kriskant

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया ,

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया ,

अब पीछे मुड़ के देखते हैं तो लगता है मानो तब बचपन को हमने भुलाया और अब बचपन ने हमें भुला दिया !

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया !!

खुश हो जाते थे खेल के मिटटी की खिलोनो से ,

जब उम्र बड़ी तो सब हकीकत में पाया पर भी वो बचपन वाली ख़ुशी न मिली !

जवान होने की दौड़ में जाने वो बचपन कहाँ गवां दिया !!

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया !!!

छुप जाते थे माँ बाप के आँचल में झट से ,

जब बड़े हुए तो एहसास हुआ जाने वो आँचल कहाँ गवां दिया !

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया !!

जिन्दगी में बढ़ते रहने की होड़ में बचपन को ऐसे लुटा दिया ,

मानो जैसे समंदर में गिर के बारिस की बूंदों ने अपना अस्तित्व ही गवां दिया !

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया !!

खो दिया कहीं उन बचपन के लम्हो को ,

जिन्होंने एक पल में हंसाया तो दूजे पल में रुला दिया !

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया !!

वो बचपन वाली तरंग नहीं रही जिन्दगी में अब तो ,

जानो उन नटखट लम्हों को कहाँ लुटा दिया !

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया !!

अब तो बस यादें ही रह गयी हैं बचपन की ,

लगता है जैसे वक़्त के झोंको ने मिटटी पर लिखा बचपन मिटा दिया !

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया !!

कोशिश बहुत करते हैं उन बचपन के लम्हों को फिर से जीने की ,

पर तब बचपन को हमने भुलाया और अब बचपन ने हमें भुला दिया !

बचपन को बचपने में ही गवां दिया !!!

Written by :kriskant

कल रात सपने में आया कोरोना….
उसे देख जो मैं डरा तो मुस्कुरा के बोला
मुझसे डरो ना…
उसने कहा- कितनी अच्छी है तुम्हारी संस्कृति।
न चूमते,न गले लगाते
दोनों हाथ जोड़ कर वो स्वागत करते,
मुझसे डरो ना..
कहां से सीखा तुमने ??
रूम स्प्रे ,बॉडी स्प्रे,
पहले तो तुम धूप, दीप कपूर अगरबत्ती,लोभान जलाते
वही करो ना,
मुझसे डरो ना…
शुरू से तुम्हें सिखाया गया
अच्छे से हाथ पैर धोकर घर में घुसो,
मत भूलो अपनी संस्कृति
वही करो ना
मुझसे डरो ना…
उसने कहा सादा भोजन उच्च विचार
यही तो है तुम्हारे संस्कार।
उन्हें छोड़ जंक फूड फ़ास्ट फूड के चक्कर में पड़ो ना
मुझसे डरो ना…
उसने कहा शुरू से ही जानवरों को पाला-पोसा प्यार दिया
रक्षण की है तुम्हारी संस्कृति,उनका भक्षण करो ना
मुझसे डरो ना
कल रात मेरे सपने में आया कोरोना
बोला मुझसे डरो ना।

Written by : kriskant

THE INDIAN TASTE.

While I see most following and admiring the West, and each trying to fit in the ‘Set-Standards’, I can’t help my pure Indian taste, be that in music or in the diverse traditional-food. Though no grudges against the Lovers of West, you have your freedom of choice and they’ve been worth at times. It rather turns out to be difficult for me instead, being a minority in taste,in this generation of ‘POKÈMON GO’.
That’s how the idea of this article came-up. I’m not shy in bragging the Indian-Classics and Culture, I’m proud. This is my admiration for Indian Heritage, its beauty, its ‘Civic-Sense’, its upbringing. No doubt there are negatives but why not give some time looking at the prevailing-potential.
I’ve tried keeping it short,simple and not preachy.
Indian Food; it can turn people into Foodies and there’s no better start. Here each hundred miles has its own speciality. Dosa to Dhuska, kheer to khaandvi. We usually love spicy, but there’s a balance of spices which is true to the recipe. It’s not always the blind-pouring of ‘Laal-Mirch’ and ‘Ghee’. There’s a love for its variety in food which no Cheesy-stuff can suffice for us.
Historical sites; this country is rich. Places have their tales, they have their odour. Their stories will surprise. Palaces to Fields, Thar to Jharkhand, this country makes people fell for its variety.
My parents love Kabirdas‘s couplets, they always have one which suits the situation. I grew-up, with them together recalling the Hindi–legendary poets. While my friends learnt Harmonium and Tabla, went for their Kathak classes, which is what I could never understand then, but feel its absence now.The need to inherit,appreciate my own Culture and unravel its depth urges me. We’ve grown-up hearing of the melodies the legends like Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar gave.
These are the favourite ones known to all.I’ve yet not mentioned the wide range of our musical instruments and Classical Dance, nor the Folk-Singers.
Art, Choice,has no regional boundaries;but,taking it up, for ‘The herd does the same is,well…’

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE:AS ENGAGING AS HIS CHARACTERS.

