1980 vs Today…

Imli ki chutney versus Tomato Sauce… Aam ka ras versus Frooti… 1980s versus today… so much has changed… some call it development… to some it’s doom… Whatever it is but surely we do miss those leisurely hours, that dinner time with the family, that pollution-free air and many more things. Indeed the tlot-tlot of the tonga has been replaced by the shrill and deafening honking of cars. They call it social status but it seems more of a mad race towards an unknown destiny. The days when people lived miles away yet knew each other, and the day when members of the same family live in compact houses yet are distant from each other. In these days of live-in relationships, we seem to have forgotten how to live at all. In all these years we have learnt how to make a living but forgotten how to make a life. The days when the mornings began with a cock-a-doodle-doo of the roosters and the day when the alarm of our mobiles shakes us up after the sleepless nights…
The analog telecast of Doordarshan, the Chitrahaar, the Sunday Movie (punctuated with the typical ‘रूकावट के लिये खेद है’ ‘Sorry for the Interruption’ messages flashing on the screen every now and then) are in a striking contrast with the 24 X 7 digital quality of movies, music, news and other masala. The all-time popular Nukkad, Malgudi Days, Buniyaad and Hum Log have been dethroned by the so-called Reality Shows. We have come a long way, in a very little time. It seems that information travels faster than sound or light in this age of computer technology. The styles have changed. Professionalism has crept in every field. Moral values are crumbling while manners have improved. What are we heading towards? Perhaps we, ourselves, are not aware of our destinations. Still we are moving ahead – unmindful of our goals – oblivious of our traditional richness – into a cul-de-sac which signifies the dead-end of our spiritual odyssey. In this age of shallow relationships, when matter rules over minds, the family values are virtually non-existent. In this age of perpetual dilemma, we all need a mentor who can pull us out of this muck of mediocrity and help us lead a life of grace and dignity. The revival of ‘the spiritually hollow’ man has become the need of the hour. May the genuineness of the human smile live forever… May human beings begin to love everybody from the core of their heart… May the Divinity prevail…

The Second Element…

‘Fire’ one of the elements this mortal coil is composed of… ‘Fire’ the source of warmth… ‘Fire’ that can devour the mightiest… and ‘Fire’ that sustains the tiniest… Recently the fury of fire was witnessed at the depot of Indian Oil Corporation in Jaipur which gutted many factories and caused a whopping loss of hundreds of crores of rupees. It turned the pink city into a black one for a couple of days. The devastation started on October 29, 2009 and lasted till November 6, 2009 burning lakhs of litres of fuel in all the twelve storage tanks. The government sounded helpless. The fire brigades which otherwise enjoy leisurely duty hours were put to work all of a sudden, but to no avail. Everybody seemed concerned and other cities began to take notice of their safety arrangements with the oil depots. But their concern, too, seems to have doused by now and spirits dampened. As usual, the Committees and Commissions have been customarily set up to probe into the reasons and other pertinent issues but they will take their own ‘sweet’ time to reach the findings. Indeed public memory is very short-lived and soon it will be ‘nobody’s concern’. But who will bear the brunt of all this? The government? Not at all. The Bureaucrats? Never. The only scapegoat is the poor tax-payer and the common man who will suffer from respiratory problems and dermatological disorders due to the suspended particulate matter which is far higher than the permissible limits in those areas of the city. The targets that the environment-protection groups the world over set for themselves for a year have been toppled down by just one lapse. It was not just a lapse, it was a crime perpetrated against mankind. A neglected spark has burnt the house. But the question arises why the spark was neglected at all. Why couldn’t the authorities foresee it? Was it a lack of vision on their part or a lackadaisical attitude, typical of a government official these days? How long has it been since they had their mock-drills last or may be they never had any mock-drills at all since the beginning? Who is accountable – the government or the Indian Oil Corporation? Why were the storage-tanks not emptied from the outlet at the bottom of the tanks? Or may be, there was no such outlet at all? These questions will always perturb a conscientious heart, but to those riding roughshod over their conscience these questions are immaterial. I even go to the extent of sensing some malpractice like oil pilferage happening at the depot and the people involved seem to have taken this ‘ultimate’ step to cover their misdeeds which could otherwise surface through stock checking. At this juncture, I can only pray to God to grant those careless fellows some wisdom to anticipate the accident and take measures in time. And I also pray to God to grant serenity to those brave souls who did their bit to save the loss as much as they could without being selfish about their lives.

