Photography and Poetry Collaboration by two engineering batch mates who have known each other for over two decades. Roshan Panjwani's images encompass nature, animals, people and landscapes. Every so often, an image inspired Prashant Butani to pen his thoughts on topics ranging from friendship, love & marriage to separation, pandemics & terrorism.
1. Mr. & Mrs. Lion
23.09.2015
Infuriation
Argumentation
Negotiation
Examination
Intimacy
Advocacy
Obstinacy
Supremacy
Adulate
Procreate
Abdicate
Copulate
Lout
Tout
Bout
Rout
Fights sometimes feel like a dream
Love too can rip you at the seam
Best to stay out when two’s a team
Some need poetry, Some just scream
2.
3. herd unheard
16.05.2016
here i am, this is me
who am i, can you see?
lost in haze, smoking grass
interlocked, all shall pass
faceless herd, lying low
broken backs, kids in tow
each unique, all the same
black n white, wild but tame
sniffing ass, knocking heads
alpha males, mrs. zeds
focus lost, focus found
enough of us, little ground
patterns help, hiding scars
are they mine, are they ours?
so so many, yet so few
here i am, as are you
4. कु छी क़दम के फ़ासले
21.05.2016
राह एक
जि स्म दो
हो भी संग
नहीं भी हो
इक नज़र
मि ली भी जो
पल में ही
फि री भी वो
दि शा भले
अलग लगे
चि राग़ तो
वही जगे
चुनोगे तुम
बुनूँगी मैं
हो अनकहा
सुनूँगी मैं
पीछा नहीं
हूँ कर रही
दि खा रही
हूँ जो सही
गगन चले
जो चूमने
जड़ें ना
दूँगी भूलने
5. दूँगी भूलने
ना ख़ुद को
ज़्यादा तोलना
ना मुझ को ही
टटोलना
हमसफ़र
हो जि स तरह
हूँ मैं भी कु छ
उसी तरह
चुने है तुमने
कु ल मि ले
कु छी क़दम
के फ़ासले |
6.
7. Two Roads Diverged
17.06.2016
Marches forth to fly
Watches them go by
Buys what it reminds
Sells all it finds
Stretchy brands he wears
Handed down what tears
Pays for comfort strides
Bare feet, tarmac collides
Loses overeaten gains
Sips forgotten remains
Fitbit and iPod in-ear
Rugsack and lots to clear
Sweat, Tears, Grimace
Will eat, smiles face
Runs forest Run
Savings today, what fun
Adult's fitness sports
Child's labour supports
Is divider permanent
Or interim unpaid rent
Two roads diverged
If but fates converged
Futures won't repay
Childhoods lost today
8. Bigger than I
29.06.2016
Never occurred to the mighty
Am I bigger than the field
Nor did even meadow think
Do the waters to me yield
Not once did river question
Stature of hills afar
Nor did snowy peaks ask
Clouds to prove par
No sky however dark it was
Did dwarf the starry black
Whatever bent the universe
No hitchhiker brought back
When each one has its place
And none need question why
What makes us believe then
There is none bigger than I
So mammoth be our troubles
So caught up in our me
O speck upon ticking sands
Nature was, is, will be
9. आज और कल
07.08.2016
गर तेरे पीछे
सू र्यास्त हो भी जायें
कल तेरे दर पर
सवेरा ही होगा
गर तेरे सपने
टूट बि खर भी जायें
कल तेरा मक़सद
प्रेम डेरा ही होगा
गर तेरी राहें
कहीं खो भी जायें
कल तेरा साथी
तब भी तेरा ही होगा
गर तेरे मन में
भय की भनक भी आए
फ़ौलादी सीने में
राम बसेरा ही होगा
हो चाहे जि तना
घना यह जंगल, दंगल
हर पल करता मंगल
स्वर सुनहरा ही होगा |
10.
