Rohit Sharma

आदमी अफीम होता हैं. जिससे जितना बतिया लो, जितना साझा कर लो, जितना मन का बोल दो, उतना अधिक नशीला हो जाता हैं. फिर आदमी खुदगर्ज़ भी होता हैं. वो आपसे दूर जाते वक़्त अपने मतलब की देखता हैं. आदमी अकेला भी होता हैं. अकेले, अपने भीतर किसी मटके की तरहा डुम डुम बातें करता हैं. अकेला आता हैं, अकेले इरादे बनाता हैं, अकेला जाता भी हैं. अंतरिक्ष बगल के कमरे में रहता था. वो आज बोरिया बिस्तर बाँध कर अपने घर को रवाना हो गया. उसका इस बवाल शहर में मन लगना बंद हो गया था. ये इमारतों और आदमियों से भरा हुआ शहर उससे सम्भला नहीं गया. "यहाँ लोग कैसे रह लेते हैं!"... "हमारे वहाँ सब खुला हैं, घूमने के लिए पहाड़ वादिया हैं"... "ये शहर में रहना बोहत कठिन हैं"... "दम नहीं घुटता होगा इनका?" अंतरिक्ष का जाना हलके सुलगते अंगारे की तरह धीमे से चुभने लगा. आदमी दो बार नहीं मिलता. आदमियों से दो बार की मिलने की आकांक्षा करना ही व्यर्थ हैं. आदमी जितना दिन आता हैं, उतना दिन साथ रहता हैं, उतने पलों के लिए समय और जगहा साझा करता हैं. मुझे नहीं मालुम की अंतरिक्ष अब कब दोबारा मिलेगा. शायद कभी...

It's lockdown out there in the city. The city is closed for the fifth consecutive day. The city is under the grasp of a terrible pandemic. Silence lingers around in the streets. No one but the essential supplies is allowed to open. Anoop is in the city, away from the humans he has known and laughed along. Anoop remains at his one-room rented space, having all amenities. Anoop feels fortunate. The pandemic has not touched him as of yet. He feels grateful about it. It's been almost thirty days that Anoop has touched anyone. Since the lockdown, he hardly comes out of his room. From the window of his room, he could see the sea of buildings trapping families and other humans inside them. He did go out into the streets to buy some supplies. The walks also fill him with the rare human aura. "Yes, there are people still living around...". When he walks, he looks at people's faces, makes eye contact, tries to pass a salutary smile beneath the facial mask, and passes. He ea...

आज लॉकडाउन का तीसरा पहर हैं. शहर की व्यापारिक और सामाजिक गतिविधियों पर पाबंधी कसी गयी हैं. शहर जरूरी सेवाओं को छोड़कर पूरी तरह से स्तम्भ हैं. सड़के खाली हैं. ईमारतों में अनिश्चितता हैं और वे शांत हैं. लोग अपने घर की बालकनीयों में से, कमरे की खिड़कियों में से मूक होकर झाकते हैं. चौराहे के पास वाले बरगद के पेड़ के नीचे रिक्शावाला रहता हैं. उसका खुद का रिक्शा हैं. आज से दो साल पहले उसे ही चलाते चलाते, पाई पाई जोड़ के खरीद लिया था. तीन चक्के का पेडल वाला रिक्शा है. टायर घिसे हैं. रिक्शे और रिक्शेवाले की शक्ल अब मिलती जुलती हैं. शाम का समय हैं. सड़क में हलकी बारीक सी चहलकदमी हैं. लोगों ने मास्क लगाया हैं. वे जरूरी सामान खरीदने के लिए और कोई एक छोटी सी वॉक के लिए बाहर आये हैं. ग्राहक नहीं हैं. रिक्शावाला अपने रिक्शे में बैठे हुए मास्क नीचे करके बीड़ी सुलगा रहा हैं. बिना फ़िल्टर की बीड़ी वाला धुआँ सीधे सीने में घुसता हैं. फेफड़ों के छिद्दरों को भरने और सुखाने के बाद रक्त में हीमोग्लोबिन की मात्रा कम करता हैं. निकोटिन पहुंचते ही आदमी को हल्का महसूस होता हैं. मस्तिष्क की कमान ढीली पड़ जाती हैं. आदमी एक सम...