हिन्दी या अंग्रेजी....?

कैसे शुरू करूं? क्या लिखूं? कौनसी भाषा में लिखूं? लिखूं या ना लिखूं? टाईम कहाँ है? ऐसे ही कई प्रश्नों का द्वन्द्व मेरे मन में कई दिनों से चल रहा था.....और फिर अचानक आज ठान ही ली। लिखना तो है ही और शुरूआत भी हिन्दी से ही करनी है। फिर दिमाग ने अपनी टाँग अढ़ाई – भैया, अंग्रेजी के अध्यापक हो, हिन्दी में लिखोगे – सब क्या कहेंगे? शेक्स्पीयर ने सही ही कहा है – Thus conscience does make cowards of us all – अधिक सोच हमें कमजोर बना देती है। फिर दिल से आवाज आई – क्यों माँ को भूल कर बीवी का पक्ष ले रहे हो – भूल गए जब बचपन में रोया करते थे, इसी हिन्दी से प्यार पाया करते थे – वो माँ की लोरी भी हिन्दी थी – वो पिता का दुलार भी हिन्दी में था – वो दादी की कहानियाँ भी हिन्दी थीं – वो दोस्तों की पुकार भी हिन्दी में थी – भैया, हिन्दी की और अधिक ‘हिन्दी’ ना करो, और चुपचाप अपने ब्लॉग की शुरूआत हिन्दी में लिखकर ही करो।
तभी दिमाग ने एक बार फिर से अपनी राग अलापी। सारी उम्र तो पढ़ा अंग्रेजी साहित्य, हिन्दी तो केवल विद्यालय की पुस्तकों तक ही सीमित थी, फिर भी गुण गा रहे हो हिन्दी के। तो दिल से आवाज आई – साहित्य का भाषा के साथ क्या सम्बन्ध? साहित्य तो एक अहसास है, भाषा तो केवल अभिव्यक्ति का माध्यम है – फिर वो चाहे हिन्दी हो, अंग्रेजी हो या फिर उर्दू या पुर्तगाली हो। आनन्द भाषा में नहीं साहित्य में होता है। साहित्य और भाषा का सम्बन्ध संगीत और वाद्य यंत्र के समान होता है। संगीत वाद्य यंत्रों पर निर्भर नहीं करता है। सुर और संगीत तब भी था जब ये मशीने नहीं थीं। बिना संगीत के वाद्य यंत्रों का कोई महत्व नहीं है परंतु वाद्य यंत्रों की महत्ता को भी तो नकारा नहीं जा सकता है।
हाँ, अगर अपने शरीर और आत्मा दोनों में संतुलन बनाए रखना चाहते हो तो कभी हिन्दी में लिखो और कभी अंग्रेजी में। वाकई यदि हिन्दी मेरी आत्मा है तो अंग्रेजी मेरा शरीर। दोनो के बिना मेरा अस्तित्व एक कोरी कल्पना है। मैं आध्यात्मिक रूप से अभी तक इतना परिपक्व नहीं हुआ हूं कि अपने आप को एक आत्मा मानकर, शरीर के अस्तित्व को ही नकार दूं। आखिर आत्मा की अभिव्यक्ति भी तो शरीर के माध्यम से ही होती है। बिना शरीर के आत्मा को ‘भूत’ की संज्ञा दी जाती है।
इसलिए भैया अंग्रेजी में लिखना मना नहीं है, परंतु कभी-कभी हिन्दी में भी भावोभिव्यक्ति कर लेना कोई अक्षम्य अपराध नहीं है और फिर अपने स्कूल में तो आप कभी हिन्दी में लिखते ही नहीं, सदैव अंग्रेजी का दामन थामे रहते हो, तो क्या अपनी इस मातृभाषा को भूल जाने का इरादा है?