No life for a writer

Two of my friend posted nice comments.

One of them is a childhood friend.

He quoted Dushyant Kumar's sher.

" Jis tarah chahe bajao is sabha mein.

Hum nahin hain aadmi hum jhunjhune hain."


It was perhaps written in context with politics.

But I think its true for Tv channels also.

Few channels, few creatives and few EPS think we are JHUNJHANE...

JAB MARJI KARE JAGAO AUR BAJAO.

But Abbas adds and i completly agree with him.

"This is corporate world banbhu.
Writing or no writing,it is just the same.We all are numbers not people."

AND ITS TRUE FOR TV.

Its not about writing ..its about numbers.

And I am just a number.

Any one can come and replace me at any time and still i write.

***********

Another friend... a successfule movie writer commented:

"Writing is a NO WIN situation." Jeffery Boam (Hollywwod writer of Indiana Jones / Lethal Weapon

************

Yes ... films i have not written.

TV ... and theatre ... I have.

and theatre is the best for writer..

If one is lucky one gets Utaran and Lagi Tujh se lagan...

And even if one tries his best Swarg turns out to be nark.

No one can save a show which has no conviction of story telling..

A conviction can make Amar Akbar Anthony also a hit.

Baki toh raam hi rakhe

NO LIFE FOR A WRITER IN TV

I am a machine.

I obey.

I write.

Machines are stationary.

So I am.

Machines function efficiently.

Machines don't express emotions.

Machines can be replaced.

Production can not be stopped.

When will I be replaced?

Let me know my lifetime.

I want a peacful professional death.

Imagine.........Imagine.

Just out of the worst dream.

Well machines dont say..

You too Brutus!!!

good thing is

Brutus ke apne haath bhi bandhe hain.

vo ab kuchh nahin kar sakta.

Why am i writing this?

घर ख़रीदा है.

छत कितनी है सर पर?
और ज़मीन कितनी पाँव के निचे?
कब्र कैसी होगी इस घर के आँगन में?
Horizontal ya vertical?

Kitchen सजाया है.
सब्जियां हो या मुर्गियां
कटेंगी turn by turn.
खुशियाँ साथ रहने की, न रहने की
आएँगी turn by turn.

घर ख़रीदा है.
कोई ख्वाब खरीद लेते तो अच्छा था.
ख्वाब में होता सब खुला खुला और
एक दूजे में गडडमगडड
Montage या jump cut.
क्या square foot है ख्वाब का भाव?

EK PAVITRA KANYA KI AGNI PARIKSHA JALD HI AAPKE TV SCREEN PAR..

EK PAVITRA KANYA KI AGNI PARIKSHA JALD HI AAPKE TV SCREEN PAR..

Sometime in this rainy season, I got a call for writing lyrics for a tiltle song of a show on a Hindi GEC channel. I came home. My name was recommended by a succesfull musician. I had done 2 songs with him. But this one I could not write.

I offer my sincere apologies to the production house, channel and the music director. I just could not write it. What i wrote is here? A simple poem..

APAVITRA KANYA
Bitte bhar ki zindagi mein...
2 waqt ki roti ke liye...
Kiske taluve chaate...
Kis kis ke haath jodein..
Bhaai tumne kal ki baasi roti mein..
Koi naye geet bhi hain jode?
...
18.. 20... saal ki kanya..
Suna gayee humein ek kahani...
Kalkatta ki ganga mein..
Apavitra bhyaee jawanee..
...
Kah ke gayee bachchee...
“Yeh pratha hai is gaanv mein.
Apavitra bhayee jo kanyaa..
Dubee uski naiya..”
...
Hum kahe bitiya..
Tohar umaar ka hai..?
Aur ganga ki umar ka hai?
Tu bech rahi hai jisko..
Us kahani ki umar ka hai?
--
Bhaiya, hum kahe..
Ee geet hum se na likhwaao..
10 20 hajaar ke liye..
Hum ko itna naach mat nachaao.
Gaanv ki jin bechariyon ne
Do chaar saansein abhi abhi li hain.
Unko phir tumharee chaakki mein ‘
Mat piswaao bitiya.
...
...
Ka he ke je kahani sunane ke baad
Tum toh nikal jaaogi doston ke saath
Shaturday ka week end karne
Sasuri ganga bechari baarish
Meein fugati firti rahegi..
Har saal ki tarah is saal bhi
Kum se kum do chaar gaanv toh duboyegi.

