Childhood days…

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Great to have earned second position for this poem on writer’s Ezine

If I could, I would always remain a child. I am trying my best but this world stretches you to adulthood…But I want to be a child only 🙂

I miss those days,

The childhood ways,

The friendly mud fights,

Grandma’s story nights,

Crayon sunshine,

Falling in line,

Morning prayers,

Messy hairs,

Heavy school bags,

Mealtime nags,

Holidays homework,

Playtime berserk,

Weeklong festivals,

HolI, Diwali, carnivals,

Marks, P.T.M. and result,

Maths,physics difficult,

Birthdays and wishes,

Birds and fishes,

Republic day parades,

Army-cut and braids,

Carefree skies,

Cakes n pies,

Pocket money, piggy banks,

Mischief’s and funny pranks,

Being obnoxious and freak,

Late night hide and seek,

Trump cards, video games,

Tic tac toe and flames,

Doing whatever you can,

Mowgli and superman,

Flying Kites in the sun,

Never running out of fun,

Playing in the rain,

Ice-cream and freeze brain,

ghosts under the bed,

Things mom said,

Ravan, crackers and colour,

Sweet memories in the blur,

I can feel a void,

Enlarging ellipsoid,

All those things I can’t do,

Ever elusive, playing peek a boo,

Wish I could be a child again,

Shedding all the worries and pain,

But not all wishes ever come true,

Have to leave old self to emerge new,

Relive those days with your kids,

Let them do what you never did,

May their childhood be more wonderful than ever,

‘Coz all these memories shall live forever,

Shall live forever…

***

Go to the writer’s Ezine page here:

http://www.writersezine.com/p/childrens-day-contest.html

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भोर: #NeverTooLate

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         When I first saw the prompt, I was instantly reminded of the great achievers  who started off late or tasted success or met with their destiny very late in their lives like Colonel Sanders of KFC, Boman Irani from Bollywood, Jack Ma of Alibaba Group etc. But I also thought about myself…realizing my dream to write and become a published author after going through 10 long years of training to be a pediatrician. It is really never too late to dream and work towards making them a reality.

Here’s a poem for everyone out there who is waiting to start afresh, take a new step or revisit an old one. A poem for each one of us:

भोर

दुनियादारी  ने  सपने,  कितने  यूँही  डुबो  दिये ,
कुछ  जला  दिये,  कुछ  धो  दिये ,
पर  इन  सपनों  में,  बाकी  अभी  थोड़ी  जान  है ,
भूले  नहीं  गिर  कर  उठना ,
इन  पंखों  में  बची  उड़ान  है ,
ये  ख्वाब  हैं  वो;जो ग़म  में  भी  मुस्कुराते  हैं ,
हैं  वो  नहीं;  जो मामूली ठेस पर ही रो दिये ,

क्यूँ  जकड़ें  इन  ख़्वाबों  को ,
घड़ी  के  इन  दो  काँटों  में,
के  पिंजरे  से  दूर  उड़  जाने  में,
भूले  भी देर  नहीं  होती,

के  सोते  ख़्वाब  जगाने  में ,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती ,
बचपन  में  लौट  जाने  में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,

उन  लम्हों  को  छू  कर  आने में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,
फिर  बन्धन  में  बँध  जाने  में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,

रोती  आँखों  को  हँसाने में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,
रुक  कर  इक  पल  मुस्कुराने  में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,

के  जिनके  हों  मज़बूत  इरादे ,
पक्के  हों  मंजे  और  धागे,
छूती  है  पतंग हर आसमाँ  उनकी,
के  गहरी  उनकी  रातों  में  भी,
कभी  अँधेर  नहीं  होती,

हर  ख्वाब  को  फिर  जी  जाने  में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,
खुद  से  किए  वादे  निभाने  में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,

गीली  आँखों  को  सुखाने  में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,
कुछ  बिसरी  बातों  को  जताने  में ,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,

