CHERISH with HARISH

I saw this dog, always in the lane. My friends from Hong Kong came and spoke to it in Cantonese/ Chinese, the dog wagged its tail happily. One fine day, I had a walk with my Dutch friends, who patted on the dog's head, in the same lane. They told it something in Dutch, and I didn't get a word, but the dog still wagged its tail, with happiness. One evening, I had a walk with my Kashmiri friends, and they spotted the dog too. They said something in Kashmiri, and I obviously did not get a word again. But surprisingly, the dog still wagged its tail. I kept getting friends from various backgrounds, languages and regions, the dog kept wagging tail. I kept getting my answers as the dog kept wagging its tail, and kept spreading love, irrespective of language, nationality, region or any boundary. I got all my answers. That dog silently answered...

It was an evening and I had to rush to NIZAMUDDIN DARGAH, after our theatre rehearsal, with some friends of mine, who had to run to various destinations for reasons of their own. I reached the Islamic sacred place and could not hear the 'famous' music. The Qawwali which begins at 6 pm. There was unwanted peace. No Music, no rhythmic claps, just a curious crowd around the monument. Had we missed the music. Were we so late? How could we be so careless? With these question we were beginning to turn, and suddenly out of no where, emerged a HARMONIUM, the Indian instrument which the singers played while singing. We were on time. Yup! And a blink of time the whole atosphere had turned musical with people giving 10 rupee notes to the singers. I meditated for a while. I could see my friends and they could see me. I was happy that we had witnessed the brilliant music, but every time I came there, I would give ten rupee note, but I did not feel like, I don't know why. May be ...

It was a nice evening. Apart from the fact that the winters are beginning to enter Delhi and our lives, there was something very special which happened and I thought why not post about it. Nothing extraordinary, nothing life-changing for me at least, but special for sure. Ma and me had just had the evening chai and she asked me to come for a walk down the street. I agreed and we got ready for the walk. We realized that Delhi is in that amazing period when it starts turning beautiful. We had our sweat shirts on but not our mufflers yet. We chatted about my illness getting cured and how Kamaan is doing good work. We discussed about my future, her future and Pa's too. We reached the closest mall from our place (Pacific) and we went in. As we spoke we realized how 'cold' Delhi had actually become... with Shawls out, sweaters out and Delhi's eating habits enhanced, I could notice it all. We reached the food court, and I asked my mother if she wanted to have garlic b...

It had been a year since our group Kamaan had performed a 'Stage' play or a proscenium form of theatre. We had been doing a lot of street plays covering a major part of North India travelling and exploring area we would go to. As Kamaan (my theatre troupe) went on performing, I went on recovering from my long-let's-forget-it-illness. And he were all set, all fresh to begin a new play. In the time I spent, my liking for writing turned to sheer love for it or may be more. This is the time when my 15 minute play 'Dustbin' slowly and gradually turned into a one and half hour play. I was discharged from the hospital. Though I was loaded with all the terrible/terrific (!) pills, but I was extremely happy to be back on the stage I was not in touch with. I was happy to be back with Kamaan. I started doing what I love the most. I started directing the play. This is a process which gives me immense pleasure. The thrill you get when you see characters in action...Char...

I come back to my blog afte may be a million...or a billion years. But thanks to my health getting better, I am back on my laptop, on the stage, behind the camera and every where which was out of bound for me. That morning I was brushing my teeth (like every morning) and I realised that I get the best ideas when I am brushing (PS: Albert Einstein had once said that he gets the best ideas, when he is shaving!). So, I realized why don't I give credit to the tooth brush which deserves every word of this Hindi poem... 'Main aur mera tooth brush' मैं और मेरा टुथ ब्रश सुबह-सवेरे, जब आँख खुल ही रही होती है, जब दिमाग में विचार आ ही रहे होते हैं, इन सबसे पहले आजाता है, मेरा दोस्त, मेरा टूथ ब्रश। यह कुछ कहता नहीं है, कोई राय नहीं देता, सिर्फ सुनता है, शांति से, मेरा टूथ ब्रश। पूरे दिन के शुरुआत की योजना, सारी परेशानियों के हल की संभावनाएं, सुनता है, आराम से, मेरा टूथ ब्रश। सुबह की चाय से लेकर, रात के खाने तक, सबका स्वाद चखता है, चुप चाप, मेरा टूथ ब्रश। कपड़े धोने बाद मे...

There are 2 options always: One is the easy way out, but a bad one and the second is the tough way out, but a good one. So, the choice is always yours. ALWAYS! :)