वो रेलवे की बंद क्रासिंग....

वक़्त कब थम जाता है पता चलता है कभी?

वक़्त थमते देखा है कभी?

इस भाग दौड़ वाली दनिया में शान्ति फिर कैसी होती है, महसूस किया है क्या कभी?

कभी उस रेलवे की बंद क्रासिंग पे रुको तो महसूस कर लेना ये सब...

रोज़मर्रा की ज़िन्दगी की भाग दौड़ का ठहराव है यह सब...

एक अनजानी दौड़ का अल्पविराम, कुछ देर सुस्ताने का इशारा...

वो रेलवे की बंद क्रासिंग जो कुछ देर के लिए ही सही मगर उस शोर से निजाद दिलाती है जिसे आम ज़िन्दगी का हिस्सा मान चके हो

गाड़ियों के रेस लगाते पहिये, ट्रैफिक लाइट पे बेतहाशा चिल्लाने वाले हॉर्न... सब खुद ही शांत हो जाते हैं उस बंद रेलवे क्रासिंग के फाटक के उस पार |

उस सन्नाटे में सुन सकते हो तुम वक़्त की खामोशी, चिड़ियों की चहचाहट... सब कुछ...

बिलकुल वैसे ही जैसे हमेशा से ही चाहत थी

वो गाड़ी की थकान मिटाने को चाय की थड़ी सड़क के किनारे उबलते पानी में चाय पत्ती की महक बिखेर रही है...

वो एक चाय की तलब को “कमर सीधा” करने के बहाने का नाम अच्छा है

उसी के साथ वो अखबार , किताबें, मैगजीन, ले लो की बार बार दोहराती आवाजें

सफर के मज़े लेते बच्चो की आवाज़ें , जो लूडो और सांप सीढ़ी के खेल में व्यस्त है ...

और फिर कहीं सुरीली बेसुरीली आवाज़ों में अंताक्षरी के बहाने से गानों को नया रोमांच देते कुछ पल ..

इन आवाज़ों के बीच जैसे कुछ खोये हुए बचपन की यादें यूँ ही आँखों के सामने आ जाती हैं ...

वो रेलवे फाटक के खुलने के इंतज़ार में , कुछ पल के लिए बचपन की राहत और सुकून भरी बातें यूं ही छेड़ जाती है ...

उस गुजरने वाली ट्रेन के इंतज़ार में, ठेले पे पत्ते में नमक, मिर्च , नीबू में डूबे खीरा ककड़ी इशारों से चिढ़ा चिढ़ा कर खूब बुलाते हैं...

अब चटोरी जुबां कदमों को रोकती है या कदम ज़ुबा को, यह तो अल्लाह ही जाने...

मगर हरियाली वो ललचाती बहुत है

बारिश की बूंदों से भीगी सड़क पे वो कोयले की अंगीठी भुट्टा भूनते हुए पास बुलाती है...

कहीं कोने में कोई झाबे वाला चनों के साथ टमाटर, प्याज, मसालों से एक अलग ही संसार बना रहा है

उस बंद क्रासिंग के उस पार एक अलग ही दुनिया है...

जहाँ सड़क किनारे की दुकानें रफ़्तार पकड़ती हैं, गाड़ियों की रफ़्तार थम जाने के बाद...

अब वो बंद रेलवे क्रासिंग भी गुज़रे ज़माने की बात हैं ..

अब flyovers के ऊपर से दुनिया निकल जाती है, वो गुज़रती ट्रेन देखने का वक़्त किसके पास है?

वक़्त अब सब पे भारी है, जिसकी पहुँच में है वो हवाई जहाज़ को तवज्जो दे रहा है |

वो शौक बचा है बस अब बच्चों की, “पापा देखो ट्रेन” वाली आवाज़ में...

जो मजबूरी में खड़े हैं, आने वाली रेल की रफ़्तार उनकी बार बार घड़ी पे समय देखती बेचैनी से काफी कम है...

