व्यस्तता के बाद

दूर तक फैले समुद्र
जंगल- रेगिस्तान- शहर- आदमी
और जीवन के अनगिन
अजनबी विचारों से भेंट कर
वापस जब लौटा मैं,
चाँदनी
कमरे में सो रही थी।
किसी मंदिर की घंटियों,
बर्फ के नीचे बहते जल
या बारिश की रिमझिम सी
शुद्ध ध्वनि की तरह
वह
बाहर दरख्तों पर छाई थी।
मुझे पता है
जैसे रौशनी
हर चीज़ से उठा देती है पर्दा,
आगे बढ़ जाती है सड़क ,
ठीक वैसे ही
सब कुछ
साफ़ होने लगा है।

इसका इलाज़ क्या है ?

यह बहुत अजीब है। आज जयपुर के एक महिला महाविद्यालय में अंग्रेजी की स्नातकोत्तर छात्राओं को नाट्यशास्त्र का रासध्याय पढ़ाने के लिए बुलाया गया था। कुछ आदत है कि अध्यापन के लिए मैं कभी मना नहीं करता.और फिर तीन - चार दिन का ही काम था इसलिए और आसानी से हाँ कर दिया. कक्षा में पहुंचा तो पता लगा कि किसी के भी पास अंग्रेजी में किया गया और पाठ्यक्रम में स्वीकृत अनुवाद नहीं था। महाविद्यालय ने शायद इसकी ज़रुरत ही महसूस नहीं कि थी या उनके यहाँ उपलब्ध नहीं था और उन्होंने इसके लिए कोई प्रबंध भी नहीं किया था। इसी तरह राजस्थान के केंद्रीय विश्वविद्यालय में हुआ। वहां तो सारी सामग्री भी भिजवा दी गयी थी फिर भी वह पढने वालों को समय रहते नहीं दी गयी थी। लिहाजा दोनों तरफ के छात्र एक ही स्थिति में थे। यह कहना भी यहाँ ज़रूरी है कि दोनों ही जगह पढने वालों का समूह अच्छा था लेकिन वे इस विषय कि कोई पृष्ठभूमि न होने के कारण समझ पाने में असमर्थ थे। नतीजा वही हुआ कि पहला दिन तो उन्हें विषय से परिचित कराने में ही निकल गया। इसमें छात्रों या छात्राओं कि गलती नहीं थी। उनकी गलती तब होती जब सामग्री होने के बाद भी वे पढ़कर न आये होते। कमोबेश यही हाल सब जगह है। हम पढने वालों पर यह आरोप आसानी से लगा देते हैं कि वे पढ़ना नहीं चाहते लेकिन अपनी ओर नहीं देखते। पुस्तकें उपलब्धता सुनिश्चित किये बिना पाठ्यक्रम में लगा दी जाती हैं। अगर कोई अनुवाद प्रस्तावित है तो उसका स्तर तथा उपलब्धता का विचार नहीं किया जाता। अपने विश्वविद्यालय के नाट्य विभाग में भी संस्कृत और पाश्चात्य नाटक पढ़ाते समय मैंने अनुभव किया कि दोनों ही भाषाओं में जो नाटक लगाए गए हैं उनके अनुवाद या तो ढंग के नहीं हैं और या फिर उपलब्ध नहीं हैं। अब यह अपेक्षा तो करना ज्यादती है कि वे प्रस्तावित सामग्री को उसकी मूल भाषा या अंग्रेजी अनुवाद के माध्यम से पढ़ें। ऐसी स्थिति में अध्यापक भी घास काटने को स्वतन्त्र हो जाता है। उसके लिए तो आसान है कि वह लेखक के, नाटक की कथा के बारे में पढाये और उसकी समीक्षा कर दे। एक तो वैसे ही पढ़ाने वाले कामचोरों की कमी नहीं है दूसरी तरफ जो पढ़ाना चाहता है उसके लिए सुविधा नहीं है। कब तक चलता रहेगा यह। मैं तो कोशिश कर लेता हूँ कि जो मेरे पास उपलब्ध है वह जीरोक्स करा कर छात्रों को दे सकूं लेकिन कितने लोग ऐसा करेंगे और क्यों करेंगे ? इस चक्कर में अनेक पुस्तकें मैं खो चुका हूँ और अभी पता नहीं कितनी मैं अन्वेषण कर तीसरी बार फिर खरीदूंगा। इसका हल क्या है ? क्या यह ऐसे ही चलता रहेगा या इसका कोई अंत भी है । मेरे साथी मित्र कहते हैं कि अब इतना भी बावला होने कि ज़रुरत नहीं है। तो क्या मैं उन बच्चों को भूल जाऊं जो मुझसे कुछ अपेक्षा रखते हैं और जो पढ़ना चाहते हैं ? क्या यह कर पाना संभव है ?

संवाद

कल एक फ़ोन किया
वहाँ
जहाँ जाना चाहते हैं सभी
वहीं रहता है मेरा बेटा,
"हलो पापा"
सुनते ही कहा
आज बनाया था
तुम्हारी पसंद का खाना,
अच्छा बना था
इसलिए याद आई बहुत ,
" अपनी -अपनी किस्मत है पापा "
उसने कहा
"मेरी किस्मत में नहीं था
घर का खाना "
मैं चुप रहा
कैसे कहता उससे
कि क्या कुछ नहीं है
मेरी किस्मत में .

