अगर इस पल में, तुम नहीं हो, तो मैं नहीं हूँ
और अगर तुम हो, तो सब है
पर तुम कौन हो?
इन लोगों में से, तुम कौन हो?
या इन सब में तुम हो?
किसी की मुस्कान में, किसी की आँखों में, किसी की तलाश में, किसी की ख़ामोश आह में
ये सब एक साथ यहाँ है, अपने अपने कंधों पे अपना अपना बोझ लिए
इन सब को देख कर यही लगने लगा है, यही है वो वाला एहसास,
प्यार दोस्ती है

Waking up at 4 am, I put the alarm to snooze and thought, well… I think I can sleep for 15 mins

but then I remembered, 5 am to Shilaj pohachna hai!

I woke up and reconsidered the value of early mornings, is it really all that or just a well hyped thing by insomniacs (which is ironic considering I am one of them, on the mid spectrum of lack of sleep) – I had a serious talk with myself about it, go back to sleep or go and imagine bliss in cold, dark and hungry…

But bless the ones who got chai-coffee out fatafat se… knowing me, I can be a sweet person or a bomb blast depending on lack of hot milk wala beverage in the morning and people expecting communication, verbal or non verbal, from me…

and then the birds started chirping & I forgot every stupid thought as they talked & I listened… as Nija ji said, bahar ke shor se andar ka shor khatam ho gaya.

Me & Nija ji were listening to a song in a moment of sounds and silence – ranjish hi sahi… sharing earphones with someone is not something I do everyday but when I do, the song, the place, the person… all end up like the most beautiful thing of the current chapter of life.

The books aligned so well, the love in the air, the characters, the covers, humour of the tea lady to depression of ‘I Still Love You’ read by Ankit (yehi naam tha na?)

People stopping by and listening ki ye kya chal raha hai yaha pe – I was enjoying it all but they couldn’t strip us away from the reader’s voice

Bina chai ya coffee ke zindagi ka koi matlab nahi hai, ye mera aaj ka philosophical nishkarsh hai… pyaar, dosti in sab ke bina chal hi jata hai, par bina chai coffee ke nahi chalega kisi ka bhi…

Pocket Diary Book Club at Thol, Feb 2026