भूख की चूक

कई निकले थे घर से, लेकर थैली और सपने
कई मां बाप के उम्मीदें, कई खुद के अपने
सपना तो सबका एक ही है, घर-गाड़ी-पैसा
वो ही दरिया-राह-कुटिया, चित्र कला हो जैस

कौन कहता है कि वो सब होते हैं अलग
कभी पूछकर तो देखो कहा कोई नई तलब
चलते ढलते आ पहुँचे वे इस चौराहे पे
अभी समझ आया लुप्त थे वे पहले से

देख रहे यहाँ से वहाँ, आख़िर उन्हें जाना कहाँ
किसी किताब ने न सिखाया, मंज़िल है कहाँ,
प्रमाण पत्र है कई, रह गई बस एक चूक,
रोटी तोड़ना सीख गए, सीखे नहीं है भूख

The Hunger Untaught

Many set out from home, with bags and dreams in hand,
Some were their parents' hopes, some their own to command.
The dream is the same for all: the house, the car, the gold,
The same old river, path, and hut—like a story often told.

Who says they are different, or seek a different fire?
Just ask them once, you’ll find no new desire.
Drifting and wandering, they’ve reached this crossroad today,
Only to realize they were lost long before they found their way.

Glancing here and there, where is it they must go?
No book ever taught them the destination they should know.
Certificates they have in plenty, yet one flaw remains deep:
They learned how to break the bread, but not the hunger to keep.

Limits

I am a teacher. I teach teenagers with little attention spans. I have to use techniques that capture the attention of such minds. Hence, most teachers (not college profs/lecturers) have to perform to a classroom. All adults know this - How we set our fake smiles and high pitches to appeal to the children. That we perform. That’s the second performative art I learnt.

The first one I learnt was writing. Though it isn’t strictly performative, I once upon a time converted it into an online performance wherein I would write and post a blog every Saturday night and used to guage response in comments and feedback. And here i am, back at it, to tell you the 101 lesson of art. Not one-O-one. It is the hundred and first lesson. It’s a lesson that every performing artist learns when they live long enough.

Human mind and capabilities are limited. Despite having new experiences and continuous accumulation of information, we tend to become repetitive after a certain amount of time. Any new person we meet becomes boring after some time. Maybe a week, sometimes a month, mostly a year or two, and if you’re lucky enough, it may be longer than your lifetime. But yes, they become repetitive, to say the least. That’s true for full-time professionals too.

Many often tend to notice how a certain artist’s songs are repetitive. I got bored by the time I read Chetan Bhagat’s fourth book and Tolkien’s fifth. That’s why any artist has a solid life of 10-12 albums on average. Then, we know them. After that, people become predictable and boring. It happens to movie directors and music producers. It happens to artists and writers, content creators and YouTubers. There is some good news though.

The artist should realise and plan accordingly. I plan my interesting methods of teaching for 2 years long. After that, I shall become a burden. My writing was never planned, but I knew that I had an upper cap. Well, know this as a performer. Know this as audience. Too much of the same artist will become predictable. And that is how people are. Everyone becomes boring when you wait long enough. Thats why a wise man once said “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Then, Nolan became boring.