The thing about old toys is that.....

The thing with old toys is
Once you grow 'up'
you look down on them 
and then recall with a smile
days of play
and then after that's done -
reminiscing happy memories;
you think - how was my world ever so simple like that?
Or...how did my world end up being like it is today?....

The thing with old toys is that
At times you get new toys to play with
and then the old ones don't seem nearly as happening as they used to be
we love uncles and aunts who forever seem to be getting us new toys
There are times when a parent asks - you don't play with these ones anymore? shall i give it away?
And at times - you say yes! and go back to playing with new toys
But maybe later,
much later
Maybe during a silent moment
or when talking
you suddenly remember
and then you want it - that raggedy ol' toy
and go looking for it
but its nowhere to be found.
Memory is not an option either!
You have vague glimpses of your times together having fun
but all in all - you can't quite remember what the toy looked like.
Seems old toys finally have their revenge, one way or the other...
Or, are we fools condemned to reject an old friend in favor of new ones
Only to be bored by their passing craze.
And remain bereft of what was time-tested and true  

The thing with old toys is that
No matter which attic or cardboard box you stow them away in
And no matter how much dust settles down on them
They're just as ready to play as ever, given a chance
And maybe you cannot evoke the same sense of joy that you once felt
But another child - that's a part of you, might unlock that secret switch in them
That makes all toys come alive
And makes play so engrossing

That's the thing with old toys.
They never change.
They never get changed.
They don't never get old you see....

Its just the players that keep changing.
From, time to time.

Hidden meaning

A perceptive mind is the bane of my existence

But I was ignorant once and perhaps no less disturbed.

I envied the wily and the smarts

I gymnasted with their ways and words

Until my mind too grew as twisted and contorted

Some say I'm a devil of my own creation

A spider entangled in his own web

But its in Nature -

that a budding flower will hide its scent within greater convolutions of petals

Only I am not certain what great scent I hide in my convoluted center

Save the increasing apathy and disdain to human life

the way we lead it.

And our naked fickleness

clothed in what we call emotions

A perceptive mind is the bane of my existence

But I wasn't always so, and was prone to confusion.

There is this feeling in the gut

When a loved one says all the right words

and does all the right things

and yet - something seems not right.

When I express it - I'm a suspicious bastard

When I don't - I live in my own little hell

The beauty of confusion is it belies the semblance of hope

The hope that things will turn out well

That things will turn out as intended

...As true as waves dashed on a craggy outcrop

A perceptive mind learns how to be calm

In the face of all that is a lie

Bonds of friendship, fealty, faith and love.

All meant to be broken

All meant to be betrayed

Perhaps it is in the nature of things to break and be born anew

A perceptive mind learns to enjoy things while they last

and then move on in hedonist search

And maybe i am stronger now - having evolved to enjoy the ephemeral

But I wasn't always so strong - there was a time I believed in forever...

Kholo kholo darwaaze

Kholo kholo darwaaze parde karo kinarekhunte se bandhi hai hawaa mil ke chhudao saare

aajao patang leke apne hi rang leke aasman ka shamiyana aaj humein hai sajaana

..kyun is kadar...hairaan tu

mausam ka hai...mehmaan tu

...duniya saji

tere liye

khud ko zara

pehchaan tu

...tu dhoop hai chham se bikhar

tu hai nadi, o bekhabar

beh chal kahin udd chal kahin

dil khush jahan

teri to manzil wahin

...o kyun is kadar hairaan tu

mausam ka hai, mehmaan tu

baasi zindagi udaasi taazi hasne ko raazi garmagaram saari abhi abhi hai utari

oo zindagi to hai bataasha mithi mithi si hai aasha chakh le rakhle hateyli se dhakhle ise..

..tujh mein agar...pyaas hai

baarish ka ghar bhi paas hai

o roke tujhe... koi kyun bhalaa

sang sang tere ... akaash hai

tu dhoop hai...chham se bikhar...

tu hai nadi... o bekhabar

beh chal kahin... udd chal kahin

dil khush jahan.... teri to manzil hai wahin.........

..... khul gaya... aasmaan ka rasta dekho khul gaya

.... mil gaya... kho gaya tha jo sitara mil gaya

..roshan hui ... saari zameen... jagmag hua saara jahan...

o o uddne ko tu... azaad hai...

bandhan koi... ab hai kahaan...

tu dhoop hai...chham se bikhar..

tu hai nadi, o bekhabar

...beh chal kahin... udd chal kahin..

dil khush jahan... teri to manzil hai wahin...

...o o kyun iss kadar... hairaan tu...

...mausam ka hai... mehmaan tu.

:-)

ALONE

I still want to walk besides you

But don’t want to hold your hand

I keep talking through my silences

Coz my words don’t mean anything to you.

I’m watching you float away

While you’re busy dancing around me

I’m just all alone amidst the crowd

That looks like you but isn’t.