Ajmer University

I have been to this place before but never liked the sleepy,deserted look it always presented.The buildings in the campus were beautiful but the place never looked inviting.This time when I happened to be there on the 10th of August 2010 the place appeared to have changed.Instead of old weeds,& unwanted bushes a lush green campus welcomed me.Old desolated buildings looked new with well paved roads & lots of trees planted all around.I stayed in the university guest house with my wife.This too was a much better,cleaner & a well organized place. The staff was well mannered,& courteous. The rooms were neat &the food was tolerably good despite the limited menu & certain restrictions which are understandable.I was pleasantly surprised at this turn around of the university campus.It is now green not only because of the green fields & trees but also because of solar power panels for energy saving.I was told, not only by the insiders of the University but outsiders also, that the present Vice- Chancellor is responsible for this change.Well,I have known the present Vice-Chancellor.Prof.Bhagirath Singh for more than a decade.In fact we worked together for about five years in Rajasthan University when he was the chief Procter & I was his associate but I never came to know his full potential as an administrator. I never realized that this man can have such a good aesthetic sense.People say that appearances are deceptive & it proved so right in case of this old friend of mine.I am told that he has also introduced some new courses but I hardly had time to talk to him about them.However,being an academician, I know that new courses are very necessary for the academic upliftment of any university & Prof. Bhagirath Sing has realized it well.He seems to have some vision & is presently working in larger interest. There were & there may be many people who may make fun of him on various grounds but his work should be enough to quieten all of them.Well done Boss.I cannot refrain from praising you.Wish you good luck for the future.

Notes on a Fiction

“If you Love Someone”, written by Harimohan Paruvu,is a very different novel from his debut fiction ‘The Men Within’. It is very difficult to choose a subject like “ Love” for writing since it is fraught with unforeseen dangers of being too personal on one hand & elaborate on the other. Love is personal, complex, tender & yet a very powerful emotion hence it is all the more difficult to sustain the thread of a love story. Harimohan has dealt this topic with great aplomb. One can find different shades of love, besides the popular one, in this novel. The loving relationship of the four young college girls holds the thread of the story but does not in any way influence or destroys the main love story of Meghana & Aditya. When we meet Aditya, for the first time in the novel, we find it difficult to comprehend his enigmatic personality but as the story unfolds we come to terms with Him. We understand him, sympathize with him & even love him for the tenacity of his character. Then there is Pankaj, Meghana’s husband, who claims to love her & yet for him his personal self is most important despite the fact that he would not have survived in his business without the selfless help of his wife. But He also changes in the end by facilitating the meeting of Meghana & Aditya.The novel proves a point beyond doubt that love is & should be free from the feeling of possession, from the usual routine of give & take. Honestly, it is a story of platonic love in which I did not believe & still find difficult to accept but after reading this book I feel that it may exist at least for some people. Overall it is a very dispassionately told passionate tale of love & when I say this I mean that the author has to detach him or herself from the characters to be able to individualize them. He has to be an observer to a great extent & Harimohan has done it with all the characters of his novel. The characters are very human, therefore like all of us, they too have their plus & minus points. I can write more on this novel but my sole idea is to assert that it is a good work & should be read by all who are interested in reading fiction.

The Men Within

Some time back I read a novel entitled " The Men within " written by Harimohan Paruvu. It is not only a book on life lessons, self help & management but makes a great reading- read the word great with a capital G. It is very reasonably priced ( Rs. 195 for 256 pages to be precise ) & is a Very Good read from beginning to end.When I had bought this book I was very doubtful about my selection.I had thought that it may turn out to be a didactic sort of novel.I was proved wrong by the author.It is primarily a novel that very cleverly answers many questions that are raised by life situations.I repeat my words , " It is a Great Read " & Without hesitation I recommend this book to all for an off beat, purposeful & interesting reading.

No Name for this Poem

I do not write in English but when I was in America I did write this poem in a language that I am not very comfortable with.My Daughter in law Rashmi Vaish not only published it in her blog known as " A life in Indigo " but also provided the much needed punctuation marks. I am borrowing it from her to duplicate it here. Rashmi is a gifted writer. She has served in India's leading news papers & then in New York she worked for a big community weekly.She is an excellent photographer too.People should read her to evaluate the depth of her thought. Now the " Untitled " poem ---

Some moments of life,
lived & unlived,
raise questions,
countless questions.

I hear them through the bones of my head.

Rack my brains to find answers.

They are but doubtful.

An old gratitude

hangs to some unknown crease.

Eyes wander onto fogy pathways

till they tire & return.

A delicate thread

that joins two parallel lines

snaps without a warning

under a strange heavy weight.

Countless yellow leaves

scattered all around

create a directional illusion.

A human image

wearing dark green sun glasses

toiling hard to see greenery around

fails & commits suicide.

A big black zero looms large in the air

are these my achievements

or is this the path which I traversed ?

success is but a fleeting waft of air.

the big black zero still looms large,

bent upon breaking all that I cherish.

I wish to burst this zero into many

to own as many zeros as I can

before it puts me down forever.