Tohar channel ko mil jaaiye TRP
Sasuree kahin kat gayee koi bitiya
Toh anarth ho jaiye bhaiya.
Thank u very much bitiya.

KAL KI TASWEERON MEIN

Taweerein hon yaadon ki
Buss tasweeron mein hum na ho..
Chadaron ki salwatein hon..
Badlee hui katrwatein hon...
Ankahi baatein rakhin hoh
Sirhaane...
Takiye par alsaye sapne hon.
Subah jo ho
Toh tasweer mein bus suraj hi ho..
Raat ki khamoshiyaan hon...
Adhjali adhbujhi mombattiyaan hon
Lau thartharaye...
Toh kisi ko khabar na ho..
Kal yahaan kiske sapnon mein kaun aaya tha...
Kal ki taweer mein sab kuchh ho
Bus kal na ho...

TV

TV
Bahut achchha medium hai.
Television.
Aap kamaa sakte hain...
Agar ganvaa sakte hain.
Bech sakte hain
Agar bik sakte hain...
----
Yahaan kisi ke pita ki maut ho jaaye..
Toh bhi hukm itna hi milta hai.
Apne hisse ka “Kynki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahoo Thi”
Kisi ko saunp kar jaao...
Aap rote hain ..
Aur mail type karte hain.
Flight se pahle ke 3 ghanton mein.....
Aap ko apni har duty delegate karni hoti hai.
Kyonki “chita” rook saktee hai.
“Kyonki” thode hi rook sakta hai.
...
Zara,
Tum bhuli toh nahin na vo din?
Kyonki vo tumhare pita the aur
Main mook darshak...
Main tab TV mein naya naya hi aaya tha.
....
Bahut achchha medim hai.
TV
...
Hey Avinash...
Tumhein yaad hai...
Tum apni boss ke kamre se bahar aaye the.
Daant kha kar...
Aur tumhra “statue” ho gaya tha.
You were ”smiling” the whole day.
(smile on a face can be scary, you know.)
Tum aaj ho kahaan pata nahin..
Par hum sab scared the....
Kyonki tumhari smile kah rahi thi.
You have lost it.
.....
Tum aage badhna chahte the.
Ve star plus ke achchhe din the.
Tum us din sirf muskarate baithe the apni desk par..
Par koi nahin tha jo tumhein rula sake.
.......
Kyonki agar vo mudkar tumhein dekhte..
Toh shayad jaag jaate...
Phir vo aage kaise badhte ..
Agar kisi se sympathy mehsoos karte...
......
We Kyunki ke utarate din the shayad..
....
Pata hai avinash tumhein
Jisne tumhein depression mein dhakela tha.
Usne shayad bahut kamaya hoga...
Lekin ve aaj TV mein bhi nahin hai.
Nice way to say...
“She has taken a sabbatical.”
.....
Zara, Avi..
Tumhien pata hai..
Itihaas ke panno par
Na tum ho
Na hum hain.
Na vo hain.
.......
Aur haan unki jagahh..
Just imagine...
Koi aur hai...
...
Marna hi hai...
Toh TV se behtar
Sadak kya buri hai?
Episode likhne ki dead line se
Railway line par death
Kya buri hai?
....

Maai Tujhe Salaam

Gunwanti………. Tujhe Salaam

For an event on Colors channel, “ Maa(n) Tujhe Salaam” telecasted on the occasion of mother’s day, I was asked to write a poem for Basant, a character in Balikavadhu. I wrote what I could:

Sharing with you…

दुनिया देखी पहली बार तेरी नज़र से .... माँ
तेरा आँचल छत .. तेरी गोद ज़मीन थी ..माँ ..
तेरी लोरी ही दिन को करती थी रात हमेशा.
तेरी मुस्कान से ही हर रोज़ सुबह होती थी माँ .
……..
मैं ही नहीं दुनिया में,
सब के होठों पर ..
सबसे पहले आता है एक लब्ज़ ... माँ ..

