Building Myself from Scratch

I was watching a sixties movie last week. Halfway through the black-and-white classic I remembered having heard from my father’s mouth that this was an outstanding movie. I was surprised that I had that insignificant and meaningless (to me then) one sentence film review in my memory because I must have been under 10 then. The movie really was very well made. It wasn’t a popular movie then and isn’t remembered much now either. It suited my taste and style though. I asked myself if I had acquired that taste from my father. This could be my wishful thinking. Yet it always amazes me to think how that half set of genes of each of my parents eventually shaped me to this day. How this 60+ kilos of my body with all its fully functioning organs emerged from that single tiny cell formed about 38 weeks before my birth? Read on …

दस्तक

कहीं से उठकर फिर एक दिन चला आता है
रिवाज़ों को गोद लिए पलछिन चला आता है

इस उम्र में अच्छा नहीं लगता है जो दस्तूर
न जाने क्योंकर भला तुम बिन चला आता है

बड़ा हो गया हूँ अब तारीख दस्तक नहीं देते
दुआ बूँद में भर आँसू लेकिन चला आता है

छुप जाती हो तुम फिर कभी न आने के लिए
औ’ बचपन मेरा दस तक गिन चला आता है