जलन है उनसे जो सफ़र कर रहे हैं...

जो डब्बे के अन्दर है वो न जाने मंजिल की तरफ जा रहे है या आ रहे है

ट्रेन, उसकी सीटी, वो छुक छुक , वो पटरियों की घरघराहट अब तो बस किस्से कहानियों की ही बातें हैं...

वो रेलवे की बंद क्रासिंग....

The story behind this-

Thought after waiting for a train to pass while waiting at a railway crossing, these lines tell us how things have changed in our fast paced lives where waiting at a crossing seems like a luxury to many, time consuming obstacle to some but the quiet when the motor engines are turned off are something else apart. All these moments are few and far in between.

Collaborating with Ila again after 7 years. Our last post together was Siachen in 2015.

Siachen can be found here -

http://www.shwetabhmathur.in/2015/09/heroes-i-am-siachen.html

Eda Yildiz & Serkan Bolat- The love quotes from Sen Cal Kapimi

My last post was about Eda and Serkan in a way- that romantic couple from the Turkish series Sen Cal Kapimi. It was my 2nd foreign series to watch after The Mentalist. I was so awed by the strong emotions about love in this series that I re- watched the series multiple times to pull together a compilation of all the romantic lines in the series I felt would showcase love in its entirety…plus you might want to watch it yourself too to get the context of the whole scene.

All dialogues taken from the various subtitles so might not be really accurate.

• Serkan- I think you cant get any more beautiful.

• Serkan- Fairy girl, can you forgive me?

• Eda- It is not so difficult to tell a woman that you want her , Serkan bolat

• Serkan- Cant let you go Eda.

        Eda- Let me go

        Serkan- No

        Eda- I am fed up, you don’t understand me?

       Serkan- Are you fed up ? Be assured , I am fed up. You are constantly in my head, in my every thought. You took over my brain, my life.

        I am fed up Eda

• Serkan- As long as you are there, its only you

• Serkan- Its about me. The problem is that I considered myself worthy of an angel like her. Half of my soul is her. If she knew that I love her more than anyone and everything.

• Eda- In life you cannot replace me with anyone

• Eda- Do you want me to leave? Because you were scared of the girl who loved you more than anything else

• Serkan- Eda I love you so much that in order to not upset you, I took the risk of losing you.

• Serkan- Don’t go away.

        Eda- Serkan
        Serkan- Didn’t you say…if you don’t want me to go say, “don’t leave”?
        And I am telling you now - don’t leave

• Serkan- The most beautiful thing is to be by your side

• Serkan- Since we met, everything I thought right turned out to be wrong. I did what I said will not do. You showed me a completely different horizon. Turned my life upside down. All these years I have been looking for stars in the sky but when you appeared in my life , I realised the bright star I was looking for was infront of me.

• Serkan- If you keep talking, I would always listen to you

• Serkan- I am also angry because there is something in my life that is angry with me.                                                                                                                            Kiraz- Did you also break glass.                                                                        Serkan- I did something worst

• Serkan- Seriously if I could, I would go back in time. Because after you left , I lost everything. You were my everything.

• Serkan- Eda I am a person who is used to being alone. 

        I`ve been lonely all my life.
        After my brother died, I was lonely.
        I was lonely at school, at work….I was always lonely.
        But then you showed up.
        You appeared in my life and everything changed.
        But then you left my life..... and after you left, for 5 years I stayed with your  memories and hallucinations about you.
        Therefore be as angry as you want...... but don’t tell me you forgot me because its very difficult for me.

• Eda- Close your eyes

        Serkan- I love to look at you

• Eda- I missed you

        Serkan- Say it again
        Eda- I missed you
        Serkan- I missed you too. You know when you get angry Eda Yildiz appears,  which I like even better.

• Eda- This is our first ring right, you kept it?

        Serkan- I kept everything concerning you

• Serkan- Eda Yildiz

        The most beautiful star on the planet.
        The most beautiful woman in the world.
        The most magical fairy.
        You have bewitched me.
        My mind, my soul, my heart- I give to you.
        Will you marry me?

