माँ का जन्म

जब एक बच्चा जन्म लेता है,

तब माँ का भी जन्म होता है,

कैसे उसे सुलायें,

कैसे नहलाएं,

पेट भरा या नहीं कैसे जान पाएं,

भूखा तो नहीं कैसे बतलायें,

इतना क्यों रोता है,

ठीक से क्या वो सोता है,

कितनी डरी सहमी वो रहती है,

आख़िर माँ भी तो अभी जन्मी होती है,

इंजीनियर डॉक्टर बनने में सालों लग जाते हैं,

कोचिंग और इंटर्नशिप भी करवाते हैं,

माँ को तो सीधा परीक्षा में ही बैठते हैं,

योग्यता और तैयारी के प्रश्न कहां आते हैं,

पूरा जीवन वो मातृत्व सीखने में लग जाती है,

लेकिन हर पल नवजात सी वो घबराती है,

सवालों के जवाब आजीवन देती जाती है,

कटघरे में खड़ा ख़ुद को पाती है,

बच्चा क्यों दुबला है, क्या ठीक से नहीं खिलाती हो,

परीक्षा में कम अंक आये, क्या उसे नहीं पढ़ाती हो,

इतनी व्यस्त रहती हो क्या बच्चे पर ध्यान दे पाती हो,

तुमने उसे बिगड़ा है, क्यों नहीं आंख दिखाती हो,

अपने परों को समेट कर उसने आँचल बनाया है,

माँ ने ख़ुद को भुला कर उसे अपनी पहचान बनाया है,

अपने मन की तरंग को विराम उसने लगाया है,

तब जा कर उसने माँ के रूप में जन्म को सार्थक बनाया है।

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Being Me

Being the flawless mother,

And a sublime partner,

A cook, advisor, and a teaser,

Crazy and hazy nagger,

From the weekend laundry,

And the weekday crockery,

The stack of grocery,

And the shack of cutlery,

The ardent worker,

And the workforce docker,

Ready to take all the failure,

But I am not a loser,

I know it's a phase,

But life's become a race,

I know I have to be skeptical,

And be adaptable,

I adore this with ultimate vanity,

Because this is life's beauty.

I can't be none of thee,

So I adore being me!

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निराला

उसके चंचल चेतन में, छोटे से मन के उपवन में,

अनेक सवाल उठते होंगे, अद्भुत खयाल आते होंगे,

ना जाने क्या सोचता होगा, क्या उसको समझता होगा,

विचित्र दुनिया का हर कोण होगा, विचार वृद्धि का वेग होगा,

पेड़ पौधे उपवन आंगन पहेलियों की कड़ियाँ,

सड़क पर दौड़ती गाड़ियां, पशु पक्षी की किलकारियां, अचरज की होंगी झड़ियाँ,

भाषा और शब्दों की श्रृंखला में टटोलता होगा,

वो कभी अपरिचित अनोखी कहानियां,

क्रोध क्लेश का भावावेश, 

क्या समझे वो करना द्वेष,

ना हंसी ठिठोली करना आये, उसको ना आये परिहास,

कपट विषाद निरीह निराला ना जाने वो त्रास,

किसका धन और कैसी माया,

रिश्तों का बंधन है किसने बतलाया,

ना देव दानव को वो पहचाने, ना कीर्तन भजन जाने

वो बैरागी,

सरल चित्त से करता विश्वास, विशुद्ध उसका मन अनुरागी,

पूजा अरज से ना साधे काज वो निस्वार्थ,

प्रतिफल और प्रतिकार है विचार निरर्थ,

सदैव रहता है निश्छल निर्मल नदी सा वह 

उत्साहित ,

असीम हो कर छलकती उत्सुकता की गागर,

क्या अपना क्या पराया कैसे रक्त का कौन है जाया,

जिसमे उसने प्रीति देखी मनोवेग ले वो मुस्काया |

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Too Blessed to Be Perplexed

Life is too short and too magical to be unhappy. Whether you are a stay at home mom, an office going mom, or stepping into both their shoes while working from home.

Being a stay at home mother, during my maternity leave days was hard, gave me constant learning about how the joys and challenges of motherhood go hand in hand. I used to long to return to work, get some me-time en route, listen to cool music and later enjoy an uninterrupted cup of coffee. At the same time, upon returning to work, those days which demanded more work and had tough deadlines, I was determined to escape and nurse my child, mechanically living the hush hush routine. Now, trying to work from home during these pandemic times is, indeed, harder. My head spins and I feel like loosing my sanity. Working in 25-minute shifts leaves you with a jittery feeling and a gives sense that you are failing both. It fills you with guilt to the brim, the guilt of not attending to either of them enough, and the guilt of entirely forgetting yourself. At the same time, it fills you with joy to be able to see your child growing in front of you and not missing on his activities, to be able to feed him by yourself and him not being stuffed by any of his daycare center's caregivers. Also, no worry to rush home from work is a bliss.

Now that I have done all the three, I know each of these has its own challenges and delights.

This juggling goes on in a parent's life and leaves you puzzled. Nevertheless, every phase of your child's growth makes you feel that he is as dependent on you as much as he is free. Just as every child is different, every mother also is. No one can teach you how to mother your child, you learn from experiences, and your motherhood, rather, your parenthood grows along with the child. Nothing persists, whatever you are doing and however you are doing, be proud of yourself.

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Lessons I Learnt From My Toddler

My toddler is 17 months and 9 days old as of today. His newly discovered skill of walking all by himself is undoubtedly his reason to rejoice. His excitement for life and every object and creature that he sees is noteworthy.

One fine evening when we took him for a walk, he startled us by chasing a stray dog to the extent of scaring it and finally making sure that the dog disappeared. The walk doubled up for us as jogging.

Unaware of the laws of the universe, he doesn't know that he is supposed to be scared of dogs and not be otherwise, and that they may bite or run after him.

The irrationality the kids have at this age drives parents to the brink of sanity, along with their constant fits and tantrums. But at the same time, their simple actions and perceptions make us learn big life lessons like these...


1. Express yourself. Scream when you want, weep if you feel like. Don't hold back your tears. If it does nothing, atleast it is good for your lungs.
2. Sleep when you are tired, and not when you ought to. Sleep as many times a day as you want, and wake up all perked up.
3. Eat if and when you are hungry, and eat only to satiate your hunger and not to empty your plate.
4. Live life in the moment, don't die planning your future.
5. Learn something new each day, and be excited about what you learn. Be curious about your surroundings.
6. Be contended in yourself and love all those you want. You can't make 6 billion people on the earth happy at the same time.  
7. When you don't get what you want, cry for it, fight for it or in the end, leave it.
8. Celebrate yourself, expect others to join in.
9. When you hear no, make it a yes.
10. Don't care about what others think of you. Let yourself be their problem, not yours! Like I say, tension lene ka nahi, dene ka
11. Take risks, be adventurous and never be anxious.
12. Have faith. Faith that everything will be okay, and faith in those who love you.
13. Don't hold grudges, forgive quickly and move on. Negative emotions must be drained. If you don't like something, move. You are not a tree.
14. Given a choice, choose to be happy. Toddlers find happiness in things as simple as a cardboard box, a spoon or a flying paper.
15. Don't complicate life. Accept that you won't get it, unless you ask for it.

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