मैं जिन्दगी का साथ निभाता चला गया

स्लेट पर
खल्ली का रंग
सफ़ेद था,
जैसे सादगी और सच्चाई !

किशोरवय
की लालिमा ने,
सफेदी को गले लगाया,
आजकल यह गुलाबी है !

पता नहीं कब,
लालिमा होगी रक्तिमा
और मेरी बेलगाम कलम से निकलेगी
ख़ूनी स्याही !

One of my professors feels very sorry when he sees that the ideal of Bengal has lowered down from Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Vivekananda, Ravindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray to Sourav Ganguly. I too feel sorry, when I hear that almost seventy percent of auto rickshaws on the streets of Kolkata carry the slogan ‘Mithun aur Sourav, Bengal ka gaurav’, on their outer wall. Auto rickshaw drivers belong to the common mass of Bengal. It simply assures the fact that Sourav Ganguly is not simply a hero for them but the ideal of common mass.
There has been a time when Bengali commoners had followed Raja Ram Mohan Roy. The courageous man, who dared to go against the established orthodox mindset of Indian society and introduced Brahmo Samaj. There had been also a time when they followed Swami Vivekanand. The man, who revived the concept of Hinduism and broke the pre-occupied concept about India and told the world, we are as progressive as the western world. There was again a time when Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore was the ideal person of Bengal. The man, who invented Ravindra Sangeet; the whole world acknowledged him for his literary standard and he also dared to advocate internationalism when the entire India was plunged into the nationalist movement.
Then, there was a time when Bengal had a hero and ideal namely Satyajit Ray. Undoubtedly, a great humanist filmmaker, who made world feel, the presence of Indian cinema on international stage and enriched the cinematic arts and tactics of the world. Ray’s later films are not as good as earlier one and this might be a coincidence that the choice of Bengal also started to decline at the same time. This was the time when Bengali classicism started to dilute.
Now, let us talk about Sourav Ganguly, he is the most successful captain of Indian cricket. He took over the captaincy of Indian cricket from Azharuddin just after the match fixing scandal, and led the team very well up to the final of World Cup 2003. Geoffrey Boycott bestowed him ‘God of off side’ but at the later stage of his career when ‘man’ stroke strategically, Ganguly had no way out. The Royal Bengal Tiger was scared of grass on the pitch and pretended being ill in one of the matches at Nagpur. This was the incident after that he was not worthy of leading Indian side. Selector of Indian cricket had no choice left but to prepare a team without Ganguly. Though, he made a strong comeback but till then Indian cricket had new strategies of playing and he was not accepted. In spite of his good performances he had to leave Indian squad.
After retirement from international class he took part in the Indian Premier League for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Out of three in two seasons he did captaincy but the team lost badly. As a result he lost his credibility among the franchisees of IPL and no body found him fit for the fourth season.
This was the story of a man, who really gathered a great mass support in and around Bengal. Previously, it was because of his good ability to play the game and at later stage only for sympathy. He was not found fit for IPL-4 season, not saleable at all; it was quite simple, but after that an outrage broke out in Kolkata. Now-a-days the whole Bengal is shouting for Sourav Ganguly, a man who did only what the world has already done, nothing innovative, nothing extraordinary.
He can’t be in the line of legacy of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray.

वर्षो बीत गए अपना गावं नहीं देखा, अब तो जाने का उत्साह भी नहीं रहा। पर यादें हैं, की जब-तब खिलखिला हीं उठती हैं, और तब खुद पर काबू करना मुश्किल हो जाता है। गोबर से लिपे आँगन में धमाचौकड़ी मचाते बच्चे, अलाव घेरकर बैठे व्यस्क और पता नहीं किन-किन बातों पर एक दूसरे के कान में फुसफुसाती और हंसती महिलाएं सब श्वेत-श्याम फिल्म की भांति आखों के सामने से गुजरने लगता है। मेरी यादों की किताब के पीले पर चुके इन पन्नों में कुछ तो बिल्किल अनन्य है, फिर कभी भी कहीं भी देखने को नहीं मिले। मकर संक्रांति का पर्व उन्हीं में से एक है।

भारत के अधिकांश हिस्से में यह पर्व अलग-अलग नाम एवं तरीके से मनाया जाता है। तिल और गुड़ की लाई, दही-चूड़ा, खिचड़ी और पता नहीं कितने तरह की खाने पीने की चीजों के लिए मशहूर यह त्यौहार पुरे भारत में उत्साह से मनाया जाता है।
मिथिलांचल में इस पर्व को मानाने की एक बड़ी हीं अदभुत और भावुक परंपरा है। पूजा-पाठ के बाद घर के बूढ़े-पुराने लोग अपने पास प्रसाद की कटोरी लेकर आँगन या फिर दरवाजे पर बैठ कर घर और आस पडौस के अपेक्षाकृत कम उम्र के लोगों का इंतजार करते हैं। प्रसाद लेने आने वाले प्रत्येक व्यक्ति से वे एक हीं सवाल पूछते हैं "तिल तिल बध देबअ?" प्रसाद मांगने वाला अगर इसका उत्तर हाँ में नहीं देता है तो उसे किसी भी कीमत पर प्रसाद नहीं मिलता है। बचपन में प्रसाद खाने की जल्दी में हमेशा 'हाँ' बोलकर अपनी जान छुडा लिया करता था। उस समय इस सवाल का अर्थ मेरे लिए कोई मायने नहीं रखता था।

