3 verses · ~1 min
काँच की बन्द खिड़कियों के पीछे तुम बैठी हो घुटनों में मुँह छिपाए। क्या हुआ यदि हमारे-तुम्हारे बीच एक भी शब्द नहीं।
मुझे जो कहना है कह जाऊँगा यहाँ इसी तरह अदेखा खड़ा हुआ, मेरा होना मात्र एक गन्ध की तरह तुम्हारे भीतर-बाहर भर जाएगा।
क्योंकि तुम जब घुटनों से सिर उठाओगी तब बाहर मेरी आकृति नहीं यह धुंधलाती शाम और आँच पर जगी एक हल्की-सी भाप देख सकोगी जिसे इस अंधेरे में तुम्हारे लिए पिघलकर मैं छोड़ गया होऊँगा।
इति
The Poet
सर्वेश्वरदयाल सक्सेना
Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena
1927 · 1983
Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena completely rejected the notion that serious poetry required an elitist vocabulary. Born in 1927 in the Basti district of Uttar Pradesh, he became one of the most accessible and beloved voices of the Nayi Kavita movement. As the prominent editor of the children's magazine Parag and a key figure at the literary journal Dinamaan, Saxena possessed an incredibly rare ability to speak directly to the rural heartland while maintaining razor sharp political intelligence. His poetry collections, such as the Sahitya Akademi Award winning Khunti Par Tange Log, confront the disillusionment of post independence India, governmental apathy, and the quiet struggles of the peasantry. He wrote about rivers, forests, and village folk not with romantic nostalgia, but with a fierce and protective realism. Saxena passed away in 1983, but his words remain permanently etched into the consciousness of the Indian middle class. He proved that true literary greatness lies not in speaking above the people, but in walking directly beside them.
Paired Painting
Woman Before a Mirror
In this evocative masterpiece, Hemendranath Mazumdar captures a moment of profound intimacy and quiet introspection. The artist was a virtuoso of the human form, celebrated for his ability to render the delicate texture of skin and the soft drape of fabric with an almost ethereal quality. Here, the subject stands in a state of vulnerable reflection, caught in the soft luminescence that emanates from an unseen source. Mazumdar does not merely paint a woman, he paints a mood: he invites the viewer into a private sanctuary where time seems to stand still, allowing us to witness a brief, beautiful instance of self awareness and grace.
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