इन्दरबचिन्दर, कितना तप कर सकते हो? कितना? बताओ तो? "मैं सवा करोड़ साल तक एक ही स्थान में बिना हिले बैठा रह सकता हूँ" इन्दरबचिन्दर, यूँ ना फाकों, कल का लड़कउ इत्ता कर सकता हैं. तू क्या इतना ही सामर्थवान हैं? धिक्कार हैं! "मैं चालीस करोड़ साल तक एक पैर में, एक स्थान में, बिना हिले खड़ा रह सकूंगा" इन्दरबचिन्दर, मुझे इन छोटे मोटे तपों से कोई मोह नहीं. तू अपने आप को महान कहता हैं! बस इस बात के लिए? यहीं तेरे जीवन की परिकाष्ठा हैं? यहीं तेरे जीवन का लक्ष्य हैं? यहीं तेरे होने का वजूद हैं? तो तू जीवित क्यूँ हैं? तेरे होने या ना होने से यहाँ कौन फर्क पड़ेगा? तू अगर महान कहलाना चाहता हैं तो ये बचपना छोड़, इन्द्रियों का मोह छोड़, भड़कीला पत्थर बनना होगा, महाकाल की तरह! बोल कर सकेगा! बोल तू क्या कर सकता हैं! "मैं... मैं... मैं..." बोल! क्या सोचता हैं? क्या हैं तेरी शक्ति? क्या हैं तेरा मनोबल? क्या हैं तेरे इरादे? कौन हैं तू! बोल! "मैं धरती बनूँगा. मैं युग-युगान्तर तक होने वाले भूमण्डल में इस्थापित वे जो एक मात्र गृह होगा जिसमे जीवन हसेगा, लड़ेगा, मरेगा, जियेगा, मैं उनका ...

It's a hot day. April is drifting away swiftly. Over this region of central India, Sun shines vertically at least once a day. The temperature soars to more than forty degrees Celsius is common. Mansi is at her home. Just this moment, she feels tired and relaxing over the porch. The home is covered with tarpaulin, supported by wooden pillars, stiffened & stuffed with mud and coated with cow dung and lime. It is illegally situated at the edge of a pond near the far end of the town. For the hundred-odd people who live here forming a ghetto, this pond is at the center of their daily activities. From defecations around its other un-inhabited edges to washing clothes over its ghat, to bathing, and also plucking the lotus flower that grows in it for selling in the market, it's of criticality to them. The water remains stagnant, only replenished with rainwater. The pond is also being used by the ritualists of the city who live nearby. They would use it for religious acts like the i...

रात के सवा तीन बजे हैं. अंशी को नींद नहीं आती आज. रात में थकान की नींद से जल्दी बिस्तर पे आ गया था और देखते ही देखते झपकी लग गयी. जब नींद खुली तो कंठ सूखा था. माथे पे पसीने की कुछ बूँदे थी. कुछ देर पर अंशी उठा और फ्रिज से ठन्डे पानी की एक बोतल लेकर मुँह लगाके गटागट ख़त्म कर दिया. कमरे की बत्ती बुझा के बिस्तर पे वापस आया. अब तक मन जाग उठा था. पूरी तरह से चेतन्न हैं, बेकाबू था. आधे पूरे मन के कोनों में से दिन भर की आवाज़े, तस्वीरें, ख़्याल, गाने, बातचीत सुनाई पड़ रहे हैं. अंशी पीठ के बल औँधा लेटा हैं. कमरे का पंखा पूरे गति से चल रहा हैं. बाहर खिड़की से खुले परदे की आड़ में से कुछ सफ़ेद रौशनी आ रही हैं और कमरे की सीलिंग पे गिर रही हैं. शहर शांत हैं. ये ऐसा पहर हैं जब रात एक दम उफान पे होती हैं. स्तम्भ, असाधारण. बाहर की शांति ने मन को एकाग्र कर दिया हैं. अंशी सोचते हुए तेजी से अपने पैर हिला रहा हैं. नींद का कोई भी ठिकाना नहीं हैं. "पता ही नहीं पड़ा ये दो हफ्ते कैसे बीत गए". "किसी की फ़िक्र करने लगो तो समय जल्द ही बीत जाता हैं". "कितनी सारी बातें की..". "अभी दो दिन...

The coastal winds are strong. It's nighttime. The moon is glittering in a semicircle. Radhe had been feeling very strong nowadays. There was a time when he would fall sick all too often. These days, his skin keeps glowing. He has a wave of new energy flowing inside his body. Yet, he is not restless. It is not the symptom of unaccounted anxiety. Something deep inside him has changed. He could run for miles without getting heavy on the lungs. It doesn't matter whether it is winter or summer, he is as fit and stable as if he has adapted to the environment of all kinds. He could listen deeper and his eyesight has improved to a scale. He thought, "maybe everyone is feeling the same... It must be that I have started to live differently... Change is treating me nicely.." Radhe is standing over the roof of his 16-storey building, by the seaside. It's been a good day. Even though he has worked the whole day and a significant amount of running, he is all the more energetic....

