To an inspiration and role model

A poem written, one slot before his last class, for arguably the best teacher who has taught me.

Break Through

We might miss breakfast, we might miss sleep
But there is a class we rush to, to hear stories so deep
Stories which on hearing, evoke a sea of smiles
Stories to last the entire day, and we are sure, all the remaining miles

The spark is unmistakable, the delight pervasive
“Hear and learn new ideas, without being dismissive”
Expands everyday, the definition of what’s possible
The kinds which blow our minds and make us go “phenomenal”

Ten minutes, ten marks and ten lines, goes the test
A sheet of paper not about the marks but the shortest and the best
How we sometimes wish we knew all the answers, be the masters
But we have learned for better, questions answer more than the answers

Sometimes we admire, sometimes we are in awe
Sometimes filled with wonder, complete with thrill of breaking the law
Nothing is sacred, nothing out of bounds
Question everything, never mind the rounds

In the end, words are so little to say what we want to
For every class we had, we wish there were more, or at least two
Stuck with inadequacy of words and of rhymes
Want to say thank you for the most memorable times

– Ishan ‘tarang’

Waiting to end

Hear silently, we are glowing
on the outside and in our heart
but away we are looking
from the destinies entwined from start

This is the farthest I can go
I have lost my shadow already
maybe it was so long ago
that nothing is left of it, not even a memory

I wait for you to turn
and you wait for me
I have waited long and I yearn
to hold your hand and flee

But the time continues to flow
and the nature conspires
to make us strangers, to let go
the light inside us, and the fires

I would like to believe it’s not yet autumn
but the flowers are falling on us
and I ask the wind trailing the setting sun
to line all on the other side, all the roses

– Ishan ‘tarang’

At the junction

Why I can’t seem to know
the directions from where we came
the roads we took
to the places I don’t know

Why do the chosen paths forget themselves
the reason of their existence
the steps in the ladder
leading to our destiny

We can choose which way to take
but not the destination
like the dream that our mind weaves
but doesn’t know the ending of

Forgetting the reason
of standing where I stand
all the plans can only melt
in the furnace of time

The dilemma of choice
the futility of choosing the right over left
the agony of dreaming the future
while the present stands still

The inability to decide
to keep or to give to you
what is not completely mine
but truly ours

Or maybe it’s just me
swayed by the colors
and the scenery against which I rowed blind
with the two hands of time

Is it just a mere coincidence
that we are drowning
in the time that flows,
dissolved in each other’s eyes?

 

– Ishan ‘tarang’

 

P.S Something I wrote extremely quickly on my phone many days ago. Kind of reflects that particular day and the thoughts at that particular time 🙂 Had a very different feeling writing it and felt no rhyme either.

Dota poem

Don’t fret, go for the first blood
Take lead, nip the problems in the worst bud
When done, hit the road for the double kill
One step at a time takes you farther than standing still
Don’t miss any chance, pick the triple kill
Use what’s available, what fits the bill
If you desire m – m – m monster kill
Don’t look down when climbing up a hill
And why worry about every Jack and Jill
Sure they went up the hill but did they find ultra kill?
Follow these and you will be dominating in no time
No no, don’t praise me too much for this simple rhyme
Just focus on the right skills to hone
Soon it will be all yours, claim the Frozen throne!

P.S I wrote this poem for a friend on Facebook when a DotA related discussion was going on  🙂
Wrote it within fifteen minutes just for fun.

Kal aur Aaj

कल और आज

बातें  दूर  से  करते  थे
पर  आवाज़  की  गूँज  तो  दिलों  में  थी
सोचते  थे  ये  फासला  कैसे  होगा  कम

कब  तक  छुपते  इस  धूप  से
जो  हमारी  आँखों  की  चमक  थी
न  जगह  थी  अन्दर  और  न  ही  बाहर

सागर  और  रेत  खड़े  हैं  अब  आमने  सामने
पर  एक  रुकने  को  तैयार  नहीं
और  दूसरा  साथ  चलने  को

समंदर  करता  हैं  कोशिशें  हज़ार
पकड़  के  हाथ  लिए  हैं  कई  बार  कदम
पर  कश्ती  अभी  भी  है  इसी  किनारे

