Vasant Ratri

वसंत रात्रि

इस वसंत न खिले हैं गुलमोहर न अमलतास,
पर अम्बर पर हैं मेहरबान कुछ मेहमां ख़ास,

रात का आँचल सजाये अदृष्ट कोहिनूर सा ज्यूपिटर,
गुलमोहर की लालिमा लिए लाल मार्ज़ भी दृष्टिगोचर,

सैटर्न ने जड़ा है रात्रि ताज में इक नया नगीना,
उगता अर्ध चन्द्र बना गया अमलतास स्वर्णिमा,

सिरीअस चमके ऐसे लगे कि जैसे कोई नव-गृह न कि तारिका,
ओरायन, बिग डिप्पर, कैनिस मेजर, टौरस से शोभित रात्रि वाटिका।

Chaand Ka Jawaab

दिनकर जी के दिनों में तो नन्हा चाँद माँ की परेशानी समझ झिंगोला सिलाये बिना रह गया था। पर आज का नन्हा चाँद माँ से कह रहा है...

चाँद का ज़वाब

लाड़-प्यार से पला हूँ  तुम्हारे,

माँ मुझको अब न बहला रे;
चिढ़ाएं न मुझको नन्हें तारे,
मेरे कर दे पूरे नखरे न्यारे!

दिला दे मुझको पंद्रह-सोलाह,
हर साइज़ का एक झिंगोला;
आइस-क्रीम पर मन है डोला,
खिलौनों से भर दे मेरा झोला!

भर दे मेरे मोबाइल का बिल,
कॉल मिला लूं जब चाहे दिल;
औ दिला दे इक बाई-साइकिल,
फिर न बोलूं सफ़र है मुश्किल!

My Favourite Student

Manu stared at his wife of three weeks, 'Are you crazy?' Sejal refused to be cowed down, 'Come in the afternoon and see for yourself.'

Thus started the best chapter of English literature course of the bright student, whom I was trying to help with. It appeared to be a very simple conversation to me. I was spell bound by his interpretation of the above lines and could not stop laughing out very very loud. Poor chap, very much aware of the social developments of the time, he interpreted it much deeper than the best teacher of literature.

'Manu' was pronounced 'Mannu' as he believed this name was inspired by the daily heard nick-name of our Prime Minister. 'Wife of three weeks' was interpreted to mean that this couple was married for just three weeks and now fighting for divorce. 'Stared' was believed to have had something to do with a staircase. Both of these interpretations seemed inspired by the much savoured Rahul-Dimpy saga. The poor chap, now very high on emotions, explained to me, 'As they were fighting for divorce, Mannu pushed his wife whom he had been married for only three weeks, under a staircase out of the house.'

He went on to explain, 'Mannu shouted, are you greedy?' Now I was truly puzzled about the greedy part. He explained, 'Look, kids are crazy for chocolate, that means kids are greedy for chocolates! And greedy fits just right into this context of their fight'. I could only utter, 'Wonderful, please carry on.'

He read aloud followed by his interpretation, 'Sejal refused to be co-wed down. Even though Mannu was accusing her, Sejal refused to be married to him any more, co-wed, you see. She even threatened him that the repercussions of his pushing her under the staircase would be reverberating all over by the afternoon for every one to hear and see!'

I could not help him more on this chapter. I felt ashamed of my hollow interpretations. This kid truly thought out of the box, I mean the idiot box! Teaching would be best the profession on earth if half of your class is half as hilarious as him. I am eagerly looking forward to his interpretations in the next class.

To Sir, With Love

"Today is the judgement day. The class is unusually silent except for the low hum of the anxious bated breaths. Ms Isha's repeated attempts to make us talk fail like her daily efforts to quieten us. Instead of paper rockets, confused glances are being thrown across. The hour long taciturn suspense being maintained by Ms Isha when the all we are doing is to stare helplessly at her face full of dumbfounded expressions in the backdrop of the blackboard would become an inspiration for the sweet at sixteen Ekta Kapoor's future leading ladies' actions on the idiot box. The spell is eventually broken by the resonance of over fifty bewildered heartbeats threatening to blow up the classroom walls. All but three convicts are handed out their lurid verdicts one by one. 'The three significant verdicts are to be pronounced by Ranjan Sir', conveys Ms Isha.

