6 verses · ~1 min
बाबू, चलो ना बको मत, चलो ना कहता है एक बच्चा अपने पचास वर्षीय अधेड़ पिता की अंगुलियों को थामें
बच्चा बार-बार पिता को पुकार रहा था बार-बार उसके सिर को उपर उठाने की कोशिश कर रहा था लेकिन सिर था कि सिरा ही गायब था रंग में भंग ही भंग था!
यह होली के ठीक पहले की शाम थी लंका के रविदास गेट पर चहल-पहल थी दुकानों में बाज़ार की आवाज़ाही थी
दुनिया जब गर्मे सफ़र पर जा रही थी लाउडस्पीकरों की भीड़ से ईश्वर थोड़ा दूर खिसक गया था भीड़ में वही पर अकेले बच्चा अपने ईश्वर को पुकार रहा था
यह एक अजीब हालत थी बच्चा भीड़ को पुकार रहा था भीड़ ईश्वर को और पुकार की हर कोशिश में ईश्वर अपनी नज़र की कोर से थोड़ा मुस्कुरा देता था ।
रचनाकाल: 12.02.2008
इति
The Poet
श्रीप्रकाश शुक्ल
Shriprakash Shukla
Shriprakash Shukla is an eminent voice in contemporary Hindi literature who draws his creative energy directly from the cultural roots of rural India. Born in 1965 in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, he serves as a professor at Banaras Hindu University. His poetry and critical essays stand as a powerful defense of local traditions against the homogenizing forces of modern globalization. Collections like Boli Baat and Ret Mein Aakritiyan showcase his deep understanding of ordinary people, their spoken dialects, and their everyday struggles. He does not write from a place of academic detachment. Instead, he approaches poetry with the sensitivity of someone who feels the pulse of the changing agrarian landscape. Honored with prestigious awards including the Naresh Mehta Samman and the Vijaydev Narayan Sahi Samman, Shukla writes to preserve the fading memories of rural life. He reminds readers that true literary beauty often resides in the unfiltered, unpolished realities of the village courtyard.
Paired Painting
Benares
This evocative painting by the Scottish artist Roderick Dempster Mackenzie captures a luminous, deeply spiritual moment of daily life on the sacred ghats of Benares, now known as Varanasi. Created in 1898 during Mackenzie's extensive travels through India, the work reflects the profound European fascination with the spiritual heart of the subcontinent. Rather than presenting a mere exoticized spectacle, Mackenzie treats the subject with a sensitive, quiet reverence. The soft, golden-grey haze that hangs over the Ganges captures the transition of morning light, a sacred atmosphere where the boundaries between water, air, and stone seem to dissolve. The daring leap of a young diver, suspended mid-air against the pale sky, adds a sudden, joyful energy to the silent, repetitive rhythms of ritual bathing, celebrating the timeless relationship between the people and their sacred river.
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