मौसम कुछ यूं हुआ होगा मध्यम हुआ होगा सूरज और जल उठी होगा शम्मा हारी होगी लड़ाई उसने और धीरे धीरे बुझ गयी होगी रौशनी मौसम यक ब यक नहीं बदला करते खिड़कियां खुली ही होंगी पहले पहले फिर एक अंधड़ उठा होगा बंद की गयी होंगी खिड़कियाँ मौसम यूं ही बदला होगा दिन तो खुश ही रहा होगा रंगीन, रोशन , हरा भरा फिर शाम की सियाही ने मिटाये होंगे कुछ रंग तनहा रात हारी होगी उदासी से मौसम यक ब यक नहीं बदला करते सर्द हवाओं ने दिशा बदली होगी सब्ज़ बाग़ कुछ सहमे होंगे पीले पड़े पत्तों में सरसराहट सी होगी परिंदों ने भी चुप रहना सीखा होगा मौसम यूं ही बदला होगा हँसती आँखों में समाया होगा बदरंग सा तिनका कोई सैलाब सा आया होगा रुक गया होगा होंठों पर मन का मौसम यूं ही बदला होगा ~ विन्नी ४/१२/१८
was a rather dull day, almost melancholy , and one needed distractions in order to prevent the mind from dwelling on the morose.
As it turns out this film, Churchill, was not a good choice to accomplish that task, for it deals with the dilemmas and dread that Churchill faces as he contemplates D Day, the Normandy landing in all its possible consequences. This must be a first of sorts for me , for i saw a film that deals with the subject of war (WW II) without showing any fighting at all, just the trauma , the dilemma, the dread involved in decision making, a decision that will send 20000 men to war, a focused invasion of france, meant to liberate it from the Germans, and achieve a decisive victory. The invasion at Normandy was a success and was the beginning of the end of the war , with the Germans in retreat thereafter, this we know now in hindsight. the movie however shows us a Churchill, tormented with the thought of failure, riddled with the guilt of Gallipoli (From WW I), unwilling to send innocent young men to their deaths, battling with the thought of a similar debacle, very troubled.
in many ways he is a man living in the past, fighting the American Generals, disagreeing with the plan, unwilling to be cast aside in the process of decision making.
Critics have pointed out the historical inaccuracy of that disagreement, as also the inaccuracies in the portrayal of his domestic relationship, with his wife and his employees, the screenplay plays the disagreements up, perhaps in order to dramatise Churchill's psychic state.
this must happen to most generals and kings and warlords, they must be, at some point in their lives, haunted by the souls of those they send to death.
the actors are brilliant, Brain Cox tears into the role, and honestly it was for him that i chose to watch the film, and Miranda Richardson as his wife makes her character come alive.
it is a rather sympathetic portrayal, subtly British, the great leader, torn apart with the pain of the common people he leads, empathetic of their concerns, wishing to prevent death and bloodshed, yet courageous enough to contemplate joining the troops at the front.
That said, its difficult to reconcile this image with that of a man who quite cynically and deliberately, in full knowledge, made the decision to withdraw food and grain bound for Bengal and the Eastern parts of India, in order to prevent it falling into the hands of the advancing Japanese army at about the same time as the decision for Normandy was being made. Creating a "Scorched Earth" scenario for the Japanese meant the creation of a Famine in Bengal that was unprecedented in scale and resulted in the death of a million Indian citizens. the Bengal famine was a catastrophe , a tragedy of horrendous proportions, created by that decision alone that resulted in the unavailability of food, condemning hundreds of thousands of Indians to slow starvation. Perhaps not equal enough with the Europeans at stake on the Western Front? a film that certainly makes one think, regardless of perspective.
sympathy for Mr Churchill will be hard to come by in Indian parts.
Vinny
19/11/18
पतझड़ तुम, दरिया के पार जो गए कोई सदा लौट कर नहीं आयी, चाँद उग आया है आज, शब् ढले हवा अब सर्द है और रात सियाह, और ये एक चाँद काफी नहीं दिल को रोशन करने को, मैं, साहिल पर खड़ी सदियों से इंतज़ार में हूँ, किसी एक रात में दो दो चाँद दिखें और तुम लौट आओ यूं ये महज़ एक ख्वाब हो शायद या कोई वहम, वक़्त के इस लम्बे वक़्फ़े में, सब अनबूझ सा लगता है, बस ये एक चाँद है, मैं हूँ और है एक आस, दरिया के पानियों सी उठती , बुझती, और हवाएं अब सर्द हैं ~ विन्नी ४/११/१८
THE LAST OF THE RAINS You arrived riding a tumultuous storm,
In the months of your sojourn, I've learnt to read your moods, written in the winds and the clouds, The sights and the smells , Of wet earth and blooming lotuses, Blinding and stormy at times, reminding one of one's insignificance, in the grand order of things, the melancholy that nostalgia invokes, the joys of old, swept away, As if to make way for the new, Calming and soft often, Replenishing, steadfast , joyous They tell me that you will inevitably depart, if I were to ask, Would you tarry a while to share my confusions, I need you to be munificent with your magic, While I weave my tales, Often to very illogical conclusions. -vinny 21/9/2013
रेख शाम की बरखा ने आज फिर राह की रेख मिटा दी धुंधलके में आज फिर भटक गयी हूँ मैं , अपने ही शहर में, अजनबी सी में, नए अनजान मोड़ पर खड़ी हूँ, सेहमी , सिमटी, हिचकिचाती , कोई पूछ भी ले तो , अक्सर कह भी नहीं पाती, कहाँ से आयी, जाना कहाँ है मुझे, जाने वो कैसे लोग होते हैं, जो हर हाल अपनी राह ही चलते हैं, राह की रेख हो, या न भी हो। .. `~ विन्नी
इंतज़ार
हम मुन्तज़िर हैं अज़ल से
कुरबतों की इनायत हो
वस्ल की रात हो
चाँद उरूज पर हो
उन के साथ का ख्वाब है
मुख़्तसर सी , नाज़ुक सी बात है
आखिर किस तरहाँ कहें
इस ओर रिवायतें ज़बान रोकें हैं
उधर अरमान मचले जाते हैं
मुसलसल इंतज़ार में
दिन व् रात ख़्वाबीदा से हैं
एक नज़र देख ले
नवाज़िश हो।
मुक़ददर का फेर है
वगरना यूं हम भी बुरे नहीं... !
~ विन्नी
१६/५/१८
