घर कब आओगी, बेटी?

अभी तो गरमियों की छुट्टियाँ लगने में दो-ढाई महीने हैं, अभी से कैसे बताऊँ कब आऊँगी? गरमियों में स्नेहा की एक्सटरा क्लासेस भी तो हैं। और फिर उसकी म्यूज़िक क्लासेस भी तो हैं।

अपने पापा का घर आने का आग्रह सुन अवंतिका ने एक ही साँस में उन्हें इतना कुछ बता दिया। पापा भी बेटी की बात सुन और कुछ ना बोले। बस इतना ही कहा,"हम्म, समझ सकता हूँ" और फ़ोन माँ को पकड़ा दिया। माँ ने भी कहा,"पता नहीं क्या हो गया है। कल से तुझे बहुत याद कर रहें हैं। कल सुबह से ही शुरू हैं की कब गरमियों की छुट्टियाँ लगेंगी कब अवंतू घर आयेगी?"

बोलते बोलते माँ का तो गला ही भर आया।

तीन साल बीत चुके थे अवंतिका को अपने घर गये हुये। हर साल कुछ ना कुछ एेसा निकल ही आता था की वह दस दिन के लिये भी अपने घर ना जा सकी थी। हाँ, माँ और पापा ज़रूर मिल आये थे उसके ससुराल जा कर उससे पर वह ना आ पायी थी अपने घर।

माँ ने थोड़ा ज़ोर दे कर कहा,"हो सके तो इस बार घर आजा। पापा को बहुत अच्छा लगेगा"।

इस पर अवंतिका ने माँ से कहा,"माँ, तुम तो समझती हो ना। आख़िर तुम भी तो कभी ना कभी इस दुविधा में पड़ी होगी"।

माँ ने भी लम्बी साँस छोड़ते हुये हामी भर दी।

अवंतिका ने कहा," अच्छा चलो अब कल बात करतें हैं। स्नेहा के टेनिस क्लास का समय हो गया है।

पूरा दिन भागमभाग में निकल गया और रात को थककर जब वह सोने के लिये अपने कमरे में आई तो सोचा था लेटते ही सो जायेगी पर आज नींद को तो जैसे बैर हो गया था उससे। बिस्तर पर लेटे लेटे वह मम्मी पापा से हुयी बातों के बारे में सोचती रही। पूरे दिन की व्यस्तता में समय ही कहाँ था की वह इस बारे में कुछ सोचती भी। वह सोचने लगी कैसे हर बार मम्मी पापा उसके आने की राह देखतें हैं और उसके किसी भी कारणवश ना जा पाने की वजह समझ कर चुप रह जातें हैं। काश! वह भी कहते, नहीं हम कुछ नहीं समझते। हमें कुछ नहीं सुनना तुमको घर आना ही होगा। काश! अपनी बेटी पर थोड़ा हक़ वह भी जता पाते। क्यूँ हर बार वह सब समझ जातें हैं। क्यूँ वह कभी भी ज़िद्द नहीं करते। इन्हीं सब बातों के बीच कब उसकी नींद लगी पता ही नहीं चला।

सुबह छ: बजे नींद खुली। उसने अपने नियमित काम फुरती से निबटाये। स्नेहा को स्कूल भेजा और मयंक को ऑफ़िस। फिर रोज़ की तरह एक हाथ में नाश्ते की प्लेट और दूसरे हाथ में माँ पापा से बात करने के लिये फ़ोन लिया। वह अपने कमरे में आकर पलंग पर बैठी ही थी की मोबाइल पर अपने पापा के मैसेज पर उसकी नज़र पड़ी। मैसेज रात साढ़े बारह बजे का था।

मैसेज खोला तो उसमें लिखा था,"तेरी हर ज़िम्मेदारी का एहसास है मुझे बेटी पर इस बार अपने बूढ़े पिता की जिद्द ही समझ ले इसे। इस बार तेरी एक ना सुनुँगा। इस बार तुझे घर आना ही होगा।

अवंतिका की आँखें नम हो गयीं। वह फिर सोचने लगी की कैसे बिना कहे ही आज भी उसके पापा उसकी हर बात समझ जातें हैं।उसने अपने पापा को मैसेज किया,"पापा, काश! हर बार आप ऐसे ही जिद्द करते और मैं आपकी जिद्द के आगे हार मान कर अपने घर आ जाती। काश! हर बार आप इतना ही हक़ जताते और हर बार मैं लौटती अपने आँगन में जहाँ मेरा बचपन फिर से लौट आता है।

उसकाफोन बज उठा। पापा का ही फ़ोन था। बिना एक पल गँवाये उसने फ़ोन उठाया। दोनों के गले भरे हुये थे। पापा ने बस प्यार से इतना ही कहा,"बेटी इस बार तुझे लेने मैं ख़ुद आँऊगा"।

 

शायद आपकी और मेरी कहानी भी अवंतिका की कहानी से कुछ हद तक मेल खाती है। आइये इस बार अपने बचपन का कुछ हिस्सा मम्मी पापा को लौटा दें। आइये इस बार गरमियों की छुट्टियाँ अपने मायकें में ही बिता दें।

