वो अधूरा ख़्वाब

-
"अरे ये अभी तक तैयार नहीं हुई वो लोग आने वाले होंगे, ज़रा जल्दी करो तुम लोग ..", हड़बड़ाहट में कोई महिला बोल कर उतनी ही तेज़ी से कमरे से बाहर निकल गयी, जितनी तेज़ी से भीतर आयी थीं। 
       कौन है वो मेरी, जानी-पहचानी सी हैं फिर भी क्यों याद नहीं आ रहा ? मेरे आसपास शायद मेरी सहेलियां हैं या शायद मेरी ममेरी-चचेरी बहनें.. ओह मुझे क्यों नहीं याद इनके नाम ? बड़ा सा ये हवेली नुमा घर, बड़े-बड़े कमरे, गलियारे, बड़ी-बड़ी खिड़कियां और दूर तक फैली रेत ... ये कौन सी जगह है, किस शहर में हूँ मैं ? ये घर मेरा है, ये बड़ा सा कमरा भी ..सभी जाना पहचाना सा मगर फिर भी क्यों मैं ख़ुद को अजनबी सा महसूस कर रही हूं जैसे भटक गयी हूँ । तुम आने वाले हो, आज हमारी सगाई है, तुम्हें एक नज़र देखने को तरस गयी हूँ जैसे... कितना इंतज़ार करवाओगे, जल्दी से आ जाओ न ..
       जाने क्यों लगता है तुम्हारे आ जाने से सब सही लगेगा, मेरी पहचान, मेरा घर, मेरे अपने ... तुम ही वो चाबी हो जो ये सारे सवालों के ताले खोल सकते हो । मेरी बेचैनी बढ़ती जा रही है, हर गुज़रते पल के साथ, ये इंतज़ार क्यों खत्म नहीं होता ? सब एक-एक कर बाहर जा चुकी हैं और मैं खिड़की पर खड़ी दूर तक जाती, या फिर दूर से आती उस लंबी सड़क पर निगाहें टिकाये तुम्हारे आने का इंतज़ार कर रही हूँ ...
         घर की महिलाएं मंगल गीत गा रही हैं पर जैसे मेरे कान सिर्फ और सिर्फ तुम्हारी आवाज़ सुनना चाहते हैं । मैं अपने कानों पर हाथ रख कर सारी आवाज़ों को बंद कर देना चाहती हूं, ताकि जब तुम पुकारो तो मैं चूक न जाऊं। शाम होने को आई और दूर सारे रंग फैलने लगे हैं आसमान में, वो आधा सा चाँद भी चुपके से तांक-झांक कर रहा है बादलों के पीछे से.... कहाँ हो तुम बाबू ? उफ़्फ़ ये कैसा शोर है, कोई इस ढोल की आवाज़ को शांत करवाओ न, उसने मुझे पुकारा तो कैसे सुन पाऊंगी ? 
"बाबू ! बहुत डर लग रहा है, कहाँ हो तुम ? बाबू $$$$$$$$ "

एक घुटी-घुटी सी चीख के साथ आज फिर खुल गयी है नींद, फिर वही अधूरा ख़्वाब, फिर वही इंतज़ार ... कौन हो तुम? तुम्हें बाबू क्यों बोलती हूं मैं, ये क्या पहेली है जो सुलझती ही नहीं ? बाथरूम के शीशे में खुद को देखती हूँ तो सारा मंज़र जैसे मेरी आँखों की लाली में साफ़-साफ़ दिखाई दे रहा है और ये बेचैनी नींद से जागने के बाद भी क्यों इतना बेचैन करती है ? ये ख़्वाब ! हर बार की तरह आज भी पूरा न हुआ ...

#सुन_रहे_हो_न_तुम

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chap 20 Can Life Take A U-turn

-
Image
A strange feeling of  emptiness had crept in with their returning to her grandparents house, as if she had left a part of her at Arun’s house, which had been her home once. Last few weeks had been very different from the time she had spent years ago just after her marriage to him. Those days had been filled with bitterness, owing to his possessive nature and his misunderstandings related to her friendship with Mihir. His ego and his orthodox views had prevented him to understand the purity of her friendship with Mihir, who was everything to her, a best friend, a brother, a mentor, a guide…. They shared a bonding which was so pure that no one, who had known them, had ever attached anything dark with their friendship.                She guessed, now that he had realised his folly, Arun was more at peace with himself and that had reflected in his behaviour recently, and hence that reconciling call to Mihir. But it...
Read more

Chap 9 BUNNY,her childhood friend

-
Ghazal missed Samar more than she had imagined. Daytime was easy to pass as she was busy in school but in the evenings she missed him a lot. Although they messaged each other whenever possible,yet it was their chats and his funny comments she missed the most. She wanted to share so much with him,all her memories,good n bad. Memories of her childhood n those carefree days which she had shared with her best friend,Mihir.    Mihir whom she called BUNNY teasingly as he was fair n a little on the healthy side. Although he had grown up to be a handsome guy,yet the childhood name still existed between them.As a kid he used to run after her when she teased him,but now he only smiled at her with affection in his eyes.No one was allowed to call him with this name as she had the copyright to do so.They had so much fun playing their favorite games (cricket n chess )which were even Vrinda's favorites now. Together they used to play pranks on their school friends and mostly got away with ...
Read more

The Unsent Letter

-
Meeting you was a gift from time ! Yes it was destiny, which brought us together  But had time not favoured us, We might have lost the connection... This friendship had never even began its journey, The special bonding we built unknowingly, Would never have been founded, We could have never known  The comfort which seeped slowly between us, So much so that distances never mattered after that. The instant my phone beeped or rang, You were there beside me, as if a soul hotline connected us instantly, One which our minds created But our hearts generated. Then one day we decided to meet... You seemed very excited So was I, yet there was something different  Deep down in my being,  I felt as if this was not something new, As if i was reliving a scene, Already shot before and saved ! We had been together before, In a single frame, More than once  As if a song picturized with a single still photograph on the screen... May be it was a memory of some distant dream, dista...
Read more