किशोरावस्था में पहुंचा तो इस सवाल का मतलब जानने की उत्सुकता हुई। मुझे अब भी वो लम्हा याद है जब मेरी दादी ने मुझे बताया था, इसका मतलब होता है 'क्या मेरे मरने के बाद तुम मेरी अर्थी को कन्धा दोगे?' मुझे लगा था हाँ मैं नहीं दूंगा तो कौन देगा? मकर संक्रांति के दिन, मरने से पहले हीं ये बूढ़े-बुजुर्ग, श्मशान तक अपने पहुचने कि जिम्मेवारी अपने बच्चों को सौंप देते हैं।

आज जब भी इस प्रश्न का विश्लेषण करता हूँ तो समझ में आता है कि वो केवल प्रश्न भर नहीं है, बल्कि एक सौगंध है जो बड़े-बुजुर्ग अपने बच्चों को देते हैं। वे अपने बच्चों को सौगंध देते हैं कि मरने के बाद वे उन्हें अपने कंधे पर श्मशान ले जायेंगे, इन तिल के दानों के बदले में उनके चिता कि लकड़ी सजायेंगे।
वर्षों बीत गए मकर संक्रांति का पर्व घर पर नहीं मनाया। जाहिर है इन वर्षों में किसी ने कंधे पर श्मशान ले जाने की कसम भी न दी। पर में तो उन अभागों में हूँ जिसने कभी अपने तिल कि सौगंध पूरी हीं नहीं की, या यूँ कहें समय और परिस्थितियों ने पूरी करने हीं न दी। इस वर्ष मकर संक्रांति के बस चार दिन पूर्व अपने सौ से अधिक उम्र के परदादा की मृत्यु ने ये टीस और बढ़ा दी।

कन्धों पर कभी-कभी कुछ भारी सा लगता है, शायद तिल का हीं भार है !!!

(ये तीन पद्य अलग-अलग समय लिखे गए हैं पर दुर्भाग्यवश अधूरे रह गए थे। इनमें भावों की समानता को देखते हुए मैं इन्हें एक साथ प्रकाशित कर रहा हूँ।)

उँगलियाँ उलझाये एक दुसरे को निहारने भर की ही नहीं,
एक कप कॉफी पर विचार-मंथन की भी तमन्ना है मेरी।
प्रेम की नाजुक गलियों का कोमल एहसास भर नहीं,
साझा करना चाहता हूँ वास्विकता की कंटीली डगर भी।

विवशता न हो मेरा प्यार तुम्हारे लिए,
न चाहने का भी तुम ले सको फैसला।
खो न जाना तुम मेरी विशालता के सूनेपन में,
और मिट न जाना मेरी संकीर्णता के घुटन में।

देखना है तुम्हे आसमा की बुलंदिओं पर,
और खुद के पगचिन्हों को कभी कभार तुम्हारे साथ।
चाहता हूँ करूँ खुद का थोडा-थोडा अर्पण,
और समय के साथ तुम्हे थोडा-थोडा ग्रहण।

हर चेहरे में छुपा है कई और चेहरा !
जिसको भी देखना है कई बार देखिए !!
(Every face has embedded many faces in itself…
Whoever you see, see time and again…)
I don’t know in what mood poet Nida Fazli had written these lines but now-a-day’s its very much relevant in the case of Binayak Sen. He has been sentenced life time imprisonment by the Raipur session court, and after that a outrage has broke out in Indian and foreign media and in intellectual class across the world. He has been portrayed as hero and victim of human rights activism. As many as 40 noble laureates including Noam Chomsky and Amartya Sen are openly supporting him against the verdict of court.
Now let me tell you, a little about Dr. Binayak Sen. He has different faces, all portrayed by the media. Sometimes ‘Doctor’ Binayak Sen , sometimes ‘Conspirator’ Binayak Sen. Sometimes ‘Social Activist’ Binayak Sen, sometimes ‘Maoist’ Binayak Sen. Sometimes ‘Philanthropist’ Binayak Sen who is serving tribal population of Chhattisgarh, and sometimes ‘Extremist’ Binayak Sen who is helping naxlites.
The honorable court has found him guilty of seditious activities. But this can’t be the end of the story of a person, who has been internationally acknowledged for his works. He has done a lot for the tribal community of Chhattisgarh state. He has helped in opening a hospital in the almost impossible area of the same state. All this prove him a good citizen of India.
Another area where Binayak Sen is working is promotion of civil liberties. He is the national vice-chairmen of Peoples Union of Civil Liberties. He opposed the policy of state government to use the tribal people against the Maoist in the name of Salva Judum. His supporter says he is the victim of the same work.
The prosecution of government says there is enough of evidence to prove his involvement in unlawful activities. He met 33 times Narayan Sanyal, a naxel leader, in Bilaspur jail. He was working as a courier person between Sanyal and CPI Maoist. Naxal literature, eight CDs containing objectionable talks has been seized from his house. A naxalite leader of Bilaspur jail, Madan Barkade has addressed him as ‘Comrade’ in one of the postcards seized from his house. Besides all this, prosecution presented 97 witnesses to prove the charges.
Dr. Sen explained all this in his defense. All the 33 meetings of him with Narayan Sanyal were as a doctor and always with the prior permission of authorities. He says he was falsely implicated in all this. ‘Comrade’ is a common addressing pattern of Maoists and other left oriented people. He has been victim of protesting against the police atrocities in Chhattisgarh.
The drama has still not come to an end. The court has enough reason to award him punishment and leftist intellectual class has enough reason to doubt. In this kind of hazy situation he is being portrayed as martyr. This is not a good sign for the future of anti-extremist movements in India. If he is not guilty he must be freed. This will be a good indication for those who believe in the constitutional supremacy of India. If he is guilty he must not be portrayed as victim of going against the government or martyr.