• It’s a long journey, choose wisely

    Anything is possible!
    Dream on!
    Run till your heart desires
    Love don’t think

    Just one job switch
    Life will be set
    Just one more home loan
    Life will be set

    Kid’s school project
    Medicine
    Responsibilities
    Early morning walks to stay away from heart attacks

    Emptying nests
    Passions left to starve
    Respect required
    How hard I tried?!

    We’re Hindus,
    We reincarnate
    To fall short?…
    All over again?

    It’s a long journey, choose wisely

    — नि.भो.

  • Not too distant (in the future)

    An asteroid floating in space
    There’s more to it than just floating around
    On a trajectory
    With a purpose of its own
    Maybe to surprise the dinosaurs of the world
    Not too distant in the future

    For days in making
    The bees and the birds await
    The blooming of the Pink and the yellow
    Hungry,
    Yet they say to themselves…
    Not too distant in the future

    These whiteboards are covered with BLUE, BLACK, GREEN AND RED
    Think everyday
    Every year new faces
    Faces with hopes
    Yet the chaos and bored silences remain the same
    For them there is no future rather just the present
    A present called “Now!”
    Still they say,
    Not…

    While running, jumping, dancing
    I have slipped and fell
    Cried sometimes
    Laugh sometimes
    I know I’ll slip for the Nth time
    So I say to myself
    Not too distant (in the future)…


    –नि.भो. (Ni.Bho.)

  • A piece of everything

    Maybe I just like to romanticise everything
    Being alone
    Being together
    When it bleeds
    When it clots
    The screaming of the Metal/Rock
    The frustration of rap
    The Thunderstorm shaking me to the core
    A poem that just resonates with your state
    A bottle of cold water
    Or a piece of chocolate bitter sweet

    It’s love to the extreme
    Or maybe self obsession of sorts
    Obsessing over living
    People smiling
    Being passionate
    Just basic science doing its own stuff
    Aesthetics that mean nothing
    The frogs, the bugs and everything thing that slithers
    Or with an engine that roars and rolls

    Hmmm
    Weird!

    Who said it’s an illusion when in my mind it’s is all real

    –नि.भो.

  • An Ode to Being you pt. 2

    An Ode to Being You
    Get out of those curtains and stop fiddling with them
    But ma! I’m playing hide and seek
    Stop drying your hands with curtains
    But ma! My hands are wet
    Again! Open those curtains it’s too dark in the room
    But ma! I want it to be dark na….


    Trickle trickle trickle
    Like a drop at a time
    You grow
    A bit taller
    A bit older
    Wiser? Idk… You tell me * wink *


    From tanks to tank tops
    Doll houses to apartments
    Everything feels a little heavier
    But like not unbearable heavy
    Rather, you’re also getting stronger-heavy


    One day,
    You take out your ma out for curtain shopping
    Say,
    Look ma, the curtains, the bedsheets, and the colour of the wall match!
    Ma smiles,
    Pa still isn’t really into this curtain stuff
    He just says,
    Where’s my chai and my newspaper?
    But he forgets,
    Now two people need the same two things every weekend
    The curtains are clean and untouched for now * wink *


    –नि.भो.

  • In between trivial things

    I lived
    As I thought so,
    But,
    Not in the whites
    Nor in the blacks
    But in the Greys
    Just like everybody else… Apparently
    On a spectrum
    Everything went into a circle

    Should have let everything go when,
    Everything was in the blues,
    Of yesterday, today and tomorrow
    Let it shine like a rainbow, half circle

    Being oblivious is a weird thing
    Or the exact word is “ignorance”
    But how does it even matter?
    When the only thing that mattered was being “ok in the moment”

    I guess we have to live without questions being answers sometimes
    Or maybe just asking no questions at all!

    Maybe trivial things do matter more than we think!

    -नि.भो.

  • It’s Hard to Let You Go

    The clock’s ticking,
    And it’s almost time to say goodbye.
    Like a child, I held your hand
    (gripping your index finger tightly),
    Fearing I’d be lost in this unknown world—
    For you were the only familiar face I knew
    In this goddamn jungle.


    I know, I know—
    I’m contradicting myself from a few days ago
    When I said I wanted to get away from you,
    To find some peace from this chaos.
    But in a way, I fell in love with the mess you were.


    I’ll miss…
    The fights,
    The parties,
    The games—Mafia’s and the Gods.


    I’ll miss…
    The hunger,
    Your weird way of nourishing me,
    Quenching my thirst
    With the most sugary drinks ever.


    To my sun, you were the moon.
    To my clouds, you were the rain.
    To my cold, you were the winds from the North.
    And to shield me from all the elements,
    Even my umbrella hung by you.


    For all the smoke and the booze,
    I was never of your culture.
    I lived reclusive,
    Just to meet a techie
    In this non-technical world.


    You pushed me into companies
    Where I learned how to live—
    To be okay with the Lefts and the Rights,
    The Ups and the Downs.


    Now that our time is coming to an end,
    I’ll let you in on a secret—
    I somehow hated, yet loved, every moment with you.
    Like every romance before this.


    Frenemies? Maybe.
    But this time,
    It’s infinitely harder to let you go.