भूलने  की  कोशिश  करेंगे  हम
न  ढूंढेंगे  तुम्हे  मन  की  उन  गलियों  में
जो  साथ  घूमीं  थी  हमने

मन  तो  ख्वाब  ही  देखेगा
हो  सके  तो  न  आना  ख्याल  में
कीमती  हैं  सपने  मेरी  बंद  आँखों  के

चल  पड़ें  हैं  हम  अलग  रास्तों  पर
पर  उम्मीद  है  मिलेंगी  ये  नदियाँ
बहने  से  किसने  रोका  है  पानी  को

– ईशान ‘तरंग’

 

 

P.S I was told by a friend, of these two lines written by the famous poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz (I don’t know if these are the exact lines)

आज  तुमको  भूल  जाने  की  कोशिश  करेंगे  हम
तुमसे  भी  हो  सके  तो  न  आना  ख्याल  में

I really liked these lines and wanted to explore the theme further. The poem above is my take (or some sort of expansion/elaboration) on the idea.

I haven’t read the original. Just that the idea seemed very nice 🙂

What we don’t say

Silence breathed in, is like bliss
Fills the void of something amiss
Moves without making a move
Fits smoothly in time’s lyrical groove

The questions will go unanswered
The truth seemingly so layered
Still read without being spoken
The words from a heart taken

The eyes looking at the ground
Looking away from the beating sound
Sliding on a slippery slope
Choosing between pain and hope

Smile, the trusted companion
The rainbow bridging the canyon
The still vibrant thread between you and me
Between past and future, and destiny

Endorses my silent plea for another day
When hopefully the time turns right for me to say
The incongruous words in a distant tomorrow
Of times when seconds flew by really slow

The time that, I suspect, may not arrive
But the idea, in other heart, will survive
Belief sails even in the face of a storm
Don’t we live to love, to transform?

– Ishan ‘tarang’

Make you smile

Why do I try to make you smile
Scattered tunes always trying to compile
The song which forever stayed juvenile
Never heard beyond the confined mile

From within can’t sieve the moment
Can’t convince my heart adamant
Beating second doesn’t have space for argument
And so the red love still flows resonant

– Ishan ‘tarang’

(Maybe more will be added later. Maybe.)

Someday it will

I think of the road not taken, the one with street lights
The one supposed to hold all the delights
Is it the craving for a brighter sun or a darker shadow?
On a sultry day I crossed the fence
Carving ways in the wilderness dense,
No fear of the consequence

Someday it will all make sense

 

The everyday day never ceases to amaze
The eyebrows, the smiles, the seldom gaze
Is it the meticulous freedom or the confused boredom?
The stage, the play, the masked pretence
Fill the half glass with overflowing romance,
Served with a dance

Someday it will all make sense

 

Music comes from the entangled strings inside
The lines don’t ask before they coincide
Is it the real deal or an impulsive zeal?
The dormant voice hides the bubbly impatience
The redness permeates the veins’ defence,
The silence before the moments intense

Someday it will all make sense

 

While it lasts, savour the love
Believe in the strings pulled from above
Is it problem of the plenty or the scarcity?
Cold winds make the memories condense
Heavy the clouds blow but not ready to dispense,
A tribute to the care immense

Someday it will all make sense

 

Though questions ring the bell all the time
I still miss opening all the doors sublime
Is it the lazy evening or the mysterious night?
Reading the book from the covers, I always commence
Why the answers reveal themselves only in a sequence,
Oh the great suspense

Someday it will all make sense

– Ishan ‘tarang’

What is

Love is different for everyone, not how the world tells you it is
Respect the courage when he tells you, the way it is
Life might be short but not the moments that come with it
Feel from your heart which can not hide the beats inside it

– Ishan ‘tarang’

In your hands

Hope is a good thing
And no good thing ever dies
Don’t think when you sing
Because no song from the heart ever lies

Feel everything
Because you never know what might surprise
Give each thought a wing
Because nothing succeeds before hundred tries

Don’t lose your zing
Without it nothing ever flies
Hear each string
Because you must know the lows and highs

Keep moving
No one else, only you need replies
Try, as many smiles as you can bring
Because in the end, there is no bigger prize

– Ishan ‘tarang’

(First two lines are from shawshank redemption. Something made me think of those and the rest just happened. Wrote it on my way to Sriharikota.)