When it comes to Literature, who is not aware of Shakespeare’s name! Over the last five centuries the world has come across thousands of adaptations of Shakespeare’s work, be that movies like ‘Romeo+Juliet’ or ‘Haider’. Shakespeare is probably the most well known of all writers. He gave tragedies which scares the reader and created the immortal characters of Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and many many more. He is often considered a Natural and a Raw genius, who has not been shaped by conventional education but naturally formed.
BIOGRAPHY
Shakespeare’s life is as interesting as his works and has engaged the researchers all these centuries and even today we come across new facts related to his life. Unlike most famous writers he was born in a small village called Stratford-upon-Avon in England, way back in the year 1564. His birth date is considered to be the same as the date of his death; 23rd of April. Though probably he was christened on 26th April. Shakespeare’s life has been full of ups and downs. Born in a poor family he rose in life with his own genius and hard work. The dramatist married a woman eight years older to him; Anne Hathaway. His dramas hint at an unhappy married life. Most of them being tragic and incomplete love stories. He had three children, out of whom one (Hamnet) died. After his death, all that he left for his wife in the will was his ‘Second Best Bed’. The man seemed to have a sad family life with one of his daughters marrying against his wish. One of the most strange and mysterious aspect of his life was the ‘Lost Years’. He disappeared for Seven years, from 1585 to 1592. The reason and whereabouts of this period is not clear. But it’s often guessed that he went with one of the theatre groups and was trying to escape a persecution. Shakespeare faced a lot of criticism during his lifetime. Robert Greene in one of his works called him an ‘Upstart-Crow’. He never printed his work, in fact it was after his death that his works were printed in the collection called ‘First-Folio’ in the year 1623. He wrote dramas to be performed and was also an actor. He played various roles in his own plays, like the ghost in Hamlet. The theatres he wrote for were the Globe and the Blackfriars. It came as a shock to him when the Globe burned down in the year 1613. He had a small share in that theatre. He died at the age of 52 in the year 1616.
WORK
Shakespeare’s works cannot be given specific dates, since they were not meant for publication. It was around the year 1591 that he wrote his first work ‘Henry VI’. He was a dramatist as well as a poet. Having written around 36 plays and 154 sonnets. Most of his works depend on legends and history. In a period when most writers stereotyped women, Shakespeare created the strong characters of Lady Macbeth, Viola and many more. On one hand the beauty of women was put into conventional mould by others and on the other hand Shakespeare created a line like; “ My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red…”. His Lady Macbeth killed the king for power, his Viola disguised as a man to get her love, Shakespeare’s Juliet had the courage to fight against her family for her love. Around 1600 he started writing his great tragedies which are considered to be his best of all works. The four great tragedies are Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello. The creation of these characters sets the definition of Heroic. Shakespeare is said to have created a large number of characters and it is also said that no two characters created by him are same. The hundreds of characters that he made in his over 30 plays are all unique. They are a result of very sharp observation of human psychology and behaviour. The four tragedies scare the reader. The power of Shakespeare’s character creation compels the reader to slip in the shoes of the character. We feel their emotions, we understand Hamlet’s dilemma of ‘To be or not to be?’, we know what guilt leads Macbeth to see Banquo’s ghost. The proficiency with which Shakespeare wrote all his tragedies is the same with which he writes his comedies like Twelfth Night, As you like It, and the others. It surprises to see that the writer who wrote the serious tragedies can create such mature comedies. He excelled in whatever he wrote. Over the Years, his works have been thoroughly adapted in theatres or as movies, in poems or in novels. Movies of Hollywood like ‘O’, ‘Romeo+ Juliet’, or movies in Bollywood like ‘Maqbool’ or ‘Haider’. Shakespeare has been translated in most languages and he has an audience worldwide. His writing is timeless, even today in the contemporary world his writing is understandable and applicable. He gave us the passion of Romeo’s love which went on to be permanent in the world. Not only plays, he also gave us long poems like the Rape of Lucree, Venus and Adonais. It is rare to find a writer so raw who has not been trained by conventions and writes as fresh as Shakespeare. He is an unmatched genius, tough to find again, who has been ruling the Literary world for almost five centuries now. He has become an immortal name.