Raadhe is now under the influence of a slow poison. He knows about it. Only in specific moments can it be realized how lost he is and how far has he drifted from his normal senses; yes, when he stares blankly at a wall, or a ceiling fan, or sea waves, or star-laden blue sky for more than enough seconds. Sometimes, at moments of forgetfulness, the instant long laughs and warm touches of close ones make him realize that he too can be happy and content. But those feelings depart in no time. It's magical. Uh, he is looking for a permanent fix. "We have come here to enjoy but look at him! Again, zoned out!"... "Where are you at Raadhe?"... "Not again! Enough of your dreamings...!". It is understood to him that he could not control everything under the sun. He had considered himself immune and too strong. It happened very fast. It was as if it had to happen. After all, he is just a human. The feeling of the loss is a little great than his bearing capacity to...

The unintimidating character-forgotten ruler of the country, having lived a pampered life ever since his birth in the castle, now dealing with a severe form of world-reality, ordered that the music will not stop for even a tenth of the second. He wants that this should be a new normal. He is the new king. He wants that a part of his luxurious life should be tasted to the people of his country. His people suffer a lot. Instead of the usual noise of the world, the silence and the cacophony, and where only a few listen to music while others toil day and night under the sun, overworking, overstressing, he wants them to relax a bit. "To hell with the work! Let them all enjoy and go brisk for a while... Hahaha". Thus he has invested the state coffer's money in mass manufacturing high-quality speakers and placing them at various corners and even remote areas of the country. The music kept on playing 24*7 in the kingdom. During the night, they play slow calming jazz, or somethin...

Last week someone said to me, "my left eye is blinking, must be something bad is going to happen". "No uncle! It's evening time, it going to be very good news soon.", uncle seriously got confused and tried to innocently memorize this new unknown factor. In India, we Indians believe in several such indicative ritualisms verbally passed on from generation to generation, for example, if a cat cut across our way, it's bad; eating sweet curd before leaving for examination or any important work would be good; no non-veg food during the Navratri festival; having have sneezed at odd counts; to talk interrupt someone when he is leaving the house, so on and so forth. There are countless sayings and all are unique as per the region and the culture to which one belongs. We have often denied to not pluck the leaves of the neem tree, else it will bring misfortune and that it has a lady ghost habitating in it. It although seems to be a good way of preventing the common peo...

She looked like a goddess. Letting her black hairs lose, wearing no fake makeups, no glittering ornaments to support her aroma, she was strolling in the city when the world was fast asleep. It's morning, the sky is filled with a shallow blue-darkness. The roads are empty. The tall urban buildings, the street side disciplined-trees, the sky, the moon, the fading stars and the earth are the silent spectators. It feels anxious today. It was a troubling week. Lots of unanswered questions. She couldn't sleep at night, tormenting between her wild feelings and dilemmas that she couldn't tell to the unkind social world. She is 27.  Burning with a calming smile, she has teary eyes. Adversity has made her strong. It's been long that she wanted to do this. She is alone in the streets, facing her deepest fears. She is feeling better and more stable. The winds are heavy, dry and dusty. The summer has arrived quietly. Her long hairs were flying and falling on her face and spreading a...

A 22-year-old sweet little child at the peak of his studies, a third-year undergraduate, carrying loads of expectations over his shoulder didn't first know when he fell to schizophrenia. There is a lot a person has to deal with when caught with it. After medication, he was dealing with the problem of depression. Recently, he parted with us... He had a dream of becoming someone. He wanted to crack JEE and for which he dropped a year after completing higher secondary to attend a coaching in Kota. It was a challenging choice for him owing to the financial situation of the family. Success here would also mean a setting stone to his never awakened self-esteem.  He did his schooling from his hometown, Maihar in the North-Eastern part of MP. Maihar is a Tehsil (subdistrict) under district Satna. Under Maihar Tehsil, there are 268 villages. The total population of the Tehsil is approximately 4 Lakh. Maihar, although surrounded by three mega cement factories, and itself a famous religious s...

Mansi, a teenager, is envious of the marigold flower glowing in her house's backyard. "They look beautiful", she smiled. As per her, their life is more effortless and with the blessings of nature, they get free food, sunlight, air, water. Even the bee is not shameful while arranging for pollination, a process humans feel too sacred about. Mansi is tormenting with the ideas of social customs and that they have to be followed without the availability of the resources in return. "More rules for those who have nothing". You are suddenly an outcast from the rest of the disciplined and obedient society if you show resistance. "Where are the toilets? Why do we have to defecate in the open? Why are our schools not having facilities for the making of the aspired man and woman expected from us?". She took birth in a family which has less hold on earning income, and a society divided into thousand layers, economically, socially, politically. Mansi now...