कभी नहीं

मेरी डायरी के वो सूखे मुरझाये फूल
जो मैंने कभी तुम्हे दिए ही नहीं

वो छत के कोने में रखी टूटी कुर्सी
जिसपे हम कभी साथ बैठे ही नहीं

वो छज्जे पर छुपा कर रखे पटाखे
जो हमने दिवाली में कभी जलाये नहीं

वो अलमारी में कपड़ो के तह के नीचे छुपाये खत
जो मैंने कभी हाथों में रख कर पढ़े ही नहीं

वो दिल में रखी एक बात
जो कभी मैंने तुमसे कही नहीं

वो तुम्हारे साथ वाली एक जिंदगी
जो शायद मैंने कभी जी ही नहीं 

In Between

Beyond this side of life and,
Ascending the other side of life,
Between those two ends,
There was another city,
Hidden in plain sight.
The city, which
everyone had gone to,
But, nobody had visited it.
A life, that everyone had lived
But, nobody had lived it.

From this side of life,
With you on my side,
To that side of life,
without you on my side.
In between,
There were countless efforts
To be with you,
For us to be together.
How long were we together?
We were not even together.
From this side of life, having you,
To that side of life, not having you,
Maybe, I have had set aside
Something in my life too.

Beyond the sights of
That glaring sun
Hitting right in the eyes,
And, preceding the sights of
Pitch dark black clouds,
There were few more moments,
Moments of thunders,
Moments of lightning bolts,
The lightning, that
Everyone had seen,
But, nobody had seen it,
In a life that everyone had lived
But, nobody had lived it.

Never together

You be the night,
I'll be the day.
We'll never be together.
But, when you'll be about to leave,
And, I'll be about to arrive,
Or, when I'll be about to leave,
And, you'll be about to arrive,
In those mornings and evenings,
We'll meet for sure.
And in that silence,
It will make such beautiful noise,
That this world would
Never have witnessed before.

You be the ground,
I'll be the sky.
Between us, there will be
Distances of earth and sky.
But, we'll meet on the horizon.
Believe me, we'll meet for sure.
And, this world will be amazed,
To witness our meeting.
They'll paint pictures of that,
So mesmerising and beautiful
That this world would
Never have seen before,
Never have witnessed before.

On that horizon,
When that setting sun
will meet the rising moon,
Or, that setting moon
Will meet the rising sun,
And ask "how are you"
"It’s been so long since we met"
This world will be beautiful again.
We’ll meet only for moments,
But, we won’t be together
We’ll never be together.

Interpretation

I have to express myself,
To you, it's long due.
But, I don't know how.
You are far away,
Across oceans and horizons.
How do I say it to you?

I am afraid to use words,
I am afraid to say something,
When I am not around you.
I love words,
Probably, words are the only thing
keeping us together.
But, this distance..
What if, words get jumbled,
Travelling across continents ?
What if, it's not exactly
What I want to say ?
What if, you interpret
Words differently?
I am afraid
Because I know,
A poem has
Thousands of interpretations.

On the other hand,
I know you will get it right
You will pick the right meaning,
Like you always do.
Isn't that only reason
I choose to write this?
Isn't that the only reason
I want to express myself?
To you.

But, again.
I don't know,
How will
you
interpret this.

साथ नहीं रहेंगे

तुम रात बनना,
मैं दिन बनूँगा
हम दोनों कभी भी
एक साथ नहीं रहेंगे
पर, जब तुम जाने वाली होगी
और मैं आ रहा होऊंगा
या, जब तुम आने वाली होगी
और मैं जा रहा होऊंगा
वो शाम और भोर में
हम मिलेंगे जरूर, और
उस सन्नाटे में ऐसे मिलेंगे
कि, उससे सुन्दर शोर इस जहाँ ने
न पहले कभी सुना होगा
न पहले महसूस किया होगा

तुम ज़मीं बनना
मैं आसमा बनूँगा
हम दोनों के बीच
ज़मीन-ओ-आसमान  के
फासले होंगे
पर, क्षितिज पर
हम जरूर मिलेंगे
लोग हमारी मुलाक़ात को
देखेंगे, दंग रह जाएंगे
हम उस मुलाक़ात की
एक तस्वीर बनाएंगे फिर
ऐसी खुशनुमा तस्वीर जो
किसी ने कभी न सोची होगी
न किसी ने रंगी होगी

फिर, उस क्षितिज पर जब
वो डूबता हुआ सूरज
उगते हुए चाँद से मिलेगा
या, वो उगता हुआ सूरज
डूबते हुए चाँद से मिलेगा
और पूछेगा कैसी हो तुम?
बड़े वक़्त बाद मिलना हुआ
ये जहाँ तब खिल उठेगा
हम पल भर के लिए ऐसे मिलेंगे
पर हम दोनों कभी भी
साथ नहीं रहेंगे,
साथ नहीं रहेंगे |