har baat yahaa.N baat ba.Dhaane ke liye hai

since the festival which celebrates "talking" and "kite flying" (hmmm, wonder if the wise old men saw any connection there!) is here, let's talk about talking.

conversation, life talks, faltu gappa, chakatya, communication, discussions, bragging, name dropping, debates, arguments, confiding, sharing, fighting, telling, informing - so many shades of the same essential act. * am not going to talk about public speech like parliament et al. it's only about us in our little spheres.

then there is element, rather important, of who we are talking to - family, friends among family members, friends, family among friends, colleagues (seniors/juniors), acquaintaces, known strangers and absolute strangers.

and then comes how we do this - face to face, telephone, mobiles, letters, msgs, mails, tweets, so on...

where we engage? in train, taxis, homes, lying in bed, over girls' pyjama parties with lotsa chips, over a perfect drink, by the sea, under one umbrella with your best friend wading through water, over cutting chai, over strong brewed house coffee, which watching a scary, boring, masala movie,.

i have had some great conversations with strangers, on the train, buses, drunken parties - sometimes personal, sometimes poetic... lovely. sometimes i have lost the courage, conviction and confidence in carrying on conversations with some close friends over a period of time, sometimes i have gained it rather slowly. sometimes i share most personal stuff with strangers and keep most important thoughts from my closest friends. girl pals - take a bow, you have been a godsend at all times in life!

sometimes it is only about the beauty of the language, the sound of those words - sometimes it is about the thought (or point!) and not how it is said. sometimes hard facts - jobs, deaths, marriages, birth, death, travel itinery - each one resulting in numerous conversations at all levels with all possible people mentioned above!

it's increasingly becoming hard to be spontaneous, volatile, straightforward, emotional, upfront, frank, silly, stupid... as we grow older we acquire skills (how to say no when you want to say yes or some such gibberish!) - perhaps at the cost natural instinct (to avoid conflict, to not to sound naive and hence silly, to not to sound inexperienced and immature)?

is it really worth it? people are far more evocative on facebook and far less engaging in real - is it true? or am i missing out on keeping with the times? is this how it will be? can we talk about it? over a cup of coffee and til gul and in real?

am a gullible customer and i quote from an old mobile phone ad - today is the day for "JUST TALK" (remember orange ad before it went on to become hutch, vodafone blah blah). til gul ghya aani gode gode bola - take til ka laddoo and say sweet sweet things. Happy Makar Sakranti! (though one can limit kite flying to actual kite flying and not do it while conversing?)

har baat yahaa.N baat ba.Dhaane ke liye hai

har baat yahaa.N baat ba.Dhaane ke liye hai
ye umr jo dhokaa hai to khaane ke liye hai

ye daaman-e-hasarat hai vahii Khvaab-e-gurezaa.N
jo apane liye hai na zamaane ke liye hai

[gurezaa.N = fleeing]

utare hue chehare me.n shikaayat hai kisii kii
ruuThii hu_ii rangat hai manaane ke liye hai

Gaafil terii aa.Nkho.n kaa muqaddar hai andheraa
ye farsh to raaho.n me.n bichhaane ke liye hai

[Gaafil = careless/unaware]

ghabaraa na sitam se na karam se na adaa se
har mo.D yahaa.N raah dikhaane ke liye hai