• Kemal- You are the only one that managed to make them friends Eda

        You did your best to keep them together. They need you.
        Before you, Serkan was not friends with anyone. He was a lonely man. We are like butterflies that circle around the world, i.e. you.

• Eda- I love you madly Serkan Bolat

        Serkan- Our feelings are mutual madam

I reviewed the series here - Sen Cal Kapimi review

Sen Cal Kapimi - Eda and Serken love story

This series has nothing new to offer..Nothing new. It is the same story which has been done numerous times in various romance novels where 2 people who truly hate each other enter into a fake engagement to make their exes/fiancée jealous in the hope of winning them back.

What it has to offer are the emotions shown on screen. If you are a fan of old school/ candyfloss romance then both season 1 and 2 have to offer something. Eda Yildiz is probably the most fiery/ strong character I have seen. She conveys everything with her eyes and the tone of her voice. Be it pure hate, love., jealousy …it is all conveyed perfectly. She is the perfect storm in the sea of Serkan Bolat. Although there comes a times when viewers can get tired of their on screen on and off love and hate relationship with such ease that we really wonder if falling in and out of love is that easy in real life.

Serkan Bolat is the kind of hard rock who probably has no emotions initially as there was just no eda to challenge him. How the fake game transpired to real conditions is somewhat believable. Happens with a lot of men who have not experienced love ever before in the way she challenges him. He can be portrayed as heartless having pushed Eda away from himself and making her hate him but the men who fall in love so madly with someone can push them away if they sense something wrong can happen.

Where the magic shines is when both of them become really possessive about each other in season 1. The phase of season 2 is probably the best emotion wise. Really lucky are those who get their love back even after all these years. The determination of Serkan to win Eda back no matter what – I am glad the writers did that. The specific instances which I remember were the best romance and emotion wise was the love for them before the crash, the fight in the bar which brought the memory back. The video where he sees Kiraz grow up and what Eda went through really brought tears to the tears, seconded to see him wearing a astronaut suit before he goes to the birthday party.

Later he becomes possessive about her, rightly as a king should be regarding his queen. Some of the best romantic dialogues which I have heard in quite sometime are there in this series. The memory flashbacks are the best when it comes to love.

Its aptly called “Love is in the Air” . If you believe even .01% in the emotion called love, watch it and fall in love. It maybe clichéd in places but accept the fact that we really want our Eda/Serken in our individual lives.

Heroes: Shakeel Ahmad - The tourist guide from Kashmir

For 28-year-old tour guide Shakeel Ahmad, life was adventure and adventure was life. An inhabitant of Hariganiwan area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal, Shakeel, who drowned in Tarsar lake in Anantnag district , had quite literally been hand-holding tourists for the last several years to ensure that their Kashmir visit was an enriching one. 

Shakeel, a professional hiking guide, set out for an expedition along with a group of trekkers from various states and three other local guides. They started their journey to high altitude Tarsar Lake in Anantnag district of South Kashmir.

As the heavy rains swept Kashmir Valley from June 19, water level started to rise dangerously in all the water bodies. As the trekking group led by Shakeel descended from the Tarsar area on Wednesday, the team had to pass through a makeshift bridge at Hamvas made of just two logs.

“Shakeel helped the entire team of 13 to cross this bridge one-by-one while Dr Mahesh from Uttarakhand, was the last one to cross with him. “Dr Mahesh while trying to cross the wooden bridge lost his balance and fell into the roaring river while Shakeel in order to save him jumped instantly after him without caring for his life,” an eyewitness said.

The eye witness said Shakeel would have easily swam to shore initially but he kept trying his best to save Dr Mahesh by keeping hold of him for upto 300 meters amid fast current in the river. “However the roaring water separated them both near a waterfall and they disappeared,” he added.