When I was writing a promo for the same show with the OAP team of the channel, one of us, Mushfiq read out a poem of Nida Fazali.

Maa.N

Besan kii sondhii rotii par
khattii chatanii jaisii maan
yaad aatii hai chaukaa-baasan
chimataa phukanii jaisii maan
……
…..
Bivii, betii, bahan, padosan
thodii thodii sii sab mein
din bhar ek rassii ke oopar
chalatii natanii jaisii maa.N
Baant ke apanaa cheharaa, maathaa,
aankhein jaane kahaan gayee
phate puuraane ik alabam mein
chanchal ladakii jaisii maan.

All of us loved it.. and decided not to use it for a promo. It was genuinely written. And we felt we should not use it for any commercial purpose.
…
My mother liked my poem. But I did not like it at all.
I was told Production house liked it. I did not.
It was used later in the promo also in Mushfiq’s voice. I quite liked his voice and promo. But I did not like my poem.
I felt it was not an honest writing. It was just idolizing the standard image of mother.


A real mother is more like a Gunwanti who can ruin the lives of children just to maintain a social mask of “happy family.” These mothers are constantly sweeping the problems under the carpet. They are ignorant. They are not living in the present. They have their roots in tradition, culture and past. They are the mothers people love to watch on TV. But I think their roots are their limitations. They have stopped to grow long back.

A real mother is too real to be idolized.
Like Gunwanti.
I am sure if Veer speaks out his heart he will curse her. (But he cannot do it, since its TV.)

When her son suffers from addiction, she ignores. She truly loves him.
When he commits suicide, she blames it on the daughter in law. She truly loves him.
Gunwanti is a real Indian mother, who is ready to do anything for her children.
But whatever she does, she invariably harms her children.

People dislike Tapasya as a character and still watch her. At least they know her.
What they think of Gunwanti as a character I don’t know. But as a writer I see her as “Gandhari”, one who has willingly stopped seeing the world of her children.
Let’s look at her more closely.

When Vansh was borne what was she busy with? Tej singh? Keeping Dadda ji happy? I am sure she must have neglected her husband, because it was Daddaji’s haveli. And her survival instinct and upbringing might have told her… “Keep him happy.” “Keep Sasur ji happy.” She kept him happy. She dealt with Tej singh because he was Dadda ji’s problem.

She loved her children like any mother does. But she hardly understood them or their world.

When Vansh became addict… she used carpet.
When Vansh fell in love, she could see the problem… but she liked carpet.
She got him married. Veer kept on telling her .. “tell the truth to Bhaiya.” But she loved carpet.
She swept everything under the carpet
….
Now he is dead. And she wants to sweep the reason under carpet. She does not even try to know. She blames Ichchha, “You don’t want your conscious to be burdened by Vansh’s death, so you are accusing Veer.”
The truth is she does not want to face her conscience and so she puts the blame on Ichchha and hides behind the garb of “bête ki maut ka gham.”

It’s a very real character…. It’s what many mothers do to their children. For them, parampara is the key word. They have stopped living long back.
If Vansh’s soul is still there…in Bundela Haveli…… Then it must be saying:

Maai
Tu mujhe samajh na paayi.
Main is ghar mein bhatak raha hoon.
Apni Ichchha ko dhundh raha hoon.
Main tujhse kah raha hoon maai…
Tu mujhe kabhi samajh nahin paayi.

Jab thappad marna tha
Tune kaleje se lagaya.
Jab kaleje se lagane ka waqt aaya.
Tune band kamre mein mujhe chhipaya.
Jab zaroorat thi sahare ki…
Tab tujh mein himmat nahin thi maai.
Jis mein himmat thi..
Tu use samajh nahin paayi.
Maai tu mujhe samajh nahin paayi.
Tu lalla ko bhi samajh nahin paayi.
…
Maai… Tujhe salam!!