Dhandhe ki baat

Indian society, of today, is slowly restoring the respect and money deserved by those who serve arts. Arts of any kind, those involving colours, vocal chords, words, body gestures, thoughts and what not. But no society can do without those artists who feel rejected by society … from Kalidas to Ghalib, from Majaaz to Nagarjun … some time in their lives did feel rejected. I somehow relate to them, somehow find myself thinking their thoughts. Though, my profession has not much to do with arts (yet); and as an entrepreneur, I feel the world has been quite nice to me. But still, it seems their is a poet within, who yearns for rejection, so that it can aggravate the fire in its belly.

Rejection, it seems, is the spark needed to ignite that fire in the belly. Sarasvati’s eluding of Brahma’s sexual advances is what creates the fire in Brahma that made him create. Sarasvati is the primordial goddess… it manifests as the world when Brahma manifests as me, it manifests as the muse when Brahma manifests as the poet, it manifests as the wealth when Brahma manifests as the entrepreneur. And she always rejects him first … that creates the fire … the fire that creates … the primordial fire Agni that threatened to swallow Brahma himself (according to Rig Veda).

Okay too much serious talk, here’s one humorous expressoin of that poet’s fire, when recognition eludes him. It’s a song from V Shantaram‘s legendary film Navrang:
http://www.saavn.com/p/song/hindi/navrang/kavi+raja+kavita+ke/KUUpAS5vdkk

http://www.raaga.com/play/?id=107119

कवि राजा कविता के ना अब कान मरोड़ो
धंधे की कुछ बात करो, कुछ पैसे जोड़ो।

शेर-शायरी कवि राजा ना काम आएगी,
कविता की पोथी को दीमक खा जाएगी।
भाव चढ़ रहे, अनाज हो रहा महंगा दिन-दिन,
भूख मरोगे, रात कटेगी तारे गिन-गिन।
इसीलिए कहता हूँ भैय्या यह सब छोडो,
धंधे की कुछ बात करो, कुछ पैसे जोड़ो।

अरे! छोड़ो कलम, चलाओ मत कविता की चाकी।
घर की रोकड देखो, कितने पैसे बाकी।
अरे! कितना घर में घी है, कितना गरम मसाला,
कितने पापड, बडी, मंगोडी, मिर्च-मसाला,
कितना तेल, नोन िमर्ची, हल्दी और धनिया।
कवि राजा चुपके से तुम बन जाओ बनिया।

अरे! पैसे पर रच काव्य, भूख पर गीत बनाओ।
अरे! गेहूं पर हो गज़ल, धान के शेर सुनाओ।
नोन मिर्च पर चौपाई, चावल पर दोहे।
सुकवि कोयले पर कविता लिखो तो सोहे।
कम भाडे की खोली पर लिखो कव्वाली,
झन-झन करती कहो रुबाई पैसे वाली।

शब्दों का जंजाल बडा लफ़डा होता है।
कवि-सम्मेलन दोस्त बडा झगडा होता है।
मुशायरे के शेरों पर रगडा होता है।
पैसे वाला शेर बडा तगडा होता है।
इसीलिए कहता हूँ न इससे सिर फोडो,
धंधे की कुछ बात करो कुछ पैसे जोड़ो।

Kavi

New poem, just written. And quite satisfying like the last one 🙂

गुरु बोले – “जा खोज के आ
कि फूल है क्या?”
इक फूल दिखा,
मै मुस्काया।
उसके सौरभ को,
प्राणों मे भर लाया।
मन सुख मे नत हो आया,
तब मैनें जाना – फूल है क्या।

जब लौटा, तो गुरु ने पूछा –
“बता शिष्य कि फूल है क्या?”

मन ने सुन्दर आकार लिया,
पर शब्द रुके मुख तक आकर।
क्या पीत-श्वेत-लोहित मरमर,
यह कह देंगे जो मुझे दिखा?
कैसे समझाऊँ सौरभ को
जिसने प्राणों मे रस घोला?

शब्द खेलते आँख मिचौली,
बुद्धी धूंडती शब्दों को।
कभी तीव्रता से जा पकडे,
पर पाए फ़िका उनको।
कभी ऊंघते शब्द स्वयं ही,
आ जाते सम्मुख मेरे।
पर उत्तर फिर भी दे न सका
आखें औ’ सिर नत मेरे।

गुरु मुस्काए।
मुझको देखा।
कुछ कहा नहीं,
और चले गए।

मैने माना कि विफल बुद्धी।
शब्दों के होते मुक्त प्राण।
बंधन मे उनको बांधोगे,
तो भागेंगे वे बचा प्राण।
मान बुद्धी को विफल अगर,
उस फूल मे मन को रम लोगे,
तो शब्द तितलियों से आकर,
खुद ही मन पर मंडराएँगे।
बिन लगाम के बुद्धी की,
तब गीत कण्ठ गाए मेरा।
जो जिह्वा से उस पल निकला,
वह सहज बनी मेरी कविता।

मैं बहुत खुशी से लहराया –
“कह दिया है मैने फूल है क्या।”
पर दो पल रुक कर सोचो तो,
क्या मैं हूँ कवि इस कविता का?

Being Thoughtless

I don’t like thinking anymore, and so stopped it. Yes you read it right. I have stopped thinking. There are no similar-sounding verbs to “thinking”, still for those with impaired hearing, or exaggerated disbelief on their faces, I repeat – I STOPPED THINKING!!

I know what the Indian philosophy/yoga types reading this stuff are thinking. They are imagining the descendants of Ekta Kapoor, three hundred years from now, making a television serial on me, the saint who stopped thinking – thoughtlessanand baba (the pun is, of course, intended), in which the last episode shows my soul, portrayed as thin yellow glowing gelatin-like ellipse, merging with another much larger yellow glowing gelatin-like ellipse, obviously representing the God’s soul – paramatma. (Disclaimer: ellipses could easily be ellipsoids, depending on the advancements in television technology of the time) But nothing like that has happened – I have no gelatin around me right now, and the last ellipse I saw was Yuvraj Singh’s wagon wheel, digitally representing the Kingston stadium, where India defeated West Indies. Now that you have pained your mind enough deciphering the large comma-studded sentences above, I’m sure some of you might like to stop thinking. And in somewhat similar fashion I stopped thinking. Sorry to disappoint the glowing-gelatin-ellipse-lovers.

Oh! and I don’t love Ekta Kapoor. I’m thought-less, not mad.

However, the thoughtlessanand baba has economic value. I am sure friends, families, parents of some of you seek or have sought some sort of spiritual support from some sort of spiritual beings. The world needs babas. From management to spirituality you need the babas. And like in spirituality, so in managment, the less the baba thinks the better he/she is. So the world surely needs a thoughtlessanand baba. And for you, I am sure you would be more comfortable with your friends, families, or parents seeking support from a modern baba like me, than the traditional saffron clad ones. See I sold it to you as well. I know you are thinking where does the “economic” part come from. Well the thoughtlessanand baba, like all other babas, wont charge a fee. He’d only help grow the pie. With less thought there is more pie. Now let the Peter Drucker‘s of the world explain that to you. And if you dont like the jargon-filled books, and still need to get the “less thought, more pie” funda – watch the waitress, the movie I mean.

For those who still doubts the truthfulness of this post, I am sure this post itslef must convince you that I have stopped thinking 😉

PS: I did consider “Surrealanand Baba” as the branding, but that’s a bit too much disoriented for people seeking spiritual help. Being inconsiderate is something they are anyways expecting.