Tuesday, March 31, 2015

ਅੱਜ ਮੀਂਹ ਨਹੀ ਪੈਣਾ

ਤੈਂ ਸਚ ਈ ਕਿਹਾ ਸੀ,
"ਸ਼ਰਤ ਲਾ ਲੈ, ਅੱਜ ਮੀਂਹ ਨਹੀ ਪੈਣਾ,"
ਰਸੋਈ ਵਿਚ ਖੜ੍ਹੀ
ਪਸੀਨੋ ਪਸੀਨ ਹੋਈ 
ਮੈਂ ਹੱਸੀ ਸੀ, 
ਬੜਾ ਹੱਸੀ ਸੀ,
"ਹਾਂ, ਤੇ ਮੈਂ ਕਦ ਕਿਹਾ ਮੀਂਹ ਪੈਣੈ?
ਇਹਨਾਂ ਦਿਨਾਂ ਵਿਚ ਮੀਂਹ ਨਹੀਂ ਪਿਆ ਕਰਦੇ,
ਬਸ ਮਿੱਟੀ ਲੱਦੀਆਂ ਹਵਾਵਾਂ ਸਾਹ ਘੋਟਦੀਆਂ ਨੇ..."
"ਨਹੀਂ,
ਕਿਹੈ ਤੂੰ ,
ਮੀਂਹ ਪੈਣੈ,
ਮੈਂ ਕਹਿਨਾਂ
ਮੀਂਹ ਨਹੀ ਪੈਣਾ।" 
ਤੈਨੂੰ ਕਿੰਝ ਪਤਾ ਸੀ,
ਅੰਦਰੋਂ ਮੈਂ ਮੀਂਹ ਦੀ ਉਮੀਦ ਲਾ ਕੇ ਬੈਠੀ ਸਾਂ? 
ਮੈਨੂੰ ਲੱਗਦਾ ਸੀ
ਮੈਂ ਸ਼ਰਤ ਹਾਰ ਗਈ-
ਪਰ ਬਾਹਰ ਬੱਦਲ ਆਏ,
ਮੈਂ ਅਸਮਾਨ ਵੀ ਘੋਖਿਆ,
ਸਵੇਰੇ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਝੂਠ ਮੂਠ ਆਖਾਂਗੀ,
"ਰਾਤ ਕਿਣ ਮਿਣ ਤੇ ਹੋਈ ਏ" -
ਤੇ ਤੂੰ ਹੱਸ ਕੇ ਆਖੇਂਗਾ,
"ਲੈ ਬਾਬਾ ਤੂਹੋੰ ਜਿੱਤੀ।" 
ਆਹੋ ਮੈਂ ਈ ਜਿੱਤੀ ਆਂ-
ਅਖੀਆਂ ਅੱਜ ਏਨਾ ਕੁ ਵਰਸੀਆਂ
ਕਿ ਸਭ ਬਰਸਾਤਾਂ ਹਾਰ ਗਈਆਂ । 
ਰਾਤੀਂ ਮੀਂਹ ਪਿਆ ਸੀ-
ਬੜਾ ਮੀਂਹ ਪਿਆ ਸੀ ।

तुम तो रहोगी न

क्यों पूछते हो -
"तुम तो रहोगी न ?" 
***
हाँ, रहूंगी न 
जब मेरा मकान
ईंट ईंट तोड़ोगे
तो एक ओर खड़े रहकर
तुम्हें देखूँगी,
सूटकेस में
मेरे घर को निचोड़ कर
ले जाते देखने,
मैं रहूंगी न....
सुनो
वो श्रापित राजा की कहानी याद है?
जिसके बदन में कीलें घुस गयी थी ?
रानी निकालती रही,
कितने रोज़, हफ्ते, माह, बरस...
और जिस दिन बस दो पल के लिए उठी
तो बांदी ने आख़िरी कील निकाली,
जगते ही राजा ने सोचा इसी ने सेवा की है,
रानी यही है, 
राजा और बांदी को पंखा झेलने
मैं तो रहूंगी न....

Sunday, February 01, 2015

when the phone splashed into the bucket !



