अल्फाज़-ए -दिल ~ नेहा झा

नासमझ हैं वो जो नहीं समझते हैं अपना दिल,

जो समझते हैं हर मुक़ाम को अपनी मंज़िल

ना जाने कितने रास्ते हैं जो है अधूरे से 

पर पूरे होने की समझ तो है अधूरे होने से|

शोर में भी है एक अजीब सी खामोशी

भीड़ में भी ढूँढे ये नज़रें उसी को ही,

ना जाने किसकी तलाश है 

ना जाने क्यूँ अधूरी हर आस है|

क्यूँ लगती है ये तन्हाई अब एक आदत सी

क्यूँ एक अजीब कश्मकश हर बार है,

ना दिल है ठिकाने पर ना दिमाग़ है 

क्यूँ हर बार मुझसे जीतती मेरी हार है|

~नेहा झा 

आख़री रास्ता ~ नेहा झा

वह सब कहते हैं की मेरे साथ हैं,

ये सारी बातें करते मेरे जाने के बाद हैं|

कहते हैं कि मैं एक अच्छा इंसान था ,

मेरी प्रतिभाओं पर इनको अभिमान था|

मेरे जाने से दिल इनका टुकड़ों में बिखर गया ,

खबर सुनकर मेरे जाने की, दिल इनका दहल गया|

कहाँ थे जब मैं एक सच्चा दोस्त ढूँदता था ,

कहाँ थे जब मैं रातों का सुकून खोजता था

जब चाहता था कि कोई मेरी बातों को सुने

और चाहता था कि साथ मेरे सपनों को बुने|

जब रातों को खुली आँखों से दीवारों को निहारता था

और सुबह की किरणों से जीने की वजह पूछता था|

तुम हंस कर कहते थे की यह भी बीत जाएगा ,

और मेरा भी अच्छा वक़्त जल्द आएगा |

फिर क्यूँ अपनी ही कही बातों से मुँह मोड़ लिया तुमने,

और मेरे फ़ोन का भी जवाब देना छोड़ दिया तुमने |

ऐसा लगने लगा की मैं तुम्हारे बीच अदृश्य हूँ ,

मौजूद हूँ फिर भी मौजूद, मैं नहीं हूँ|

मेरे मुस्कानों के पीछे दर्द तो देखा ही नहीं तुमने,

कभी मुझे भी गले लगाकर दो बातें कहा ही नहीं तुमने |

अकेलेपन कि लहरों के साथ ही अब बहना था,

ज़िंदगी मिली तो अब इसी के साथ रहना था |

एक रात ना जाने सारी आस ही बुझ गयी ,

सारी हिम्मत जो अकेले जुटाई थी, छन में टूट गयी

फाँसी का फंदा ही लग रहा प्यारा था 

झूठी ज़िंदगी के बदले मौत ही एकलौता सहारा था|

~ नेहा झा 

A Man called Ove- By Fredrik Backman

" We fear it, yet most of us fear more than anything that it may take someone other than ourselves. For the greatest fear of death is always that it will pass us by. And leave us there alone.."

Recently I finished reading this book which falls in the genre of fiction. 

This is the kind of book that grows on you as its chapters unfolds, much like its character, the old grumpy Ove. He has lost his beloved wife Sonja and is reeling under the weight of its grief, in the course of which he tries various ways to end his own life. His grief and loneliness find company when one day his new neighbors, Parvaneh, her husband and 2 kids, come knocking at his door. 

The book makes you realize how your past experiences transform you as a person and how they form the building blocks of what you are. Ove is a man of staunch principles, he is not a people's person and is someone who is strictly brand loyal, uncompromising and abides by his own set of rules. We experience through the book how the tides of misfortune sweep Ove off his feet, how the grief of losing his beloved father and then his wife, eats him from inside and changes him. 

The book beautifully describes the relation between Ove and Sonja and how even after her death she is always there like a shining star in the corner of their house. The years Ove had spent with her were the benchmark against which the rest of his life is measured and no matter how hard he tried, the rest of his life they never lived up to it. 

