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Showing posts from September, 2009

Upgrade - the Godawful version

Last week I am travelling by railway train from Bengaluru to Mumbai. I am having one ticket sleeper class S7 berth 5. In compartment there are present some Gujarati students going home. They are studying engineering I am thinking. Then one lady is there With so many luggages. Seat is near bogie toilet and there is smell. I am thinking to myself that I am deserving of better. Like one minister is saying recently (and getting into trouble with Madam) this is cattle-class and I am certainly higher-class. Why I am doing this? That is because I am well-educated (M.Sc. 1st Class) and having well-paying job also. Besides I am reading Amartya Sen and I am seeking company of like-minded people for intellectual discussions. Here they are only reading Filmfare. So I am asking the TTE who is checking my ticket that I will pay the difference of fare and purchase 3rd AC ticket. I am able to afford the ticket so why to be foregoing opportunity? Why to travel with the masses? Cattle-class is for them.

October

take those dandiya sticks saw them into little bits dissolve them in sulphuric acid and pulp them into paper you'll hear the sweet sound of october take those humongous speakers and those amplifiers microphones record-players run a road-engine over them you'll hear the sweet sound of october take those lorries on the highway smash their axles burst their horns stamp on every car stereo you can find till the night road is a smooth stretch of silence you'll hear the sweet sound of october drag out those cacophonous tvs from homes of insensitive neighbours smash them bash them hammer them till your hands are wet with blood you'll hear the sweet sound of october shut every gossipping mouth stuff it with cotton seal it with tape knock the ones who resist unconscious till the paralysing quietness of fear prevails you'll hear the sweet sound of october now calm your nerves your mind sharpen your ears your eyes and locate among the moonlit leaves the steady stridulation of

Upgrade

I bought myself an upgrade today. I had a ticket - Bengaluru to Mumbai - railway sleeper class. Berth no. 5, in a compartment shared with some students returning home, and sundry others. Whom I considered below my class. As a minister recently put it, "cattle-class". I'm well-educated, and have a well-paying job. I'm certainly above the great numbers of people, whom we call the 'masses'. Cattle-class is for them. I walked over to the A/C 3-tier coach, and there begged the TTE to give me an upgrade. He did. Rs. 635/- I paid, for an upper berth. The money got me air-conditioning, and some bed-linen. What I hoped it was buying me, was the company of refined people who read Goethe and Aurobindo, and listen to Aerosmith. What I got, was a group of twelve returning from Puttaparthi - who saw nothing amiss in keeping everyone awake all night with their loud chattering, and littering the floor with the remains of their lunch. I could not fight them - they had paid fo

सम्भालकर रखना इन टुकड़ों को

टूटकर भी धड़कते रहेंगे, महफ़ूज़ रखना दिल के टुकड़ों को किसी दिन तो देखकर रोओगी, सम्भालकर रखना इन टुकड़ों को चान्दी के बक्से में छुपाकर रखना इन्हें, दिलासा देंगे जब हुस्न ओ माशूक़ को खोओगी, सम्भालकर रखना इन टुकड़ों को हँसी हँसी में ठुकरा दिया तुमने इकरार ए इश्क़ ह्मारा किसी दिन दर्द का बोझ ढोओगी, सम्भालकर रखना इन टुकड़ों को किसी की बददुआ न लगे तुमको, वरना कहाँ कहाँ तुम बेवफ़ाई का दाग़ धोओगी, सम्भालकर रखना इन टुकड़ों को यह हज़ारों आशिक़ तुम्हारे, क़यामत तक कितने साथ देंगे तब किन सपनों के बीज बोओगी, सम्भालकर रखना इन टुकड़ों को जब अकेली पड़ जाओगी, याद करोगी तुम 'ख़ाना बदोश' को तब न जागोगी न सोओगी, सम्भालकर रखना इन टुकड़ों को