His brother said that he did right by jumping in the river in an attempt to save the life of a tourist, who was part of our group and guest but unfortunately Shakeel lost his life. " It was our right to try and save the life of our guest,” said Shakeel. “ Without thinking twice my brother jumped into the river, " he added.

He said it had to be him only to attempt such a daring act of rescuing his fellow trekker.

“Shakeel was compassionate, loving, friendly and a brave man, be it any situation. He was crazy about river water rafting and trekking and would assist his fellow trekkers every time he would accompany them,” he said.

"In the death of Shakeel, we have lost a friend and a brave heart tour guide but he left an example for all of us that how as a host he gave priority to the safety of his guests over his life,".

Top Gun Maverick: The hard deck for this operation is 5000 feet…

Gentlemen, the hard deck for this operation is 5000 feet… 

It sure is because it never lowers that ceiling. Its been 36 years since the 1st top gun came out, 21 since I first saw it, n number of times since and waiting impatiently for this one to release since the last 2 years. 

If you want to experience the legacy of what really the craze and legacy of top gun really is, I highly highly highly recommend that you watch the original top gun first if you haven`t and then head to Top Gun Maverick. Top Gun Maverick is all about tying the loose ends and criticisms of the 1st one and bringing a closure to the life of Maverick. Although its a proper movie in itself but you might not truly appreciate it if you don’t have an idea about the events of the 1st one as it has hidden references to the 1st one with flashback shots or frames , the reference and importance of which fans would get instantly. I have a lot to say but as my mind is in afterburner, the thoughts are going past mach speed. 

So lets get on with Top Gun Maverick first. The story is just a premise for the aerial shots and nothing else. While the story mission might seem simple to you, the execution of how thats executed is what is the whole cake and the icing on that. Tom Cruise picks up from where he left it 36 years ago, pushing past the limits of men and machine but this time he steps back when he feels that. Only he can convey the emotions and the demons he fights. The rest of the cast barring 1-2, try to support him but sometimes it feels like they were just fillers in the story. Penny Benjamin doesnt exude the same aura as Charlie.

The music is a huge letdown. The new songs are nothing you would remember anyway. What you would remember nevertheless are the same old ones you have grown up hearing- Top Gun theme, Danger Zone and Great balls of fire. The old ones are there in this one – don’t worry. 

The action sequences, dogfights , maneuvers are worth the price of ticket alone. You would be left at the edge of your seats watching jets pulling up 8-9 G in breaking , barrel rolls and all such stuff. The real G pulls show up on the faces of actors as they push the air envelop in the F-18s. Its all real this time and its no acting to get those blackouts and facial expressions. The final mission is where it all explodes in a flurry – Jets, Gs, SAMs, Flares, Bandits…. Everything you can think of in a combat mission. Speaking of mission- its not easy to execute in any way…the one described in the movie, I have tried similar ones in various pc games over the past 21 years and its equally challenging there too as it has been shown in the movie. 

Tom Cruise had said that there would be no top gun 2 without “Iceman” Val Kilmer and surely enough you realize there can`t be one as you head into the scene of Maverick meeting Iceman. Emotions would run high and dry and you are bound to have tears when you realize the importance of this scene and how special it must have been for Cruise, his team, Kilmer`s family to have him on screen considering they included his present condition in the movie. A pilot and his wingman meeting after so so long…. but the ending with that iconic line “Who`se the best pilot” ? 

Now I come to why you should watch / referesh your memory with the 1986 classic first…The nostalgia hits you from the 1st frame itself. The opening credits would fool you into believing that you are watching the original, coz they are exactly the same. A lot of the original has been retained in Top Gun Maverick. The carrier deck operations have been shot in the same way as the old one but they somewhat lack the punch when your mind starts the comparison. A lot of dialogues and situations are almost the same as they happened 36 years ago- I don’t know whether those are the standard for Top Gun in general or was that homage. The background music is carried forward from the old one in the same situation/situations. It does sets you up for anticipation and amazingly exceeds it well. 