The book describes the beautiful relation that blooms between Ove and his neighbors and how he is not able to hold himself from from loving them, though, in his own way. 

It is a book which will make you smile as you turn the pages and at the same time make your heart, break into a sob. You experience the generous transformation of Ove's neighbors and a cat which unexpectedly becomes Ove's partner, into his most cherished beings and his new family and Ove, their most loved grand-dad. 

A ray of hope lingers throughout the book, rising slowly: the moments of connection, the re-awakening of a man frozen by grief and the ability of people to brighten up each other's lives. This book makes you believe in the kind of unconditional love, even more. 

I would give this book a 4 on 5 rating. Hope you found it useful and enjoyed reading!

क्या हम भी भारत हैं? ~नेहा झा

    

आज़ाद भारत कहते हैं हमे 

पर क्या हम भी आज़ाद हैं ?

कभी प्यास से कभी भूख से 

मरते हर रात हैं। 

जिन घरों में आराम से रहते हो 

वह हमने ही तो बनाए थे,

जब घुमने निकले थे तुम और रास्तों पर कचरा फैलाया था 

हमने ही तो अगली सुबह तुम्हारे जगने से पहले उसे उठाया था।

जब धोखा दिया था तुम्हें तुम्हारी बड़ी गाड़ी ने 

तुम्हें समय पर ऑफिस पहुँचाया हमारे ऑटो की सवारी ने।

देर रात की पार्टी से जब तुम घर वापस आए थे 

हमने ही तो तुम्हारे बच्चे लोरियों संग सुलाए थे ।

जिन अख़बारों के सहारे सुबह चाय की चुस्की लेते हो

सूरज निकलने से पहले तुम्हारे दरवाज़ों तक पहुँचाये थे ।

बीमारी के डर से जब तुम घरों में छिप कर बैठे थे 

हम तो तब भी बिना घरों के ज़मीनों पर सोते थे।

हवाई जहाज़ों से लाए तुम प्रवासी अमीरों को

छोड़ दिया नंगे पैर धूप में हम बेसहारे ग़रीबों को।

कहते हो की हम तो आत्मनिर्भर भारत हैं  

तुम्हारे वादे हमे अब लगते रेत की इमारत हैं।

कभी रास्तों पर कट गए, कभी पट्रीयों ने जान ली

प्रवासी मज़दूर होने की सजा हमने अब मान ली।

जा रहें हैं घर टूटे सपने और ख़ाली जेबें लेकर 

तुम तो सो रहे हो चैन की नींद हमे भगवान भरोसे छोड़कर।

रखो अब अपने शहरों को तुम 

हम तो खुश हैं अब अपने गावों में,

जब तुमने सिर्फ़ धूप दिया 

सुकून मिली अब हमें इनकी ही छाँव में ।

~नेहा झा

      

The Help- By Kathryn Stockett

Another great historical fiction i have read in a long time which is based on the story of African-American maids working in white households in 1960s in a racially conflicted city of Jackson, Mississippi. This book explores both the spectrum of the complex history of the black-white relationship, not only the hate, abuse and mistrust but also the love, attachment and dependence. 

The book revolves mainly around 3 characters: 2 black maids: Minny Jackson and Aibileen Clark and a white aspiring writer Eugenia Skeeter. Minny is a strong lady who always speaks her mind and stands up to the racial injustice as a result of which is already fired from 19 jobs. Aibileen, along-with being a maid is also the care-taker of a toddler, Mae Mobley. Eugenia Skeeter dreams of being a writer and is one day struck with the dangerous idea of writing a book on the real account of the experiences of the black maids working in white households.

This book makes you feel the pain of Aibileen who has lost her only son Treelore at a very young age. You feel her love towards Mae Mobley who in return loves her more than her own mother. 