गिर  कर  फिर  उठ  जाने  में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,
बिखरकर  फिर  बन  जाने  में,
कभी  देर  नहीं  होती,

रुकना  न  तुम  राह-ए-दिल  में  कभी,
चाहे  ढेर  मिलें  मोती ,
के  सच्ची  राह  दिख  जाने  में,
यारों  देर  नहीं  होती,

कभी  भी  देर  नहीं  होती…||

***

-doc2poet

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda for the prompt: It Is Never Too Late Too…

My anthology is now available for prebook in hard copy on BooksCamel and as ebook on google play. Follow this link to pre-order  now :  https://www.bookscamel.com/preorders/manmanthan

Pre-order Now

Saludos Amigos: #FriendshipDay

To all my awesome friends,

          Friends are the best thing that can happen to anyone. They balance our tipsy-turvy lives, add a bit of tang and fun, offer a shoulder to cry and most of all, keeps the party going. Friends come in all shapes and sizes and you may call them with different names, be it amigos, बंधु, मित्र or anything else but each one has a vital role to play. As they say it “हर  एक  friend  ज़रूरी  होता  है”.

कहते  हैं…अच्छे  दोस्त  यूँ  ही  नहीं  मिला  करते ,

पर  उसने  ये  दामन…कुछ  इस  तरह  सजाया  है ;

के  हर  मोड़  पर  मिले  नायाब  दोस्त ,

और  हर  एक  में  जैसे…वो  ख़ुद  ही  समाया  है ||

                                                                  -doc2poet

                    Yes, I have been lucky enough to have met wonderful friends almost everywhere I went and it is tougher than I can imagine naming just one. But adding the oldest clause narrows it down to only two; my best and oldest  buddies @Nikhil and @Prannoy or as we like to call ourselves…’Boogies’. I’ve known them before I knew friendship. In fact,  we have been together since class four and still catch up with each other on weekends or more often than that.  There’s no way how I can put to words the feeling of being able to stick together despite our different paths and professions. You are awesome guys 🙂

के  इनसे  ही  दोस्ती  की  पहचान  है,

तकल्लुफ   नहीं, कोई  राज़  नहीं,

के  इनसे  ही  खिलती  मुस्कान  है,

शुक्रिया  ए  खुदा  है  तेरा,

के  इन  लकीरों  मे  लिखा  इनका  नाम  है ||

                                                              -doc2poet

                 Time is not the only way to look at the word oldest, sometimes the bond feels to have been made in heaven, a bond beyond time. I met these gems during my graduation and they just redefined friendship for me. It’s been 13 years and counting but it feels fresh like yesterday and ripe like eternity. Thank you @Harsh @Neeraj, @Shalini, @Ginni , @Mansi, @Vikas, @Mukesh, @Kanchan.

The  fun, laughter  and  small  talks,

The  road  trips  and  late  night  walks,

You  gave  meaning  to  everything  I  knew,

Rejuvenated  my  life,

Wanting  nothing  in  lieu,

With  you, my  life  is  like  a  grand  fest,

You  are  my  buddies, you  are  the  best…

                                                                      -doc2poet

Thank you all of you for being there for me. You rock guyz 🙂

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. This week’s WOW prompt is- “Hello, Old Friend”.

 

