This morning, while taking care of some important business in the bathroom, I noticed a spider desperately trying to climb the wall. It would make some progress, slip a little, try again, slip again. It looked like a terrible climber. A few hours later, my wife was venting about office bureaucracy. You know the kind. The places where people in positions of power seem more interested in protecting their territory than helping others succeed. The kind of environment where someone’s growth is viewed as a threat rather than an achievement. And suddenly I thought about that spider. Maybe the spider wasn’t a bad climber. Maybe it was just climbing the wrong damn wall. Think about it. A bathroom is literally a room full of people shitting. The walls are smooth. The environment is hostile. Nobody walks into a bathroom hoping to admire the architectural brilliance of a spider web. Even if the spider somehow succeeded, nobody would celebrate it. Now put that same spider in a fore...
एक तस्वीर देखी आज, मासूम सी सूरत, उलझी हुई ज़ुल्फ़ें, धूप और हवा आँख-मिचौली खेलती रहीं, और वक़्त थोड़ी देर को ठहर गया। सब कुछ वही था, कुछ भी बदला नहीं था, वही मासूमियत, वही नज़ाकत, वही सुकून, वही ख़ामोशी। फिर भी कुछ तो अलग था, कुछ तो बदल गया था। एक आवाज़ आई, घड़ी की सुइयाँ फिर चल पड़ीं, और मैं उस लम्हे से लौट आया। मैं मुस्कुराया, मुद्दतों बाद कुछ लिख पाया, वो तस्वीर जो आज सामने आई थी, जज़्बातों की एक लहर साथ लाई थी, दिल के किसी कोने से चुपचाप पुराने वक़्त की यादें उठा लाई थी।