माशाया के मरासिम

मैं वहीं हूँ मैं जहां हूँ,

या, मैं वहाँ भी नहीं हूँ

मैं जहां हूँ।

मैं ख़यालों में हूँ,

मैं सवालों में हूँ ,

बदलों से ऊँची उड़ानो में हूँ ,

क़िस्से में हूँ, कहानियों में हूँ ,

चर्च के पीछे और ,

साड़ी की दुकानो में हूँ ।

तस्वीर में, मुस्कुराहट में,

गीत में, और ग़ज़ल में,

तेरी हर आहट में,

मैं कहाँ नहीं हूँ ,

तुम जहां हो

मैं वहां हूँ ।

गुलाब चाहे उन्नीस का हो

अट्ठाईस का हो या

छत्तीस का हो ,

दिल के मशाया में

मोहब्बत के मरासिम

एक ही हैं ।।

As a candid confession, I must say I was oblivious to the meaning of this word ‘Mashaya’ till now and I still am to a great extent. this word probably means ‘Thanks’ or a ‘Pub’ or ‘Bar’…whatever, who cares? Overnight, my frantic search through the oblivion of sanctum santorum of heart has not been to find the meaning of just one word but to find an emotional connection with the roses and their eternal fragrance. Oh! by the way, the word ‘Marasim’ has got something to do with the connection or relations. So, I was talking about the roses, whether a rose has a history of 19 years or twenty-eight years or ten, thirty-six whatever, their relationship with heart exudes the same fragrance. And the essence of what I just said was evident in the stories of proposals recited, craic exhibited and the fun indulged with on that rooftop Mashaya yesterday.

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If Mashaya means thanks then, ‘Mashaya” Dr Seema and Dr Sundeep (sorry I am omitting Maam and Sir as my literary liberty… isn’t sounding festooned with the sentence)

Thanks for calling us in the party and be a part of the togetherness.

Happy twenty-eighth…and more to come.