5 verses · ~1 min
ट्रेन के बरामदे में खड़े लोग बाहर की ओर देखते हैं पर न तो जल्दी ही उतरने और न ही कहीं अंदर बैठने की जगह पाने की उम्मीद में
बिना उम्मीद के इस सफ़र में दिदिया भी कहीं होगी दुबकी बैठी या ऐसे ही कोने में कहीं खड़ी और पता नहीं उसने काका की खोज की भी या नहीं दोनों अब इस ट्रेन में हैं जो बिना कहीं रुके न जाने किस ओर चली जा रही है हहराती हुई
कहीं सीट पर बरसों पहले आयी कुछ महीनों की बहन भी है जिसका चेहरा भी याद नहीं और बड़ी सफ़ेद दाढ़ीवाले मंत्र बुदबुदाते बाबा भी
न कोई नाम है न संख्या न रंग सब एक दूसरे से बेख़बर हैं और बेसामान न ट्रेन के रुकने का इंतज़ार है न किसी के आने का
नीचे घास पर आँगन में छुकछुक गाड़ी का खेल खेलते जूनू डुल्लो दूबी चिंकू उस ट्रेन की किसी खिड़की से दिदिया को पता नहीं दीख पड़ते हैं या नहीं?
इति
The Poet
अशोक वाजपेयी
Ashok Vajpeyi
1941 · 2008
Ashok Vajpeyi occupies a towering position in contemporary Hindi letters as both a prolific poet and a master architect of cultural institutions. Born in 1941 in Durg, he joined the civil service and subsequently shaped India's modern arts landscape by founding institutions like Bharat Bhavan. Despite his immense public responsibilities, his poetry remains fiercely dedicated to the intimate and the personal. He views poetry as a civilizational defense against the crushing impersonality of the modern world. In collections like Shaher Ab Bhi Sambhavana Hai and his Sahitya Akademi Award winning Kahin Nahin Wahin, Vajpeyi explores the themes of love, death, nature, and absence with remarkable linguistic precision. He writes in free verse, employing a sparse and exact vocabulary to capture fleeting moments of domestic quiet or sudden metaphysical dread. His work has been translated across the globe, bringing modern Hindi sensibilities to a vast international audience. Vajpeyi demonstrates that a writer can navigate the complex machinery of the state while keeping the solitary flame of the poetic conscience brilliantly alive.
Paired Painting
The Disappearance of Haridas Thakur
This poignant artwork depicts one of the most sublime and spiritually charged moments in Gaudiya Vaishnava history: the sacred transition of Srila Haridas Thakur. Revered as the Namacharya, or the teacher of the holy name, Haridas Thakur spent his final days in Puri chanting the divine names of Krishna with boundless ecstasy. Surrounded by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His devoted followers, who are swept up in an ocean of ecstatic kirtan, Haridas leaves his mortal frame while absorbed in remembrance of the Lord. The scene overflows with deep emotional resonance, capturing the bittersweet paradox of divine separation and spiritual triumph as banners flutter and devotees lift their arms in ecstatic surrender.
Open the viewer →