Hallucinations

Remember the rope you took for a snake in the dark ; or the broom that looked like a monster's tail? And you must not have forgotten those hanged clothes you thought were head-less spirits!

Hallucination – thatz the term. Google, the Guru says, “It is a perception of having seen, heard, touched, tasted or smelled something that wasn't actually there.”

This reminds me of my friend Zavian's fearsome experience. He is an extremely smart and logical person. I am quite fond of him, though he seems to avoid me. Undeviatingly to the point, a few days ago, at around 2:00 a.m., Zavian was lying on his bed waiting for him slumber. Being a fearless 22-year old guy, he prefers to sleep alone in his unlit room. He shrinked his eyebrows a little as he could observe a weird, eerie, almost-inaudible music coming from afar. As soon as he paid attention to the music, he discovered a pair of strange footsteps slowly approaching his room. He lifted his eyelids up and started to figure out the sources of the sounds. He is sensible enough to understand that the music was nothing but an auditory hallucination that almost everyone has experienced once or more – knowingly or unknowingly. However he took the footsteps seriously. He sat up, turned his smartphone-flashlight on and started looking around for anything hard or sharp to counter-attack the assumed intruder.

The door of his room wasn't shut but the curtains were drawn. Before he could find anything helpful, he saw shadow of somebody behind the curtain. He tried to sneak a little below the curtain. He heavily breathed-out as he saw his father's footwear. He realised that it was his father who had returned from his office.

Devoid of further auditory disturbances, he lied down again. He could not sleep. He felt uncomfortable. He had a feeling that somebody or something from somewhere is continuously gazing at him. After a dozen cuddles with his blanket on his bed, Zavian sat up again and screamed at once. His heart skipped a beat. He started breathing heavily as he saw an obscure body sitting on a chair right in front of him. It was still. It was abnormally shaped. My friend didn't turn on the flashlight this time. He rather started laughing at himself. Afterall, it was he himself who had kept a stack of unfolded clothes on the chair which his mother might have forgotten to keep in place. He went back to sleep.

Yes, my friend Zavian is a wise person. He has a logical reasoning for everything happening around him. Although, little does my insightful friend know that his father had come back at 6:00 a.m that day and his mother had not forgotten to keep the clothes in almirah...

How do I know that? Well, I told you I am quite fond of him, though he seems to avoid me.

                                    ----- Mariya BB 🖊️

बीते साल की बातें

इकट्ठा हो रही हैं मन में बीते साल की बातें

ज़रा मीठी, ज़रा तीखी वो‌ बीते साल की यादें

हुआ करती थीं कुछ मेरी भी सहेलियाँ

मशहूर थीं हमारी हर छोटी-बड़ी अठखेलियाँ

करते सुबह से दोपहर हम हज़ारों गुफ़्तगू

फिर भी न जाने क्यों रह गईं

अंदर अनेक पहेलियाँ

इकट्ठा हो रही हैं मन में बीते साल की बातें

ज़रा मीठी, ज़रा तीखी वो‌ बीते साल की यादें

होते थे कभी कुछ हम खफ़ा

हो जाते नाराज़ वो भी कभी

रूठना-मनाना मगर

न कम हुआ न रुका कभी

पर उस दफ़ा वो रूठना, कुछ इस कदर ही हो गया

मनाया गया न उस दफ़ा, न फिर कभी, न आज भी

इकट्ठा हो रही हैं मन में बीते साल की बातें

ज़रा मीठी, ज़रा तीखी वो‌ बीते साल की यादें

वो सफ़र मुश्किल रहा पर बन गया अब याद है

माना वो पल अब बीत गए, तजुर्बा मगर वो साथ है

कुछ नफ़रतें कुछ मोहब्बतें, सब उस में ही शुमार हैं

यह ख़ास हैं, हाँ ख़ास हैं, यादें जो आस पास हैं

इकट्ठा हो रही हैं मन में बीते साल की बातें

ज़रा मीठी, ज़रा तीखी वो‌ बीते साल की यादें

एक सफर

रुक से गए हो क्यों

वजह थी क्या जिसने रोका

अभी तक ढूंढ रहे हो क्यों

बना लो खुद ही एक मौका

अज़ीज़ बोलें मिलेंगे कल

तो उनकी राह नहीं तकना

करना ना वक्त तुम ज़ाया

खुद उनकी ओर तुम बढ़ना

बढ़ें गर वो भी तुम्हारी ओर

तो फासले जल्द कम होंगे

मिलोगे जल्द तुम दोनों

वो तुम्हारे रू-ब-रू होंगे

थको गर तेज़ चलने से

तो धीरे-धीरे तुम चलना

धीरे चलने से नहीं मुसाफ़िर

तुम रुकने से मगर डरना

चल पड़ोगे जब सफ़र पर

तो धूप, धूल-मिट्टी भी सताएँगी

पर तुम्हें नहलाने के लिए

फ़िर बारिशें भी आएँगी

मिल लोगे तुम अज़ीज़ से

एक वक्त ऐसा वो आएगा

तुम्हारे मिलन की दास्ताँ से

माज़ी में पन्ना एक जुड़ जाएगा

A NIGHTMARE IN THE AFTERNOON

A NIGHTMARE IN THE AFTERNOON

20th December 2016; It was a winter afternoon when I came back to my home (which lies near to the main road) from my school. The present session was about to over in my right hand, my mind was trying to find ideas. I was trying to be concentrated as many a time I fell asleep while writing or thinking.

Hardly did I start writing a word when my mother offered me a cup of coffee and reminded me of the sunlight. Winter afternoons after all do not have enough sunlight. I took my coffee along with the notebook and pen to the terrace. “Come soon, the light won't wait for you.” A voice I heard when I was about to reach. It was my grandpa waiting for me there. He smiled at me and took one of the two cups I brought with me. I was a friend of my grandpa more than a granddaughter, so I shared the cause with him. He gave me good ideas. He loved paranormal and supernatural stuffs so most of the ideas given by him were very scary.

The light was waving us goodbye and we were seeing the sun setting in the west. I then realized that it was evening already and I had not yet started so I asked sorry to my grandpa for leaving along with the cup my mother gave me before going there.

As I reached the fifth down stair, I suddenly remembered the bus accident which took place on 20th December 2010 which took my grandpa away from me. A confused thought started wandering my head. Next moment I heard a loud sound of truck-horn and I looked at the clock hung on the wall of my room. It was 6:15 already and I was still sitting holding a pencil in my right hand keeping my head on the blank notebook.