A duck jumps into the Naini Lake, Nainital
You randomly decide to catch up with a friend at a bookstore which has a cafe that is known for chai. Well, no suspense there it is called Cha Bar and the bookstore goes by the name ‘Oxford Bookstore’. This is in Connaught Place of New Delhi, India.
So, I was in the metro today with a book that I bought from the above-talked bookstore. Yes, you go to a bookstore and you have to have to buy a book. The reason I bought this was because I remember reading ‘Cat Among The Pigeons by Agatha Christie’ back in 2007 when I was in a school.
The weather was perfect, the temperature showing 16 °C, the metro coming out of the tunnel and sun shining on your back and an empty metro which means you get to sit and read in silence. That is when I clicked this photograph.
Tell me what you guys are reading these days? And how’s the weather at your end?
Un sardiyon ki raaton main
Mere haath mai ek cigarette thi
Aur tumhare haath mai chai ka cup
Hum dono ek thele par baithe
Andheri sunsaan raat mai
Baate kar rahe the
Kohre ke saath
Hamare muh se dhuan nikal raha tha
Us hisaab se toh
Cigarette tum bhi pee rahi thi
Maine haskar yeh baat tumse kahi
Toh tumhe thoda sa bura laga
Mujhe ilm tha is baat ka
Ki tumhe cigratte pasand nahi thi
Ab woh waqt aa chuka tha
Jab tumhari chai khatam hone ko thi
Aur meri cigarette ke bhi
Kuch aakhri kash bache the
Fhir main utha
Aur tum uthi
Aur dono apni raah chal diye
I got into the metro and the guy ahead of me looks at his reflection and dances. Maybe that’s what late nights do to you, they allow you to be more expressive. Anyway, I get myself a seat and the gate of the metro stays open so that more people can board it, it reminds of those even-odd days in Delhi when bus number 507 that I usually took would stop until they got a good number of passengers on board.
I sit on the seat with an empty mind and stare at my phone. After a few stations, a gentleman comes and sits on the empty seat on my right. He has his headphones on and is listening to Ae Kaash Ke Hum. I used to love that song once but then I listened to it so much that I started disliking it, does it ever happen to you?
So, the metro continues to find its way on those zig-zag tracks until it enters the dark underground tunnel only to move like a snake through its burrow. After two stations, I’ll have to get down and find my way home.
Doors will open, people will board and deboard the metro until this moving box gets to its destination.
I came to the blog with the determination to write something and then I checked my last post. Guess what, it was on 20th of August, exactly a month ago. In that very post, I had mentioned about writing more frequently which I failed to do. A lot of reasons but let’s not get into that.
I am sharing something I recently wrote, it is in Hindi and is in raw form (not edited). So go ahead, read it and let me know what you think. (Source for photo)
Aadha piya hua chai ka woh cup, mez par rakha tha, chai toh behraal thandi ho chuki thi lekin uska abhi tak koi pata nahi tha. Neeche se achanak kisine awaz lagai thi toh woh daudta hua chala gaya tha. Mujhe lagaa koi khaas azeez aaya hoga aur yahi sochte sochte mujhe kaafi waqt ho gaya lekin koi nahi aaya. Mann mai khayal sa aaya ki uth kar chala jaata hun lekin fhir yaad aaya ki ghar khali tha aur is tarah ghar khula chod jaana theek nahi hoga toh main wapis baith gaya.
Mann behlane ke liye kuch toh karna tha toh waha padhe akhbar ko lekar maine saalo baad khabre padhna shru kiya aur keval istehaar dekh kar woh bhi mez par patak diya. Akhbar se adhi chai ka cup gir gaya aur poori mez par chai fhail gayi. Maine socha lo, yahi baaki tha and yahi soch kar main safai main lag gaya. Itni hi der main ek mohtarma zeene se upar aagayi aur boli Chacha jaan ghar hai kya, maine bola nahi woh nahi hai aap batae kya kaam. Woh thodi der ruki aur fhir boli, aap hai kaun, pehle toh yaha nahi dekha. Chacha jaan ne yeh ghar bech toh nahi diya?
Jispar maine jaldi se kaha arre nahi chacha jaan gaye hue hai bahar main unke bete ka dost hun. Paan chabati hui woh mud kar wapis zeene se utar gayi. Utarte utarte boli ki unse kehdena ki Sakeena ayi thi. Maine zehen main dobara naam dohraha jisse ki main bhool na jaun.Mujhe baithe hue kuch adha ghanta hua hoga aur ab mere intezaar ki intehaan aage badh chuki thi. Mujhe apne dost par behisaab gussa aa raha tha par main yeh bhi soch raha tha ki kuch galat na hua ho. Thodi der main andar ek kamre main rakhe telephone ki ghanti baji toh main uthane ke lye gaya. Phone uthaya toh……..
The doors open and you exit only to find others walking in the same direction. Some are running but most of them are rushing and wading their way through others.
Suddenly you see that there is an insane rush on the exit gate and you automatically speed up as if it will have a major impact on your life which we all know is a lie.
A villager lady is at the exit gate trying to figure her way out of the gate but she is clueless with the token in her hand. A few of the dressed up people shout on her while a few are giving her advice. She is panicky and drops her token leading to further delays. This continues for some time and after a while, the station is deserted. A pigeon flys by while the other one is looking for food. They walk all over the floor until the next metro arrives and a hoard of people rush towards the exit gate.
Now as you read this, I want you to move along and be fast because the last thing I want is to be late at the exit gate.
Until next time, my friends. Until next time.
I took the metro after some time again today. A ride that I’ve been taking almost on all weekdays for the past two years now.
Everything felt different and I found myself out of place. On getting out of the metro, people started moving fast leaving me behind. There was a rush at the metro gate and I looked around to find some familiar faces but all I got to see were the tensed faces of people. People who were running late, people who weren’t happy and people who were happy. I don’t know for sure, I just saw and tried reading.
Now I’m writing this in the metro and it’s not as full as it usually is because I left a bit early. I have plenty of space to stand and I had planned to read a book but choose to listen to a few songs.
It’s a normal day in the lives of people in Delhi NCR. Welcome to it.
Thanks for reading one of the random and absurdly ending post. Do tell me how you’ve been.
Hello again. I recently invested in a diary and now my aim is to put it to a good use. Today, I wrote a short story and a sher. Now you will have to wait for the sher because this post will have the story. Read it and let me know your views. 🙂
A few photographs I took recently
I am also going to upload a series of Timelapse very soon. Sit tight!
I have been thinking of taking a long exposure photograph from a foot over bridge for quite some time. Today I just happen to be near one of such bridge and I managed to capture this, not my best attempt but an attempt nevertheless.
Also made a short time-lapse video of being stuck in traffic. See here.
