From the Matriach

Today is one of the rare days, when Im in the same room as Shabnam Hashmi, and no hustle of a programme going on. We are in A- /1205 (ANHAD Mumbai office); it’s a typical winter afternoon which gives you a feeling of still being in the morn under a blanket. But no one’s lulling here; Im writing this post, Waqar has gone out for some work, and there sits our Matriarch, soul of ANHAD, driving force and guiding light, going about the business of work. And today Im not going to let her go away without writing a few words…. (Chandni)

I wanna break free

My shadow follows:

The cursed darkness

What options do I have?

Than to follow it

And be followed???

My smiles are eerie

My laughter hollow

Behind the facade

The madness bellows…

The blind learn Braille

And photography today

My ache is paradoxial

I WANT TO BE BLIND!!

 Why?

My eyes see a lot

They stop me at lots

The sights boil my blood

And it drips down- down and down

Why can’t I be at peace?

And just walk away?

Why does this shadow loom?

And keep dragging at my knee?

LET ME GO

Let me be free

I wanna break free!!!

(Chandni)

A little drop of sunshine

I’m really bogged down. I have actually crossed all bypasses of the Mumbai’s heartline. From Central to Harbour then finally to Western. And yes, all the work in between. Half Dead!

I enter the office/home on 12th floor. The little room is abuzz! A group of boys is seated near the PC- chatting or doing something on youtube. Prem asks me for tea. I say no, not feeling like. He feels I’m angry about something. Now how to make some thins understood?

I enquire about the progress (about organizing ‘Celebrating Democracy’) and come to know that this group of boys are from nearby colleges and are helping Prem and Waqar in reaching out to colleges. They narrate their adventures. ‘In one college the principal said that they don’t allow private organisations into their domain’, ‘We covered five colleges today’…

A few more enter…  Mutual introductions take place- between me and them. Chatting continues.

 Waqar enters, dead tired, more than me. I ensue a focused discussion with him. We decide upon our next steps of action. Our buddies in the room also join in.. Slowly the conversation drifts… Response of students and staff to a talk conducted by ANHAD (speaker-Rajat Kapoor), Burqa, Gender, Tirupati (Waqar informs me that the Tirupati laddoo has been patented, the laughter shakes my insides), Tommorow’s excursion (Waqar informs his intention ‘I am joining you just to eat all yours tiffins!’), Caste Discrimination and so on… Waqar speaks, and so do I- with the flow of the experienced (don’t read ‘experience’ as age here). But my eyes watch the other youth in the room (includes another woman except me). They have their rawness, but also their passion… I see that the touch of feelings in the opinions they express (which are liberal and progressive)…

Its time to leave. Waqar tells me to stop in for more helpings of conversation.. But work again. And yes, I had also done what I had come for. And I had laughed. Shared and heard. I look out of the French windows. It’s a beautiful scene- a rain dipped sky.

The last time I had come here, it was only me, Waqar and Prem, a PC and a laptop in this room.. Today the room was almost full..  Its growing… I cant help smiling as I leave. And why should I?

Yeh Duniya Khubsurat Thi Kabhi

Ye duniyan khubsoorat thi kabhi, bekhauf rahen thin

Thi apni sarhaden lambi, badi chaudi simayen thin

Parinde apni galiyon me kabhi chahat se aate the

Kabhi Jo geet sarhad paar me bhi Gaye jate the

Bada be aabru hai ye jamana, ab raas Na aaye

Yahan ab har taraf katil nigahen khojti unko

Kabhi Jo sath khele the gharaunde ko banane me

Abhi VO baj Na aate hai koi ghar jalane me

Nafrat si hoti hai faqat ab sun ke bhi jisko

VO mandiron ki ghanti, Jo kabhi man KO lubhati thi

Dilon KO chir deti hai, lage jaise koi kolahal ho

VO masjid ke surile taan, Sufi Santo ki VO batein,

Macha hai maut ka matam, hai pasra khun ka manjar

Kabhi Hui babari banjar, ram ke nam pe khanjar

Dharma kis kaam ka, Jo kaum pe hi bhari pad jaye

Faqat insaan VO, insaniyaat ke kam Jo aaye

Lahu ke rang ek hain, ye dhadkan ek jaisi hai

Hamare dil ke kone me, vajah nafrat ki kaisi hai?

Tum mulyo se mat khelo, sahishnu hon, ye baat sacchi hai

Yehan kuchh log sahme hain, per hamari kaum achhi hai

Yahan hai loktantra, log jiski aatma hain

Dharmnirpeksh hai ye desh phir ye jang kyun hai?

(Contributed by Rakesh Kumar)

Celebrating Democracy- Competition

Hey! In here to know about the competition Anhad is holding? Or just browsing? Whatever! Justgive a peep here!

The Mosaic

The  mosaic stretches across 28 states, 7 union territories, so many religions, so many castes, so many languages, genders, ethnicities, races…….

Every entity has borders. Borders are statements of the entity, like a personality. Borders are to differentiate. But when borders begin to bleed?

Like all entities this nation has its borders, within and for outside. It has its design. It has its mosaic…

But the design cuts deeper here, when ‘Bihari’ is a condescended word, when anyone from or roots in south is ‘Madrasi’, when ‘Aurat’ is defined as ‘dhakke rakhne ki cheez’, when Muslims are called ‘Traitors’, when genocide takes place in the name of religion….

When ‘the Different’ becomes ‘the Hated’ and ‘the Feared’, the design cuts deeper. People  bleed, nation bleeds, society bleeds, rights bleed, equality bleeds, democracy bleeds, harmony bleeds, peace bleeds, progress bleeds…

 Dogs bark down those outside their colonies. But we are not dogs, and we cannot live like them. We become human when we are able to see ‘different’ as different and nothing else. And we become  Greater Human when we appreciate difference and enjoy it. And finally we become Even Greater Human when we fight to protect ‘the-wrong-side-of-different’, work to counter hate with love and spread fraternity within hostility.

Here at Anhad, we believe in this fight. We love this Mosaic. And we Celebrate it!