The book captures in a beautiful yet gut-wrenching manner how these maids who have the power to mold and strengthen the roots of the children they tend to are so vulnerable and powerless as they can be reprimanded any moment by their owners for being blacks, who they don't consider human enough.

The book beautifully portrays the bond of pure friendship between Minny, Aibileen and Skeeter who despite the color differences of their skin are bonded together by humanity and empathy. The book makes you ponder on how its not the color but the heart beating underneath your skin which makes you humane. 

The book keeps you on the edge as Skeeter explores the real life experiences of the black maids. You grieve after reading many of them but also rejoice at a few. The author through this book gives us the story of 3 ordinary ladies having extra-ordinary spirits asking to be accepted for their honest simplicity. 

The story is strong, real and makes your eyes moist as you turn its pages. You feel broken at first but the ending leaves you with bittersweet emotions. I found the book to be a lot more than just a story. It changes something inside you and stays with you long after you finish reading. It makes you believe all the more in love, life, friendship and humanity beyond color, class and race. 

I would certainly give this book a 5 on 5 rating. 

Hope you liked reading. 

Between Shades of Gray- By Ruta Sepetys

This book brings to light a period of World War II history that has been forgotten, or for which much has not been written. It is set in the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. I was not much aware of this chapter in World History and hence this setting intrigued me. 

The book revolves around Lina who is a young Lithuanian girl whose father is arrested by the Soviet Union and one night she, her mother and brother are herded onto trains by Soviet soldiers, who take them as prisoners, along-with other residents of these lands. These trains eventually take them to the cold freezing corners of Siberia, winding up in the Arctic Circle. The book describes their pain, misery and sufferings while describing their journey from their homes to the unknown Siberian lands. It beautifully captures how these people keep up with humanity while being engulfed into the sea of starvation and death. 

The book's character Lina, is an artist who describes her feelings through her art. She longs to see her father and never gives up hope even when all the doors seem shut. Lina's mother, Elena, is a strong woman who is like a ray of hope for all of them when everything else has fallen apart. The book also shows us, through a Soviet soldier Nikolai, that there can be Samaritans even on the side of our enemies who are nonetheless a pawn of circumstances themselves. 

This book aches your heart as you turn its pages. You feel their helplessness and harrowing pain and your heart wishes you could help them but at the same time you feel like celebrating the small bouts of happiness which the characters stumble upon. 

The book justifies its title, 'Between Shades of Gray' as just like the color grey which symbolizes maturity, reliability and elegance, it also stands for dullness, depression and loss just like our spirits which have the ability to hope and shine even in the darkest of dungeons. 

Albeit, the ending left me wanting for more as it seemed a bit inconclusive. I found this book to be well-researched, inspiring and enlightening. It moves the deepest tissues of your heart as you turn its pages. 

I feel it deserves a 4 on 5 rating. Hope you found this useful. 

The Book Thief - By Markus Zusak

This book falls in the genre of historical fiction and is set in the backdrop of the horrors of Nazis with glimpses of World War II.

The narrator of this book is death, which is a unique aspect of this book. Since death is the only truth of life, this story couldn't have been explained better by any author but death.

Death is busy carrying bodies on it's shoulders in a story set in the times of WWII but becomes fascinated by the book's titular character "The Book Thief", who is a young girl named Liselle. The book revolves around her first encounter with death when she loses her brother on her way to her foster parents home. It is then when she steals her first book "The Gravedigger's Handbook". The book describes her as a girl who loves to read and write, treasures books, chooses stealing books over food, learns to love and be loved. She learns about death at an early age and the feeling of losing the people she loved the most.

The book is like a beautiful but a sad melody, which aches the strings of your heart as the pages play its tunes. It makes you learn the beauty and importance of the real things in life. It unfolds the turmoil of the Jews in Nazi's Germany, their misery laden faces and lives, their assault at the hands of boot trodden soldiers with death lurking on their heads as they take their every breath. The author has described her foster father as a quiet man with silver eyes. He teaches the book thief to read and write along with knowingly and unknowingly teaching her life's lessons. Her foster mother is a rude and strict woman on the outside but is a large-hearted lady who cries silently at her miseries in the darkness of the night. 

