A CEO retires, bombs blast, Guru Dutt sings on..

“ya dil ki suno duniya walon, ya mujhko abhi chup rehne do.

main gum ko khushi kaise keh doon, jo kehte hein unko kehne do..”

(- Hemant Da for the movie Anupama)

The beautiful voice cracks on my ol’ two-in-one, and the noise interupts the receiving signal once in a while on 107.2 MW as I listen to Vividh Bharati Kanpur prakashan.  I like it this way, the dwindling voice adds to the charm of black n white music, reminds me of the pain on Guru Dutt’s face, the disturbance which you only get on the radio – which you miss on pc speakers reminds me of the songs played on radios in the paan shops where mom dad used to stop before going for long walks after dinner.

Am I sounding too nostalgic? Well, I am not, really! The day has been a long one. Started busily, it continued to be demanding, ending with mixed feelings. After witnessing horrow on TV, after feeling angry-hurt-sad-concerned-helpless-all at once, I watched an evergreen movie Padosan with friends and forgot all about deaths and blasts and a lot more, finally settling to hear Euphoria’s latest song – Mehfuz which has pretty good lyrics:

“Zindagi hai dhuan to kya
Bujh gayi har subah to kya
Rootha mujhse khuda to kya
Ho gaye hum juda to kya 

Faasle they hazaaron darmiyan,Waqt ke they hazaaron imtehaan

Fir bhi ban ke nishaan,
Tere honthon ke kisi kone mein,
Hansi ke tarah, main mehfuz hoon

Teri aankhon ke chipe dard mein
Aansoo ki tarah, main mehfuz hoon”

Do people really think like this in real life? Or is this just another brew of poet’s imagination, poet’s romanticism in which he indulges himself and the reader to shun the rest of the world, when though it may seem that he longs for his lover – he is actually content in the pain n suffering. Guru Dutt works better for me. 

Today I retired from my first unofficial job. As a CEO. Impressive, huh? :P Yups, I was the Chief Entertainment Officer. Also Food Incharge. :P I developed a weird sort of reputaion here. Like that of an office clown. The one who would cook up imaginery ghosts, come up with good one-liners “yeh ped lakdi ka hai!!”, daydream of chocolate pasteries..  Only I didn’t get paid coz of legalities. I forgot to sign a piece of paper. It seems some kinds of paper are of great importance in this world. Like a college degree. Like a 5″X2″ currency note. Stocks crash and people get precious paper pieces when some other people are murdered on their way back home to their expecting families when they were probably making some future plans or enjoying the monsoon shower or relieved that water finally drained out of the city. How would they know they wouldn’t need to trouble themselves with all such mundance things anymore! Boom! Now they need to struggle to reach the nearest hospital to be able to save themselves. Who says life’s boring?! Who says if people are born equal they should remain equal? Words like freedom, liberty, equality, fraternity are contradictory if you use them all together. Only a poet might frame them all together in a fool’s paradise.

Now, am I sounding too negative? Well… what to say to that.. it is late at night and am still not sleepy. And Guru Dutt sings in the background..

“ye sadiyon se bekhauf sehmi si galiyaan
ye masli hui adhakhili zard kaliyaan
ye bikatii hui khokhalii rangaraliyaan
jinhe naaz hai hind pe woh kahan hein.. kahan hein.. kahan hein… kahan hein….

zaraa is mulk ke rahabaron ko bulaao
ye kuuche ye galiyaan ye mannzar dikhaao
jinhein naaz hai hind par unako laao
jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahaan hain…………..”

Oh ya, I almost forget the real news. I am no longer a student. And it feels great!! You gotta trust me on that! The campus is in all its glory, monsoons are here, the moon is full and the clouds hid it whenever they feel like. I m going to miss being a student to the extent – I am so gonna miss the campus and the sleep in aftys!! I can’t imagine I will have to stay awake all afternoons for 5 days in the week for the next few years!! :O Its as if a sleeping era is coming to an end… And I m rejoicing..!! :)