11. BOOM
23.09.2016
O SUPREME ALMIGHTY thank you
For allowing me the honour of
Taking the lives of these young few
The way ours were plucked off
For giving me the responsibility we hold
Of dismembering hands that willingly
Under the guise of surviving the cold
Chopped branches, twigs, family
To thee we pledge that our lives must
Not be spent repeatedly in vain
How so many were uprooted just
So steel spires could rise, reign
While I appear so twisted, so dark
And weed me you must ever so often
Ignore me you can't, my bite or bark
And I'm everywhere, waiting to happen
You who planted my seed, bore my fruit
You who nurtured my growth, brought my fall
You who built your trophies on backs of my loot
You who feels it's autumn, sees but ignores it all
yoU aRe I
13. वो कहीं और मश्रूफ थी
03.10.2016
चाँद के उभरने से पहले
आज सूरज डूब गया
मेरी रोशनी साँझ छोड़
वो कहीं और मश्रूफ थी
ना डाल पर थी हलचल
ना घरौंदे में कि लकारी
मेरी चि ड़ि या दाना जोड़
वो कहीं और मश्रूफ थी
जड़े चाहें थीं एक
एक गगन, धूप, व र्षा
आयी बीचों ऐसी रोड
वो कही और मश्रूफ थी
आ ख़ि र जब पत्ते झड़े
चूज़े लड़े, बढ़े, उड़े
यादों ने लम्हे चाहे जोड़
ज़ि ं दगी कहीं और मश्रूफ थी
14. मैं भी Minority
03.10.2016
मैं ख़ुदके लि ए सोचता हूँ
ना तेरी आज़ादी नोचता हूँ
है मुझमें भी similarity
हाँ मैं भी हूँ minority
मैं पेट काटकर भरता हूँ
और कि सी खुदा से डरता हूँ
कहीं खोजता हूँ popularity
हाँ मैं भी हूँ minority
मैं सालों से शो षि त हुआ
आम आदमी घो षि त हुआ
ना मि ली कहीं priority
हाँ मैं भी हूँ minority
सोचा अच्छे दि न आएँगे
भूख और ग़रीबी मि टाएँगे
दी वचनके बदले authority
हाँ मैं भी हूँ minority
जि स सूट पे तेरा नाम लि खा
जि स बूट से Bush भी ना बचा
हूँ उसके पीछेकी obscurity
हाँ मैं भी हूँ minority
जि स पटेल को अपना माना था
उसका सि र्फ़ पुतला बनाना था?
क्या ऐसी सोची थी solidarity?
जि समें अब भी हूँ minority?
15. जि समें अब भी हूँ minority?
The Reflection
14.10.2016
Since correcting the mirror
Was not really an option
I took mine out and
Put it up for adoption
But every now and then
I felt a need to see
How had these years
Brought changes in me
So whenever I sought peace
During the course of my day
I would close my eyes
And to Thee I would pray
Let me be kinder,
gentler, wiser
And of the love I give
Let me be not a miser
And when I did this
With all my heart
And with my ego
When I did part
No mirror then was needed
To show me good or bad
Inner peace, wealth, beauty
Whatever I prayed for, I had
16.
17. Hope
18.08.2017
Winter is here
Greens disappear
All once held dear
Trumped by fear
Cold blooded vans
Ku Klux Klans
Scarce oxygen cans
And conquered 'stans
Desolate achievement peaks
Silences whoever speaks
Of allied axis it reeks
Faucet of humanity leaks
When we've stilled each other
With or without Big Brother
Sun will still earth smother
Nature will still be Mother
Above teary ocean cries
Under All-Seeing Eyes
Over slowly melting lies
Hope doesn't float, it flies
18. Maa ka Pyaar
04.02.2018
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
puranma ka ujwal chaand, tajurbe ke daag beshumaar
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
bindi kangan payal nathni, matr maange shram shringaar
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
dadi bua nani masi, ban stepni chali apni car
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
taazi daant garm tawe ki, har niwale mein sudhaar
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
kheer se bhari kadchi katori, laad pigholey swaad anusaar
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
rai si choti chinta rozaana, pahaadon se ladte ucch vichaar
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
daftar chale chand ghante, ghadiyaal ghoome lagaatar
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
buraiyaan bech jode sikkey, kharchi majboori, bache sanskaar
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