The book tells the unexplained love between Liselle and Max, who is a Jew, shows at their doorstep one night and her family excepts him even after knowing the risks of hiding a jew in their basement. The book describes Max as a composed man limited to the darkest freezing corner of the house, where his dreams know no bounds and heart filled with love. He knows nothing about the dawn or the dusk as the time passes by but angst with the thought of defeating Hitler. Death describes his turmoil, his silent love for Liselle for whom he writes "The Standover Man" on the white painted pages of Mein Kampf before disappearing in the shadows of darkness to which Jews were subjected to.

The book beautifully describes the mix of colors in Liselle's life who is lost, broken yet trusts in her books, family and friends. She cherishes good books and reads them aloud to her neighbors hidden in the basement amidst the bombings to distract them off the hustle going around.   

The book is an ode to people who never left the side of humanity even in the middle of a war, that were so kind and loving that nothing could change them. It celebrates people like Rudy, who never once left Liselle's side except in death. 

The way death explains these people gives you a certain kind of hope that even in the worst of times there's always light looming at the end of the tunnel. 

I have never read a book so close to perfection in terms of language, thoughts, learning and emotions. It shatters your soul, breaks your heart and makes you pray for the character's safety ever after knowing that their fate has already been written by death. It lingers in your mind long after you have finished the book. I found this book as emotionally draining but at the same time it makes you value life even more, especially your freedom. This book deserves more than 5 on 5 rating according to me. 

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Orb of Night - By Neha Jha

Full moon represents maturity. It symbolizes clarity of thoughts which can be related to a person whose mind is at peace and who is at no conflict with himself. In horoscope moon determines a person’s capacity for contemplation. A person’s strength comes from within.

Just like the moon whose one side is always hidden from the world, we too have our dark sides. Life’s triumph lies in conquering our inner demons and bringing them in harmony with our true selves and shine bright just like the orb of night.

Colors from Mother Nature - By Neha Jha

Travelling is a medium by which we get to see different places, taste various cuisines, see different cultures, traditions, be a part of a different group of people, see different landscapes..some would be forests..others beaches..some plateaus..some barren terrains..some inaccessible mountains. We get a chance to see how people live in different parts of the world..how their trees and flowers are different from ours..how the color of their soil differs from our home land..how their language is different from ours..how our festivals are different from theirs.

Yet there could be some similarities like their night sky with the crescent moon and the twinkling stars could look just like the one in our homeland..the sun rays which fall on the awake of dawn could look just like ours..the same air crosses our motherland too.. the fragrance of the soil when the first drops of rain fall on them on the start of the rainy reason..would smell just like ours do...our emotions could be same concerning certain things..This makes us realize that nature binds us together in many ways..we are all her children..

Colors from Mother Nature is about how Travel inspires Art. It could be in various forms..a singer could find his music in a foreign land..a writer suffering from writer's block could find his next story..a painter could find his muse..or learn a new technique from the artists out there in the foreign land..

As Albert Einstein has rightly said " Creativity is contagious..pass it on..!, we too believe that art has no boundaries..art can be found in everything..it's just about the artist's view..his perception of perceiving a certain thing..

We had discovered the technique of knife painting when we had traveled to Bali..Bali seemed like an artist's paradise..there was so much art right from the streets to the art galleries.. people were painting on the streets..they were carving..making sculptures..handicrafts.. There were many art galleries in Ubud & Seminyak..we visited two such galleries and learned the technique of knife painting from them..they usually use this for depicting their rice fields.. their lessons and valuable tips remained with us and we tried to paint our own ides using those techniques..

This was our personal experience on how different places inspire you..some things inspire you in such a way that you carry them back with you.. and add your own touch to it.. and it stays with you for a lifetime..

“Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.”

So keep travelling..you never know what could inspire you..when..where & how...!