जय हिन्दी

कुछ दिन पहले कोई हम से पूछा की हम किस भाषा में सोचते हैं. जवाब देने में हम को दो सेकेंड भी नही लगा.
हिन्दी. पटना में तो फिर भी हिन्दी दिख जाता है. प्रेमचंद की कहानियो का संग्रह,
टागॉर की लेखनी या शिवानी के उपन्यास. परिवार में अनेक लोग थे जो यह पुस्तक पढ़ते थे. यहाँ
पता नही क्यूँ हम प्रसिद्ध हिन्दी कहानिया भी अँग्रेज़ी में ही पढ़ते हैं. और अगर हिन्दी में कुछ
लिख भी दें तो बहुत गर्व महसूस करतें हैं. जैसे कोई बिल्कुल अजूबा कर दिया हो. देवनागरी जैसे लिप्त हो रही है. न्यूज़ चॅनेल भी रोमन स्क्रिप्ट में न्यूज़ लिखते हैं, अधिकतर. लेकिन अगर आप अँग्रेज़ी अख़बार भी देखे तो कई बार आप पाएगें की अग्रेज़ी का वाक्य सीधा अनुवाद है
हिन्दी वाक्य का, यानी, किसी ने हिन्दी में सोचें वाक्य को वैसे ही अँग्रेज़ी में लिख दिया.
और सिर्फ़ अख़बार ही क्यूँ, कई बार वार्तालाप करतें वक़्त भी हम हिन्दी में सोच कर अँग्रेज़ी में बोल देते हैं.
वाक्य बिल्कुल ही अटपटा लगता है.
यह लेखनी क्यूँ लिखी? शायद बहुत दिन हो गया था अपनी मर्ज़ी का कुछ हिन्दी में लिखे हुए. और पढ़े हुए.

BMW vs blueline

9 years back a Nanda ran his BMW over few people. it hogged the limelight then and has been on the front page since. recently when he was sentenced 5 years of imprisonment, the media declared that justice has been done.
every week the count of people killed by the blueline keeps rising. the news finds a column in the 3rd or 4th page of the newspaper. the media doesnt raise a hue and cry. why this differential treatment? well, i have figured out why.
the nanda has committed two crimes. one he is a rich man, which is a crime in our poor country. and then his car ran over poor people. had he crushed a rich lad on an expensive bike, i guess it would have been ok.
on the other hand, the blueline is driven by a poor guy. forget the seth who owns the blueline. it's the driver who is present at the site of the crime. so a poor man committing a crime against a poor man doesnt make for a good story.

yateem

that's the name of the movie i watched this morning. i have seen it once before too. last time it was at my masi's place. well, she wasn't really my masi, but my cousin's. we lived in a big joint family. so my cousin's masi was mine too, as were his/her nana and nani. anyways, this masi lived in a haveli. by virtue of her marriage. and this haveli was on the outskirts of patna and on the banks of ganga. walk out of the haveli and you could stroll in the fruit orchard, (are orchards only for fruits?), which was spread over acres of land. it was a beautiful setting for her house. anyways, she divorced him and is now settled with her second husband in dehradun. i have heard that she has an equally beautiful house there.
as a kid i had enjoyed this movie immensely. though i didnt remember the story, just bits of it. so when i chanced on it on Set Max this morning, i had to catch it. and i am happy that i did. unlike other bollywood movies, here you'll see Sunny Deol bathing under the waterfall in his unbranded boxers. him swimming in the river showing off his well built body. and Farha is standing on banks looking at him with lustful eyes. it was refreshing to see this role reversal in Bollywood. till recently, when feminism was high on my agenda, i would wish to cast men in minimal clothes. it was my revenge for what men have done to women in the show business. and for that matter i liked Om Shanti Om, the way Farha Khan made a spectacle of Shahrukh Khan's body.
i think yateem too must have been directed by a woman.

no divorce in hindi

for the last few days i have been searching for the hindi word for divorce. but apparently there's none. which brings me to this perplexing thought that they really believed in the '7 janmo ka rishta' philosophy. and this isn't comforting.
apparently, the hindu way of thinking also emphasises the existence of opposites. so beautifully highlighted in the movie Aks. so, if there's a 'shaadi', there should also be a, you know what i mean.
but then, history also gives us an example. ram had separated from sita. but nomenclature didnt adopt the act. so i guess the act is quite prevalent. but when you talk about it, as rahul puts, one comes at a loss of words.