Something

Now when I perceive lack of something,

Its almost a third person Me violently pointing it out to me.

And I make a numb observation.

I make note. And commence the chase.

But it was once, when I could understand.

The lack of something,

Which would unlock the door

To everything.

Lack is real.

But perception is realative.

Desire for something is a realative state of being;

No other reality exists, save that.

Somewhere I sinned just like the rest of us...

I worked towards the fulfilment of that desire -

To attain that state;

To make something;

To get everything.

Lack is real.

The lack – of money, friendship, power and prestige.

That lack, purportedly, turns into a reality shaped and nurtured by perception

Perception that instils desire, borne of lack.

Desire acts on fertile plains of the mind to grow dreams.

Dreams of another reality, almost too perfect almost too good.

What is too good, often is untrue.

That, therefore, borne of untruth

Is a lie, poisonous for to a living soul.

Death of the soul is not death for the body

It opens the portals to that alternate reality

That which is real, is lack.

That which I have isn’t just quite enough

I need more to grow

I have a face now

That face is recognized everywhere

I’m the new entrant, one with the Power.

I have the power to get what I lack

I have the power to make my own reality

And there is no end to it

Now my face attracts money, wealth

and Friends...

Now I am the leader

And the only way to lead, is to stay ahead of the pack

The pack of hungry wolves, their eyes full of hungry dreams

We’re wolves, all...Bad wolves.

Good – it’s just a perception.

Good needs prey too - it preys on evil.

Always a cycle of feeding.

Each one - A hunter, until hunted down.

Mindless and benumbing, the quest for something

It is not of this world; and how are we to have what is not ours in the first place??

Ours – its a world of perception. Not Reality.

Ours – is not the prey, not the victory, not wealth nor happiness nor peace of mind.

Ours is the thirst for blood.

Ours – is the struggle to experience and overcome each day.

Ours is just the mindless chase and not the purposeful hunt.

Not for us to be sated. And so we must wander.

Always looking for Something.

The Greatest Con

We are prisoners, all

With no exceptions, trust me.

If you find it hard to believe

Please tell me what it means to be free?

The predilection for definition

is the 'defining' (!!) trait of our kind.

The Human Kind.

We must, each one of us, 

Define - Ourselves and our fellows.

And at all times.

This affliction is not a pursuit to know.

But to make known.

Our most triumphant achievements 

Any of the myriad successes on God's green earth and beyond.

Would amount to nothing,

If we couldn't have it all distilled, captured and glorified through the ages,

in Words - man's greatest invention.

Words - borne of a conceited experiment to immortalize our legacy

Then, feeding our nascent need to analyze, 

categorize, 

organize 

and well.. 'Humanize' 

that which we 'found out'

within and without.

Freeing captives long held under oppressive silences

Who 'found their tongue' (so to speak) for 

Communication

Comprehension

Composition

Today, the key word is 'information'

(..Again, our predilection for definition)

Had I my 'speak' in a world of freemen,

I want to ask this.

Haven't we,  in this definitive quest, gone severely amiss? 

What word exists, that at its root

holds a meaning that's absolute?

A layman's 'light' is that which dispels 'darkness'

A scientist is no better for his rigors - his truth is only as precise as his tools 

What of a poet? a painter? or danseuse?  - in every age is good and bad form decided.

No system is perfect.

No solution is perfect.

To err is human, as the saying goes.

And we dare to have definitions?

Devoid of absolute truth.

Devoid of any real meaning, so to say.

Each Word, a handicapped attempt to explain

each Definition - a web of deceit.

How can we be free?

when Freedom.. is 'defined'!

... and that too, as - 'the absence of slavery'.

Truly, what a web of words...

This greatest con - the Lexicon.

I am not gone (Mother's requim)

I lived a quiet dignified life

Though you would have seen me fighting every inch of the way

The way i took to make progress in life

The way i chose to survive

Sometimes the only way that was open to me

In order to live holding my head high

Appearances, I learnt with bitter humour

Change with the passage of time

But i did all i could to make it look

Like it were always good times for us

I am a rock

Standing fearlessly in the face of storm winds, lashing rains

Fear, grief and spite

I haven’t shirked my duty

And the bidding of my will

Where i have dithered,

 was never for myself, but for you

You, whom i have loved more than love

You whom i have bequeathed my all

You who is a part of me

It is to you and you alone that i say

I am here

Though i may be long gone

But i am here

With you, beside you

As i have always been

As you have always been

May no grief touch you

May no sorrow find

May you shine forth like a glorious sun

Leaving all your troubles behind

I am here

To see your dreams get fulfilled

To applaud your victory

To cherish your achievement

And when you should look to search for my lap

You will find it right below your head

And when you look to search for guidance

My light will shine forthwith

And when you will look to share your prize

Your fulfilment shall be my reward

And when you seek eternal rest

You shall come be a part of me

Peacefully and happily

Ever after.