The movie starts the narrative with an F-18 Super Hornet and ends with an F-14 Tomcat. I heard collective gasps and applause in the hall when tomcat made its appearance in the movie and was put to work with its USP feature which only the aviation geeks know. It did signify the long history with a movie which made it a household name back then. The carrier scene at the climax would remind you of the one with “ Cougar”… Who is Couger you might ask… the answer to that my friend lies in the original. 

Tom Cruise really outdoes himself this time… be it the action sequences or the emotions. Now he has come a full circle. If the 1986 one was a flight in afterburner, the 2022 movie is knowing how to land the plane back when “flying on vapours”.

वो चाय की ट्रे ........

वो चाय की ट्रे....

दो परिवारों से ज्यादा दो अजनबियों के बीच की ख़ामोशी को जोड़ती हुई

बस एक ज़रिया बन गयी है कुछ बातें कहने को, कुछ बातें सुनने को

लड़के की ख़ामोशी और लड़की की हिचकिचाहट को भाँपती हुई वो चाय की ट्रे

वो कुछ जानना चाहता है उसके बारे में, वो कुछ सुनना चाहती है उसके बारे में

इसी कशमकश की ख़ामोशी का हिस्सा बनती है वो चाय की ट्रे

ज़ुबा कुछ बोलना चाहती है मगर आँखें न जाने क्यूँ बस ज़मीन ताकती रहती हैं

वो चोरी छुपे देख लेता है उसको, वो भी भांप लेती है खुद पे उसकी आती जाती नज़रें

शुरू होता है कुछ बातों का सिलसिला

कितना रहस्मयी लगता है दूसरा इंसान और अजीब सी भाग दौड़ लगती है कुछ ही समय में उसको जान

लेने की

आँखों ही आँखों में घर वालों को हाँ का इशारा कर दिया जाता है

फिर एक बार फिर हाज़िर होती है वो चाय की ट्रे, मिठाई के साथ

रखे-रखे ही ठंडी हो जाती है वो ट्रे में रखी चाय जब सपनों की दुनिया में, सामने आई लड़की पहली नज़र में कहीं अधूरी रह जाती है

बर्फ के एक ठन्डे पानी सा लगता है एक चाय का घूँट भी तब

सपने टूटते हैं दोनों तरफ के और उसके अनदेखे काँच धंसते हैं बहुत अन्दर तक.

चाय की ट्रे पकड़े ही रह जाती है लड़की, उसके देखने आने वालों के आने वाले इंतज़ार के जवाब में ही

बस एक हंसी ख़ुशी की तकल्लुफ़ बन जाती है चाय जब वो अपने घर वालों को ले आता है उसके घर

वो जो उलझी रहती है दुनिया भर में बाकी दिन, आज अपने हाथों से चाय बना रही है सबके लिए

इश्क में दोनों की हाँ तो कब की हो गयी, अब तो सिर्फ एक रिवाज़ भर पूरा करना है

थोड़ा डर तो फिर भी है मन में और उस दबे मन में हजारों प्रार्थनाएं एक हाँ के लिए

एक हाँ के बाद की ख़ुशी तो शायद सबने देखी है , मगर दिल के अन्दर अपने हमसफ़र को पा लेने की

 कोशिश की ख़ुशी किसी को नहीं पता

इन सब मुलाकातों का एक हिस्सा बनती है वो चाय की ट्रे

अहमियत कुछ ख़ास नहीं उसकी मगर बातचीत शुरू करने का हिस्सा बनती है वो दर्शक बन कर

देख लेती है दो अजनबियों की हिचकिचाहट को हाँ में बदलते हुए

देख लेती है एक लड़की का दिल फिर से टूटते हुए उस वजह से जिस पे उसका कोई जोर नहीं

देख लेती है वो उन प्रेमियों के मिलने की ख़ुशी और बिछड़ जाने का अनजाना डर

बहुत कुछ महसूस कर लेती है..... वो चाय की ट्रे

" Doctor साहब आप भगवान् हो " . He said.......