the fall of rain

after such a long time, this year it rained in delhi. seems like someone has been pouirng his heart up there. it just rains nowadays. wonder why rain has such a soothing effect. it immediately makes me smile. makes my heart ligther. and it seems that we live in a perfect world. i can just keep looking at the raindrops. and if you see them hitting the ground, it seems like hundreds of liliputs are dancing. that's what one of my seniors used to say.
if you overlook the muddy streets, collapsing buildings and jammed roads it leaves behind, rain is the perfect way to end a day. and if once in a while you give the perfect you a break, and dont mind getting drenched, it is also the perfect way of revisiting your childhood.
way back in the 80s and 90s, the summer vacation would be still on when monsoon came to patna. some 10-12 of us would continue our play on the terrace. the rain was not an interruption, it was a welcome guest. none of our parents would stop us from playing in the rain. mostly because our grandmother would give us the permit. according to her, the first rain was the perfect medicine for summer boils. patna at that time wasnt that advanced to experience acid rain, i guess. once the rain stopped, we would run down to the bathroom. water dripping from our clothes. after another shower in the bathroom we would be ready to resume our play.

ganga would outgrow herself every monsoon. last year when i visited the banks during dusshera, i could see chunks of land visible in the middle of the river. i hope this year the monsoon has replenished her. however much the water level, ganga in patna does not exude the deafening noise that it does in rishikesh. it grows old by the time it reaches my city. and sobers down.
river, rain. i guess it's the water that has a soothing effect on me. even the roaring of sea doesnt disturb. it soothes.

yakk yakk

recently i was very eager to blog. with so many thoughts brimming and anxiously waiting for an outlet, it was difficult to control myself. writing is therapeutic. it's like talking to a good friend. one that does not react however blasphemous your thougths. is not judgmental. and best of all, keeps your secrets hidden from the world. that's the beauty of writing, when you do it in a diary. and tug it away behind a pile of forgotten clothes in your wardrobe.
a blog is totally contrary to it. so many people will read it and talk about it. it's like baring your soul, asking people to be judgmental. how i missed the diary. have got so used to letting it out on a keyboard, that scribbling in a diary seemed an effort.
so the thoughts brimmed, floated and i talked. big time. i probably let it out in installments. it's like, if the 10 people i interact with the most get together and discuss, they can piece together the whole story. how i miss the diary.

how far should we bend?

so i went to the client's office. and was shown into the MD's office. now she is the boss, or pretends to be. i had to write 4 invites because all of a sudden one saturday the head boss decides that they'll launch their product on coming thursday. so i had to write invites for press, senior management, vijay team and all employees. they brief me on 3 invites. i ask her to brief me on the fourth one too so that i can go to office. but she insists that i do all the writing in her office.
so i write the first invite and she's ok with it. then she goes in a meeting and comes back brainwashed. she looks at the first invite and yelps, revolution is too strong a word.
by now 4-5 of her pappus have also flooded the room.
me: but i thought you were ok with it.
MD: no-no. tch
pappu 1: how about endeavour?
MD: hmm
pappu 2: initiative sounds good?
MD: initiative doesn't gel well with the internal sensitivities
me: urgh
pappu 3: jouney is a nice word
MD seems to like the suggestion.
pappu 2 realises he is losing ground, so he juts in
pappu 2: waise we can make the invite flow in a different manner. you know, it could start with 'Mr. analjit singh invites you..'
pappu 3 gets back: you never address anyone with a 'mr' or 'ms' in an invite
MD: drop 'mr'
pappu 2: but i have seen it frequently in invites
MD: add 'mr'
by now my brain has gone into the power saving mode and has switched off. i look at the laptop screen. and it looks back. blankly. gingerly i slide it to Asif. let him make the changes in the copy, that is, if he can grasp the proceedings.
suddenly they all are looking at me. my brain switches on. ok, they are ready to brief me on the 4th invite. i understand the brief, and pull back the laptop. anisha and pappu 3 are peeping in the screen. they are judging me by each word that i am typing. i delelte what i just wrote. write again. delete it again.
MD: is it uncomfortable for you to work in this room?
i grab the opportunity and blurt.
me: i would rather go to office and work.
MD: ok
and yes, in-between she also argued with me on a preposition.