बिंदी... एक लघु कथा।

बहुत पसंद था उसे बिंदी लगाना। रूप रंग भी ग़ज़ब का था उसका। लाल रंग गोरे तन पर ऐसा फब्ता था मानो नयी सुबह में सूरज के आग़ाज़ की लालिमा बिखर गयी हो। उसके घने लंबे बाल तो मानो घमंड थे उसका।

बाबू जी का अभिमान थी वो, माँ की खोयी हुई पहचान थी। जितनी सुंदर उतनी ही सुशील और समझदार भी।

पूरे गाँव में वही एक लड़की थी जो स्नातक हो।

बाबू जी ने लड़का भी अफ़सर ढूँढा था उसके लिये। दान दहेज़ में भी कोई कमी ना छोडी़ थी। और शादी तो ऐसे ठाटबाट से की थी कि क्या कहने। और करते भी क्यों ना, एक ही तो लड़की थी उनकी।

माँ बाबू जी की लाड़ली विदा हो गयी। आँखों में आँसू थे पर दिल में हज़ारों सपने लिये, सबका स्नेह और आशीष साथ लिये वह चली अपना नया संसार बसाने।

नये घर में भी सबक़ी चहेती बन गयी थी वो। नयी बहू के गुणगान पूरे मोहल्ले में होते थे। अपनी बहू की तारीफ़ सुनकर शर्मा जी और उनकी पत्नी गर्व से फूले न समाते थे।

पर यह किसकी नज़र लगी, क़िस्मत की कैसी मार पड़ी। छ: महीने की नव विवाहिता आज विधवा हो गयी। चारों ओर ये कैसा शोर था। आज सभी का एक ही स्वर था। कल तक जो सबका नाज़ थी आज वो घर का शृाप हो गयी।

आज़ तेरह दिन हो गये उसे विधवा हुये। इन तेरह दिनों में सब छिन गया उससे। उसका हमसफर, उसका मान सम्मान, उसका शृँगार, उसके घने बाल, उसका लाल रंग, उसकी चूड़ियाँ,यहाँ तक की उसकी लाल बिंदी।

बचा था तो बस यह जीवन जो ठीक से शुरू भी ना हुआ और उजड़ गया।

अपना घर छोड़ कर नया घर बसाने आयी थी। ना तो नया घर अपना हुआ और ना ही पुराना वापिस मिला।

मिला तो बस तिरस्कार। परायों से तो कैसा शिकवा जब अपनों ने ही मौन साध लिया।

आज उसकी सूनी आँखें सबसे सवाल करतीं हैं। ऊपर वाले ने तो सिर्फ़ मेरा जीवन साथी छीना पर मेरी बिंदी, मेरा शृँगार, मेरा लाल रंग और मेरा अभिमान छीनने वाले तुम कौन? अपने जीवन साथी के जाने के बाद, ज़िंदा तो मैं बस नाम को ही थी पर मुझे मारने वाले तुम कौन?

अगर आपके पास उसके सवालों के जवाब हों तो ज़रूर दीजियेगा। शायद किसी और का जीवन बेरंग होने से बच जाये।

Valentine's Day special

Love. Love needs no definition. It is a beautiful emotion,a beautiful feeling which can only be felt from the bottom of the heart. Love paint the canvas of our life beautifully. It brings the best out of us. It gives us strength and make us courageous and fearless.

As many times we all have heard that it hurts to be in love but for me as I have experienced love;it is not the love that hurts but it is the ego that hurts us. We get hurt when sometimes our love doesn't get reciprocate the same way we want it to be and then our ego get hurt.

Love is to be selfless and not selfish. Love is to be kind and patient and not the rude and angry. Love is about passion. It grows and stays only where there is trust and care and not the ego and envy. Love is t forgetting the mistakes and remembering only the joy it brings to our life.

Love doesn't need fancy roses and/or high end date, rather it can rejoice in the little things which makes one feel special. It doesn't need word to be expressed. It can beautifully be expressed without saying even a single word.

It is not a costly affair to be in love rather if there is someone who is in love with you and vice versa than you are richer than what you think you are.

Love is a great teacher that teaches us the value of life and love ones.

On this valentine lets not wait for someone to make us feel special. Let us feel special and blessed to have someone to love and care. Let's make them feel special and lets make ourselves feel special about it.

Let our family and friends know they are special and mean lot to us.

Love yourself and spread the happiness. Love your life and make it more beautiful.

Happy Valentines day❤❤❤

Beware they are watching.

We as a parents want to do best for our child(ren). We send them to good schools, teach them good things, discipline them and we want them to be just perfect.

But,how many times we have given a thought about those things which they are picking from us and we are unaware of it.

Children are good observer and they observe us. Our way of talking, way of doing things, way of chatting over the phone and a lot more is being observed by them very closely. Sometimes we taught them wrong inadvertently.

If we can remember these few things we can raise our young generation in a better way.

