceful all of a sudden. My hands ached from the clapping...but the rhythm was too enchanting to get away from. They ended the two hour performance with a breathtaking recital of the famous song...

"Dama dam mast qalandar...
Ali dam dam de andar...
Dama dam mast qalandar...
Ali da pehla number..."