kal raat ke taarey, suraj kal ka, har is shan ka maun dulaar
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
shuruvaat ka shunya, bramhaand mooh ka, tu Gita, tu uska saar
Maa ka pyaar, gol aakaar
19. Free Falling
01.12.2018
Too many voices
All in your head
Some keep you alive
Some want you dead
Drown out reality
Border brutality
Surpasses sanity
That’s what she said
Too many vices
Lead or be led
Some make you thrive
Some mess your head
In vain is your vanity
Makeshift morality
Faces finality
That’s what we read
Too many choices
Stay put in bed
For what do you strive
For whom have you bled
20. Don’t want any charity
Question causality
Basic banality
That’s what they fed
Too many devices
Like me instead
Share till you dive
Subscribe to a thread
Binge on normality
Befriend triviality
Mere technicality
You and your dread
- We, the depressed
21. jo dikhta hai vo bikta hai
23.02.2019
jo dikhta hai vo bikta hai
jo likhta hai vo tikta hai
Piye ghaat ghaat ka paani
Daal rumaal suna kahaani
Jitna upar zyaada neeche
Dard batorey khushiyaan seenchey
Diye jaat tohfey toofaani
Daal rumaal bana kahaani
Aala re piya kaala re
Jaagi raat soya ujaala re
Barf kathor pighalti baani
Daal rumaal gina kahaani
Ik haath de ik haath le
Bhikshaaam de Bhikshaam le
Chaah se Raah Chalta aur Paani
Sahi galat kya suni kahaani
Mitr Pitr Matr Bhatra
Rang mancha tu matr patr
Bhar jhooli seema bulaani
Odha rumaal khatm kahaani
22. 28.09.2019
ईंट पत्थरों से कै दख़ाने बनते हैं
खुले दरवाज़ों से आ शि याने बनते हैं
बंद मु ट्ठि यों को कमज़ोरी न समझ
जुड़ के फि रदौस, बँट के वीराने बनते हैं
23. आज जाने का मन ना कि या
26.11.2019
आज जाने का मन ना कि या
क़ै द बाहों ने था कर दि या
आज जाने का मन ना कि या
बोझ हक़ीक़त का लेकर के हम
खुद को बहलाने में जुट गए
जकड़ा कस कर के नज़रों ने दि ल
फ़रेबी कदमों ने धोखा दि या
आज जाने का मन ना कि या
क़ै द बाहों ने था कर दि या
आज जाने का मन ना कि या
वक्त ही है जि सको के हम
संग बि ताने की को शि श में हैं
ख़्वाब बेच आए बाज़ार में
खो के फ़ु रसत ये क्या पा लि या
आज जाने का मन ना कि या
24. आज जाने का मन ना कि या
क़ै द बाहों ने था कर दि या
आज जाने का मन ना कि या
नन्ही झप्पी करे इंतेज़ार
सि लवटें बि न हंसे सो गयी
खारी पलकों को दे दि लासा
कल से मि लने का वादा कि या
आज जाने का मन ना कि या
क़ै द बाहों ने था कर दि या
आज जाने का मन ना कि या
सौंपी मा लि क को अब अपनी डोर
करता रौशन अंधेरे कदम
कारवाँ में कल हम हो ना हो
लम्हा लम्हा नि चोड़े जि या
आज जाने का मन सा कि या
25. Is it me?
16.03.2019
Is it me, have I been going to fast?
Is it me, thinking I’m built to last?
Is it me, in my quest for stature?
Is it me, who has enraged nature?
Is it me, has my time finally come?
Is it me, losing my own zero sum?
Is it me, in my blinding stampede?
Is it me, who has paid no heed?
To rain forests burned for devil may care
To species lost and ecosystems threadbare
To antibiotic resistance and sustainable existence
For the cosmos should’ve knelt to my greed’s persistence
Is it me, could I have crowded fewer streets?
Is it me, could I have laundered fewer sheets?
Is it me, could I have done with fewer treats?
Is it me, can I now march to kinder beats?
Because it seems, the sunsets are more stunning
Now that She has made me pause and stop running
Because it seems, the breeze is more breathable
Now that He has made me realise I am replaceable.
It is me, who can change myself
It is me, who can free forsaken elf
It is me, who can rebuild, repair
It is me, seeking light amidst despair.
It is me, and my hands blood stained
It is me, and my socialising restrained
It is me, my old, my young are at stake
It is me, and it is I, who must awake.
26. घर की याद
17.08.2020
खारा पानी ही बुझाए
जलते समुंदर सी प्यास
घर ही तो याद दि लाए
बेघर होने सा एहसास
तन जागे, भागे, रोए, सोए
मन लगाए बैठो आस
धन पायो, खायो, बोए, खोए
क्षण माँ के बैठो पास
दान ध र्म या मार डुबोए
घूमा जग न आयो रास
जब लौटे दि वाली होए
ख़ुदमे रावण ढायो नास