I HAD PLANS THIS YEAR:A SHORT PIECE OF PROSE.2020

It was my birthday a couple of months ago. Already in my early 20s, this year I had plans to finally travel to Lucknow and Agra with friends. this June. I had plans for my career, my higher education.
And this article becomes one of the thousand others written during the Corona pandemic. What am I actually doing? Reading, watching rain from the window, reading some more, attending webinars, watching the sun from the window, attending lectures, conferences, reading a little more, watching birds from the window, cooking, watching Shakespeare one moment, Kafka through a Ballet the next and watching windows from the window.
Do we have complaints? Are we responsible for what is happening in our lives? Is it even worth asking these questions? Is it any good looking back? Are we tired? Have we accepted it as the normal yet?
I don’t even want to answer them. I know I am not that sad, there is much more sadness I feel for others suffering right now, people losing their jobs, nowhere to go, no food to eat. I realise this isn’t even Black Death that was. This Is. I know I’ll get to read of this period for decades now. We all have this unstable touch to our lives. Slightly pained at our own conditions, slightly more at that of others.
So many of us have stopped looking at the rise of the Corona cases, which we checked daily for months initially. So many of us are worried over the policies, worried for the doctors/nurses, for the sanitation workers, for the police, for our parents working outside, for our own jobs.
My whatsapp status these days reads, ‘When in trouble and We can’t act, We hope’. This is very much of what I am believing in these days, which is helping me keep moving. I keep myself as engrossed in work as I can. So much has altered, we all have our own ways, our own opinions. Patience and hope are my keys to survival these days and they are quite effective for me. I don’t know how to end this article, maybe I’ll like to leave it in the middle, like all our lives are right now.

IRFAN KHAN:SOURCE

My blog posts are never personal but this one is. My favourite artist Irrfan khan passed away yesterday, I am unlike any obsessed fan crazy about meeting celebrities. Even when I come across them in events, I don’t go running to them for selfies, I let them have their space. But my admiration for Irrfan Khan was different, there’s no one I have ever admired the way I did him.
I recall seeing him in ‘Billu’ in my early teens. My only concern was why he got all the screen time and not Shahrukh Khan. Almost 10 years later, Irrfan Khan for me is a clickbait, I see him in the thumbnail I click the video, I see his name, I read the article. With him gone now my ardent wish to meet him at any stage of my life too remains incomplete forever. I know there’s a lot to explore for me but I have read so many authors since my childhood, seen so many movies of the last one century, came across so many art works as a student of Humanities but never ever I had this extent of admiration for any artist.
A couple of days ago I was watching his old interview in his hometown Jaipur and his native place Tonk. An extremely unique aura, so simple but so attractive. In the last few years I watched his older works Maqbool, Metro, his short films with Mira Nair and others and newer movies Piku, Karwaan, Talvar, Qarib Qarib, Madaari, Hindi Medium and others. Many try but he is that actor who could actually fit into any character, a gangster, FBI agent, a regular office goer, a chandni chowk shopkeeper, a charming lover, any role.
With him gone I fear what if I run out of his movies, what when I will watch them all,who will I look forward to watching. One of the rare times I went to a cinema hall in the last 10 years was to watch his movie.
I don’t know when will I next admire any other artist so passionately. Maybe when I am done watching all his works, I’ll start again, and it will still be new for me.

कोरोना वायरस: इंसानियत पर भारी चीन की बीमार मानसिकता!

पहले ही डब्ल्यूएचओ को बता दिया होता तो हालात इतने बेकाबू नहीं होते। काश चीन ने छिपाया नहीं होता तो मुमिकन था कि दुनिया भर में एकदम से भय और तबाही मचाने को तैयार नया कोरोना वायरस इतना पैर नहीं पसार पाता और दुनिया सतर्क हो जाती। लेकिन ऐसा नहीं हो सका और पिछले कई मौकों की तरह इस बार भी पहले की ही तरह चीन से ही निकला यह वायरस फिर दुनियाभर में आतंक का नया पर्याय बन ही गया।यह भी सच है कि संक्रमण की 60 फीसदी बीमारियां जानवरों से फैलती हैं। उससे भी बड़ा सच यह कि सैकड़ों तरह का मांस खाने के मामले में चीन दुनिया में सबसे आगे निकलता जा रहा है जिसका नतीजा दिख रहा है। ऐसे में संक्रमण और वायरस अटैक स्वाभाविक है। लेकिन इतनी बड़ी घटना को पचाने की कोशिश से चीन की नीयत पर पूरी दुनिया को शक होने लगा है।

कोरोना वायरस आज भारत समेत दुनियाभर में सेहत और जिंदगी के लिए जबरदस्त चुनौती बनकर सामने खड़ा है। पूरी दुनिया में असर भी दिखने लगा है।लेकिन दुख इस बात का है कि चीन जैसे विकसित और दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी आबादी वाले देश ने इस सच्चाई को सबसे क्यों छुपाया..? क्या यह मानवता को शर्मसार करने जैसा नहीं है..? जवाब शायद चीन भी न दे पाए कि वहां हजारों लोगों के कोरोना वायरस से संक्रमण के सच को डेढ़ महीने छुपाकर उसे क्या मिला..?