Ranjan Sir, but why? Ranjan Sir is a busy man, he is the senior most teacher in the school. I think he is a good teacher. His class was lively and fun, he explained through examples, he made us solve problems on the blackboard and never scolded or spanked when we could not. But still, he always wore a grave expression and never smiled and he hardly taught. On most days he had been preoccupied to schedule teachers to engage classes of the absent teachers. I think that made him forget that of all the classes, his own dear class, the fifth standard Maths class, was left unengaged! But did we complain? Of course not! A happy period between the tedious social and dull science periods was a boon straight from the heavens! Yet he had covered eighteen chapters out of the twenty five chapters, a few more than few other teachers who had not missed saying lullabies to us for a single day.

Some of the class who have been pleasantly surprised by the verdicts are getting restless waiting for Ranjan Sir. After all, how long can they wait for their promised gifts of chocolates, new clothes, new toys, etc. Some of the class is praying for him not to turn up for the whole day. The delay is helping to shorten the day and the repercussions of their verdicts back at home. The three of us, though well aware of our verdicts, have stomachs brimming with butterflies at the moment. Finally, after yet another hour's wait, Sir materializes in our classroom and hands out the remaining verdicts. When the roar of claps subsides, Sir begins to address us.

'Congratulations to the fifth class! This year's board included teachers from fifteen schools and the difficulty level was high. This is a great achievement for our school that the entire fifth standard made it to the next with good marks. The Maths paper was the toughest with the best questions from fifteen schools. For the first time in my teaching career, I have seen someone score triple digit marks in this paper. And she is Sandhya! Come over Sandhya, I have got a small gift for you.'

Sir is beaming as he hands me out the envelope with a crisp hundred rupee bill and a hand written congratulatory note inside. I can't believe it. I am super thrilled. I am happy. I am choking. I am all goose bumps. Somehow I manage to utter a feeble thank you."

It has been almost two decades but the happiest moment of my life is still fresh in front of my eyes. I can never forget the smile on Sir's face and the pride in his eyes for his student. I still think twice before gifting one hundred bucks to my near and dear ones. What a noble gesture it was two decades back to reward a student so generously. The noble gift has been a noble impact for me. It has instilled a forever love for Maths in me. It has taught me the profound potential of a genuine reward. It has been my motivator all these years and continue to do so. Yet like that day many many years ago, I am again at loss of words to thank you Ranjan Sir!

Jai Ho Newton!

I often used to get confused about the order of these laws, and sometimes, the laws themselves. This was my kiddo memory aid for the same. Some situations have changed since then, like Pappu usually gets dropped by a car, teachers are refrained from spanking him and the concept of ranking and flunking has been done away with. Nevertheless, I am posting it right here! And one more thing, this title was given long before Jai-Ho acquired the present cult status of the global phrase. :)

जय हो न्यूटन!

रुके जो गाडी, पप्पू गिर जाये,

दोष इनेर्शिया का है हाये!

चल गयी गाडी, खा गया झटका,

नियम है पहला, यह न्यूटन का!

माँ की थापी मन बहलाये,

टीचर की थापी गाल सुजाये!

भार-वेगान्तर-बल का रिश्ता,

दुसरे नियम से यही समझता!

पढ़े जो मन से, अव्वल आये,

न पढने पे, कक्षा दोहराये!

हर एक्शन पे आये रिअक्शन,

धन्य है तीसरा नियमे-न्यूटन!

From Beyond The Clouds

Background: I have always loved flying and a few trips that took me across the length and breadth of our country brought the physical geography studied years and years ago very live in front of my eyes and rekindled my long forgotten love for the subject :)

From Beyond The Clouds

A novel practical in Indian Geography, 

With a few breathtaking trips, above the clouds,

Brings cognizance of topography,

Into light, out of theoretic shrouds.

The mighty Himalayas appear pointed ivory clouds, 

Unlike the pics seen in books by I and You,

The lazily meandering river with its bends,

Inspires the illustrious shape of the horse shoe.

Islands of silt the river drains,

Featureless vast Northern Plains,

And the scattered oxbow lakes,

Fail to remain anymore fakes. 

Narmada prancing through the Marble rocks,

Brings alive Bernoulli and Venturi forces,

Incredible is to see the big bird's shadow,

Racing on the feathery clouds.

Is it the tapering tip of the peninsula,

Or is it the beak of a giant eagle,

The icteric continental shelf is perceptible,

Against the sparkling blue bathyal bezel.

Cumulonimbus clouds above the Indian Ocean,

Are large scoops of the vanilla ice cream,

Submerged patches, elevated isles,

Evoke desire of flying thousand more miles.