It happened last weekend early morning when I was about to start the laundry. There was a bucket half full of warm soapy water in the bath tub. I know I should have left my cell phone on the reading desk, but I didn’t, and SPLASH ! it fell into the bucket before I could say Jack Nicholson. And along went my heart ! I quickly retrieved it (the phone) from the bucket – and guess what another smart thing I did? I kept it (the phone again, not the heart) under running tap water (cold, mind you) for fifteen seconds, to get rid of soapy water, and then shook it so that the water could be dislodged out of its speakers and the charger vents. My heart broke - again, again and again as the water droplets escaped the phone.
Cursing myself vehemently, and preparing from within for its demise, somehow it struck me to quickly sync it with the Macbook so that I don’t lose the data, contacts, photos and my apps. I mean imagine my genius and on-the-spot-solution-finding-capability. Thank you very much! The blasted phone took its time and I expected it to die quietly anytime. It didn’t.
The syncing done, I remembered the rice jar solution for wet phones. Just to remind you, that while I was busy handling this catastrophe all alone, the rest of the family was blissfully asleep. Placed the phone in the jar, and hid the jar inside the deep drawer of my desk lest someone should wake up and get curious about my precious phone ringing in a rice jar.
By now, I was mentally exhausted. Like the proverbial ostrich, I hid myself in the blanket, and slept while the rice presumably sucked away the dampness. After about an hour, I took the phone out from the auspicious grain jar. Aha, it was still breathing. The music, however, refused to play through the speakers. “Ey lo, it IS sinking, Mampi. Thank God you had the foresight to insure it against water damage.” Yes people, I had allowed myself to be talked into purchasing that insurance. I silently complimented myself - alone again, of course. A voice from inside said that I should tell everyone what has happened. Then thought the better of it because then they will all, in future, refuse to obey the rule that no one is allowed to take the phone to washroom. So I stayed mum. Meantime, I restarted the phone, and voila, the speakers boomed in all their glory.
It was last Friday morning. Friday is here again. The phone is still working.
Miracles happen!
Disclaimer : This post should, in no way, be considered a show off of my 64 GB Gold iPhone 6 that survived the dip in the holy laundry waters.

I Jiggle, therefore I am

I was afraid, shy and scared of doing lunges today when the trainer asked me to try doing them with support first.
“The knee will hurt.” 
“Don’t worry, you can stop where it gets too much.” 
It turned out that my technique needed work. The moment I understood how I was to consciously use the hamstring of my back leg, and put minimal pressure on the knee of the front leg, and was to spring back to starting position instead of trying to balance myself on the same position of a lunge, I was in that Eureka moment. And I was unstoppable. After three long years, I did three sets of unassisted lunges-and I was giggling!!
Yes, I can !
And then I stumbled upon this video. And did my entire cardio on a repeat of this video and audio, and talked to myself.
“YES, I am imperfect. My tummy comes in the way when I do my abs, my flexibility has waned – my fault, I didn’t work on it for so long. Cellulite has piled on; the knees were almost going to give up because my quadriceps were getting wasted. The equilibrium needs to be worked on. My left side has grown weaker as compared to the right side, so when I do free weights, the left arm sometimes wobbles. I am not as swift in my workout as I was. Sometimes the assisted chin dips machine scares me, and I barely scrape through the workout the trainer has designed on that machine.”
“NO, I don’t give up. I do my best to suck the tummy in to cover the full range of movement that I must. I finish the reps that he wants me to do. I make sure I do everything the right way, I make sure I do everything that is planned for that hour. I modify the grip in the deadlift so that the CTS suffering wrist doesn’t weaken. The knees have to be strengthened. I will not live half a life. I sweat, I pump myself up, I tell my body – you are luckier than so many – you can work out, you can do what you want to do, you will do more than your mind had looked forward to.”
Yes, I smile through my workout, I laugh, and I enjoy it. Those endorphins calm me down – make me feel a part of the bigger picture.
I don’t like the way the body looks but that’s the only body I have – and I better love it . And for the love of it, I better work on it !!
I WORKOUT, THEREFORE I AM.
I am one of these girls, I am all these girls.
Yess !!!
I rock !!!


http://www.takepart.com/video/2015/01/18/this-girl-can?cmpid=tp-ptnr-upworthy