बहुत देर हो चुकी शायद…

Source here

It  is  never  too  late…

---

आहिस्ता  चल  ए  ज़िन्दगी , कुछ क़र्ज़   चुकाना  बाकी  है,

कुछ  दर्द  मिटाना  बाकी  है, कुछ  फ़र्ज़  निभाना  बाकी  है,

रफ़्तार  में  तेरे  चलने  से, कुछ  रूठ  गये – कुछ  छूट  गये,

उन  रूठों  को  मनाना  बाकी  है, रोतों  को  हँसाना  बाकी  है,

इन  साँसों  पर  हक़  है  जिनका, उनको  समझाना  बाकी  है,

कुछ  हसरतें  अभी  अधूरी  हैं, कुछ  काम  और  अभी   ज़रूरी  हैं,

ख़्वाहिशें  कुछ  घुट  गयी  इस  दिल  में, उनको  दफ़नाना  बाकी  है,

नई  ख्वाहिशें  जगाना  बाकी  है, कुछ  ख़्वाब  सजाना  बाकी  है,

कुछ  आँसू  हैं  तो  कुछ  ग़म  भी  हैं, उनको  हँसी  तले  दबाना  बाकी  है,

कहीं  मरहम  लगाना  बाकी  है, कुछ  ज़ख़्म  छिपाना  बाकी  है,

तू  आगे  चल  मैं  आता  हूँ, के  अभी  कदम  बढ़ाना  बाकी  है ,

कुछ  और  सबक  हैं  तेरे  दामन  में, उनसे  मिल  जाना  बाकी  है,

के  वक़्त  से  इस  दौड़  में, उम्मीदें  तो  बस  अभागी  हैं,

घड़ी  के  काँटे  कभी  रुका  करते  नहीं, इन्हें  पकड़  पाना  अभी  बाकी  है,

बहुत देर हो चुकी शायद, पर ख़्वाब अभी कुछ बाकी हैं, 

के  आहिस्ता  चल  ए  ज़िंदगी, कुछ  क़र्ज़  चुकाना  बाकी  है ||

***

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. Although this is an old composition but I think it falls perfectly for this prompt, hope you like it:-)

Superheroes in Disguise: #Doctors

We are the Doctors…

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We  are  the  healers, we  cure  and  we  care,

Deal  with  situations, only  few  would  dare,

We  are  everywhere  but  yet  so  rare,

We  are  resilient; we  are  eccentric, way  beyond  compare,

We  who  missed  the  dusk  of  adolescence,

Solving  MCQs  and  dribbling  books  for  reference,

Missing  our  other  passions, we  donned  the  white  coats,

Learning  to  be  steady,  while  riding  multiple  boats,

We  study  from  law  to  stats,

Learn  everything  we  possibly  can,

For  us, life’s  a  marathon,

Just  what’s  left  between  the  exams,

We  who  graduate  as  our  peers  finish  PGs,

Few  letters  suffixing  our  names, sure  doesn’t  come  easy,

Can’t  take  shortcuts, we  must  take  the  longer  route,

Specialize; super-specialize, keep  studying  till  we  can  reboot,

The  Steth  is  our  ornament, an  honor  you  can  bet,

It’s  a  responsibility  too, as  big  as  it  can  get,

We  treat  people  irrespective  of  caste, color  or  time,

Doesn’t  matter  if  covered  in  vomit, stool  or  slime,

Saving  someone  is  worth  every  dime,

And  for  that, we  put  our  own  lives  on  the  line,

Friends  and  family  spend  the  nights  alone  and  dizzy,

As  we  are  notorious  for  being  perpetually  busy,

We  who  squander  more  on  books  than  on  meals  or shoe,

Associate  first  rains  with  malaria  or  dengue,

We  are  the  scholars, rewired  to  be  nerds,

We  are  more  than  meets  the  eye, caged  but  free  birds,

We  who  are  not  allowed  to  be  judgmental,

Must  allow  for  prejudices  while  being  gentle,

We  must  always  be  composed  and  calm,

Not  always  easy; ‘coz  yes, oh  darn!!

Deemed  gods  when  we  save,

And  killers  if  we  can’t,

Respect  is  that  we  crave,

It’s  what  we  need, not  what  we  want,

We  are  the  doctors,

The  healers, protectors,

We  need  you, and  you  deserve  us,

For  we  complement  each  others,

As  “Super-Heroes”  and  brothers…

***

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. This weekend’s WOW prompt is: “Superheroes In Disguise”.