Doctor साहब आप भगवान् हो, बाकी सब यह नेता वेता लोग बेकार हैं..यह कोई भगवान् नहीं .

These are words spoken by a man in a general ward to a resident doctor as the doctor wrote in his medical terminology to provide a bed to the patient in a well known govt. medical institute in lucknow as I was standing just metres away with the same dilemma… the hunt for an empty hospital bed for my mother.

Whats the story you may or may not ask, so here is a short detail about it....

My mother had suffered a brain haemorrhage due to very high bp some 5 months back. When she went to the hospital with her medical report of the test, she suffered a panic attack in the OPD and her bp went through the roof. The slight curving of the mouth due to the paralytic attack and slurrying speech as she tried to talk. The doctors advised my father for admission so that she can be put on drips to control the bp. I was in another city in my office. The moment the call came that she had to be hospitalised, I rushed back immediately all the while hoping that it remains stable in the 2 hours it would take me to catch a taxi and head home.

My adrenaline went into pure combat mode. I was asked to head home instead as there was no bed available there and an acquaintance was meanwhile trying to see if he could find any there. Although we were given the option to have her admitted anywhere we could find a bed, we chose to decline as wanted her to be treated by the doctors who had witnessed her condition first hand.

Reaching home, I immediately left for the hospital and carrying her medical card I caught up with the acquaintance. He had no luck since hours. There was no bed  in pvt. ward available, no general even. I myself begged with the HOD , even the director of the institute for the same but they were also helpless against non availability. This was all despite the fact that the OPD doctor had written in the medical card that she needed to be admitted. All this while I was alone in the hospital. Next I went inside the Neuro General ward and stood at one place, trying to catch sight of any empty bed I could see. I talked to 1-2 resident doctors at that time and told them my issue but to no avail. After 5 mins a RD came into the ward and saw me holding the colour coded card and inquired. I told him. As he was south indian, he could speak handful of hindi but to expect him to understand everything was a tough thing. He told me to wait and see. My other instinct told me to abandon the idea, call home and tell them to look into any other hospital but I was so tired off all this the whole day that my mind refused to think at all. I stood there rooted to the ground.

There was no empty bed in the 30+ I could see. Just then I saw a man come up to the same RD along with his friend with some reports and he too had the same request- a bed for his mother. He was from a rural area. The RD was trying to gauge the medical history of the patient from him but hindi was proving to be a bit of barrier so I decided to help the doc and translate for him all the info he needed in English.

“डॉक्टर साहब, एक बेड का सवाल है. बहुत दूर से आये हैं, हालत खराब है. आप जो कहियेगा मैं करूँगा, आपके पैर पड़ता हूँ. आपका ही सहारा है”.

He had the same despair as me. I could try another hospital which was far from my home, but he didn’t have that option. When the RD completed all the papers and wrote that a bed maybe allotted , the man with tears in his eyes said, “डॉक्टर साहब आप भगवान् हो, बाकी सब यह नेता वेता लोग बेकार हैं..यह कोई भगवान् नहीं. भगवान् सिर्फ डॉक्टर होता है ”. I don’t know what prompted him to bring a politician in the pic but I guessed the true nature of any politician must have come into the fore who might have promised him his clout at the time of vote begging.

In the next 2 mins, a patient file came for discharge formalities at the nursing station and before I could blink, the RD turned around to me, wrote the same bed number on the card. I don’t know what I felt then – relief, exhaustion.. I had gone too numb now. That whole fiasco ended for me at 1 am in the night when I returned home leaving my father at the hospital for the night.

The one line said by that UP wale bhaiya or my dilemma reaffirmed our thinking that in times of medical needs, a doc is the person we look upto first. They do everything in their power to see a patient recover. Its just that the medical infra in this country needs a lot to be desired and is never on the agenda of any politician.

On that note, don’t take covid lightly and never believe any politician who says that any version of covid is light. It can take lives in an instance and has taken quite a few of the ones I once knew. Politician talk is just for garnering votes, nothing more.