 

 

• Shouting : We shout at them when they dont listen to us or do things they are not supposed to do even when we repeatedly tell them not to. So they also repeat us by shouting and yelling for the things they want us to do. And then we say they are throwing tantrums.

 

 

• Showing our disrespect to someone: This is most common mistake usually mothers do in the joint family environment. Sometimes mother-in-law and daughter-in-law get into arguments in front of child(ren) without realising its long lasting effect on their mind. They pick up words and/or start disrespecting their elders. Even partners who are parents should use courteous and polite tone while talking to each other. Child(ren) learn from the example and not from the advice.

 

 

• Organiser: dont expect child(ren) to be organised and discipline when you are not. No matter how many times you tell them to keep their rooms tidy,they will not if they are watching their elders who themselves are lazy to put the things at its right place (car keys, tv remote, newspapers etc etc).

 

 

• Family time: In today's time when both the parents are working and children are been brought up by maid and in day care enviornment it is very important to set some time as a daily routine to be spent together as a family. A time where all family members are talking to each other without been involved in gadget or tv or books. Simply talking and getting to know about each other's day. This is very rare these days. But as child(ren) grow,this becomes very important for parents to know how they are spending their day. If you dont build strong foundation in early years of childhood then dont complain when they will not give you their time in their adulthood.

 

 

• Moral values: we as an adult find it okay to lie and call it white lies. No, its not okay. Right from the very beginning teach your child its not okay to lie about anything,no matter how big or small it is. We as a parent should understand our responsiblity that we are not only raising a child but we are building a foundation of the next generation. Be responsible. Teach them how to love unconditionally, teach them how to be greatful , teach them to share. And remember you can only teach them by setting an example. They will forget whatever you are telling them but they will remember it as a lesson if they will watch you doing this from the very young age.

 

 

 

It's not easy to be a parent but when you decide to be one,be a responsible one. We are raising the next generation and its our responsiblity to make this world better place for everyone to live in by raising a responsible citizen before making them into doctor,engineer or administrator.

#parenting#raisingkids#nextgeneration#humanity

The lady in the bright yellow lehenga.

   We recently had a short trip to Jaisalmer, Rajasthan to spend some quality time with family far from the maddening rush of our busy lives. On our way to the Thar desert, our safari driver took us to the tour of village and there we got a chance to meet Phulwari, the lady in the bright yellow lehenga. She was so welcoming and her smile was captivating. We spent around 1 hour at that village. Not only she allowed us to have a close look into her house and the life style but also share her life story with me. In that one hour of chatting with her she told me how she was sold for meagre amount of money to the man in the name of marriage. She was only 14 years old while her so called husband was double her age. Her in-laws treated her like a maid and she was beaten up brutally many times a day for the reasons I found very silly for a person to get beatings for. Her face brighten up when she told me that she got the freedom from her husband and in laws when she gave birth to her daughter. They threw her out of the house on the second day of her delivery. I was stunned at her courage. I asked her wasn't she afraid and worried about herself and the new born? I got the brave reply from her. She told me it was not only that the child was born, that day the mother was born too. She saw this as an opportunity to give better life to her daughter or else her daughter would have been treated the same way Phulwari was treated and her husband would have sold her daughter one day. So she saw this as an end to her misery. But the question was where to go and what to eat. She knew she cannot go back to her home and also she had forgot the way back to her home as she never went back there after marriage. To her rescue came the old lady from the same village. Phulwari said that lady was an angel sent by the God and this made her faith more strong. She stayed at that place for a month and learnt some embroidery from her. After a month, Phulwari built her own house out of bushes and mud. Life was hard at the beginning but her daughter gave her courage to sail through. Now her daughter is 12 years old and goes to school. She was proud to share that her daughter knows how to read and write in English. Now Phulwari owns a house big enough for her daughter and herself to live in. It is no more a temporary one but the permanent one made up of burnt bricks. They make their living by doing embroidery on bags,cloths,even on shoes. Life is still hard for them and they have to struggle every day but she still smiles and feel thankful to the God to help her come so far.

I was amazed at the undaunting faith and courage of Phulwari. She suffered so much and yet have no regrets and complaints. Rather she is full of gratitude. She has nothing materialistic in her possession as compared to many of us but still she makes me feel as if she is the richest one on this Earth.

Soon it was time for us to continue our journey to desert. We bid goodbye to Phulwari and her daughter Itwari (as she was born on Sunday 😊). The bright yellow lehenga of Phulwari can be seen from the far and I can see her waiving to us as our vehicle drove past the village. Phulwari was much younger to me in age yet she taught me some important life lessons. I never felt so grateful for the people I have as family and friends, for the life I am living, for the things I have and there is this young lady who has a house with thatched roof, four goats,one cow and yet she is full of gratitude.

In our journey of life we meet many people. Some gives us scar,some brings joy to us. Some add meaning to our life. And there are some who inspire us, motivate us and help us to grow and become a better person. Phulwari is an inspiration to many people who think life isn't fair to them.

I hope this will inspire some of you to be happy and feel content in what you have.

#courage#mytravelexperience#peopleinspireme#dailyinspirations#life'sgoals#chaseyourdream#livelife#smile