On my way, when I meet someone
A question comes –
“What do you do?”
When I tell them the truth,
They think I’m insane.
When I twist-turn and cut-paste
a semblance of a story,
Their shrunk-up lungs
Inflate again with breaths.
Now, I’ve stopped trying altogether.
I just tell them, “I’m a poet.”
Then they leisurely take pity on me.
They whisper into each other.
“He had a lot of potential.
Who knows in which weak moment he slipped.”
I pocket this comment as well –
A collector of moments that I am.
Sitting on a table in a café,
I call out to passing moments,
“Come. How are you today?”
Who knows what curiosity
Impels them to me.
Taking a little detour from their path,
They come and sit beside me.
And tell me their stories.
In my diary of personal tales,
They become a brand new page.
When one of them asks,
“How much do you make, mister?”
Without hesitation, I tell them
That every month some thirty days
Get credited in my salary account.
It’s the interest on those thirty days
That floats the boat of my life.
Every day, I give away some moments to others.
Afterall, charity also begins at home.
Translated from my Hindi poem, क्या करते हो?
kyā karte ho?
rāh chalte kisī se milta hoon
toh sawāl ātā hei,
“kyā karte ho?”
sacchāī bayān kartā hūn to
pāgal samajhte hein mujhe.
kucH toD-maroD kar kāT-joD kar
kahānī banā letā hūn to
Unke pichke hue FeFDon mein
sāns wāpis ā jāti hei.
ab toh koshish karnā chhoD diyā hei.
bol detā hūn, “shāyar hūn.”
tasalli se phir woh taras khātein hein.
kehtein hein fusfusā kar āpas mein
“kāFi potential thā ismein.
na jāne kaunse kamzor mauke pe fisal gayā.”
yeh tippaNī bhī baTor letā hūn jeb mein.
lamhon kā jamākār jo hūn.
ik Café ke table pe baithā
āte jāte har lamhe ko pās bulā letā hun,
“āo. āj kaise ho?”
patā nahi kaunsi jigyānsā
unhe bhī khīnch lāti hei meri aur.
apne rāh se CHotā detour leke
pās baiTH jātein hein.
Keh jātein hein apnī kahāniyān…
Mere dāstānon kī diary mein
ek panna ban jātein hein.
koi pūCHtā hei jab
“kitnā banā lete ho, janāb?”
bejijHak keh detā hūn tabhī tabhī
ki har mahine kuch tees din
jamā ho jātein hein.
unhi tees dinon ke byāj pe
zindagī guzartī hei merī.
roz kuch lamhe dūsron mein bhī bānT detā hūn.
ākhir charity bhī to ghar se hī shuru hotī hei.
Minakhi Misra 