    — नि. भो.
    (4:30 a.m., Amaltas 6)

  • War

    In life and death
    I shed no more tears
    To the hypocrisy of  the West
    To the agression of the East

    Sometimes I question,
    Was war the inevitable truth for forever to reign?
    The discomfort between individuals beloved
    The silent crashing of cultures into oblivion

    People’s faces glow more than ever
    Less of smiles and more of screens
    Connected to the hive mind
    Disconnected from us around

    Temperature’s rising
    Tea’s boiling and the Coffee’s brewing
    More than ever the doomsday inching closer
    Have I become numb to these warnings?

    Hmmm…
    Chaos indeed!
    Time to take a step back
    A grow a bit older and wiser (?) with a smile 😉

    — नि.भो.

  • Correction

    From afar, I saw you
    Your eyes dripped with redemption
    For life has never been kind to me


    I clutched you in impetuosity
    My heart said, “Grab and bolt down the centrepiece!”
    “And we’ll figure out the rest of the puzzle later”


    Yet we forgot—the grip of despair is too strong to bear
    The piece of blue sapphire cracked in an instant…
    Now empty and desolate nights, with nobody to care


    — नि. भो.

  • Guts to your feelings

    You know when it is meant to be yours
    It’s one of those midnight chills you get during the day
    Like a crossbow on a journey, alone in snow-covered mountains


    You know it when you know it
    One of those things not meant to be spoken


    The universe knows your secret
    You radiate it through your mind every day
    It admires your fantasy


    Even if you’re busy in a meeting
    It knows whom you’re greeting in your mind
    A smirk on your face—brief, fleeting


    “What’s meant to be yours will find its way”
    The universe compels that prophecy every day


    You know it when you know it
    Don’t let moss grow over it


    — नि. भो.

  • Comfort and Cost

    In life and death
    I shed no more tears
    To the hypocrisy of the West
    To the aggression of the East
    Sometimes I question,
    Was war the inevitable truth for forever to reign?
    The discomfort between individuals beloved
    The silent crashing of cultures into oblivion
    People’s faces glow more than ever
    Less of smiles and more of screens
    Connected to the hive mind
    Disconnected from us around
    Temperatures rising
    Tea’s boiling and coffee’s brewing
    More than ever, the doomsday inching closer
    Have I become numb to these warnings?
    Hmmm…
    Chaos indeed!
    Time to take a step back
    And grow a bit older and wiser (?) with a smile 😉


    — नि.भो.

  • Middle Class ख़यालों की जोरी

    आसमान से
    तोड़ लाऊँ
    चाँद-तारे
    सजा दूँ इन गहमा-गहमी वाले रास्तों पर
    रोक दूँ ये traffic
    रोक दूँ ये चहल-पहल
    कि बस हो गई ये भागा-दौड़ी


    जादू ना आए तो
    जादूगर ही सही
    सीख लूँ छड़ी के मंत्र,
    आम के मौसम में
    पेड़ों पर आम की जगह खट्टे-मीठे lollipop उगाऊँ


    खेल कई
    खिलाड़ी कई
    और ख़त्म ना होने वाली पढ़ाई
    ना ख़त्म हुए exams में आने वाले सवाल,
    बोहोत हुई अब घिसाई
    इन students को आतंकवादी घोषित कर
    School–Colleges बंद करवाऊँ


    कई हो गए गड्ढे और छलनी-छलनी हुए रास्ते
    हर रोज़ ठोकरें खा-खा कर…
    अब मेरी गाड़ी के suspension भी कह दिए—
    “माफ़ी करो मालिक, अब हमसे ये बर्दाश्त ना हो पाए”
    (और चल दिए अपने मायके)


    गिरफ़्तार करूँ इन BMC और PMC के contractors और clerks को
    ले चलो इन्हें “आमरण उपोषण” पर इन गड्ढों की बस्तियों में
    वहाँ बसने वाले कुपोषित बच्चे भी केह दें इन्हें—
    “एक-दो दाँव Dangal के हमारे साथ भी लगाएँ!”
    (जो जीता वही Corporator!)


    इन चोर बाज़ारों में ले चल पड़ता हूँ हर इतवार
    लेकर अपने ख़यालों की बोरी
    काश हो जाए घर आने से पहले इनकी चोरी


    फिर कोई और बने…
    जादूगर या शायर
    या बने आतंकवादी या School का master
    हम अब ना सह पाए इन middle class ख़यालों की जोरी!


    — नि. भो.

  • A toss and a tail

    Why don’t you hate me without the thin veil you wear?
    Just straight up tell me that it’s not meant to be!
    That fish are better even in the shallowest pond there’s to be (i.e., those tears of mine)

    All this drama,
    Like a dog going around in circles,
    Trying to catch its own tail!
    Or like the Haka,
    Performed but non to be scared

    You know,
    Things bottom out eventually
    The oil floats to the top
    And the gold nuggets settle  at the bottom
    Yet, the rainbow colors don’t ever seem to be interested to explore the world underneath

    My point is,
    Stop the game
    Take a toss
    Winner takes it all
    And I’m happy to be the loser… as always!

    But it’s ok,
    The loser’s hands are full with mirrors
    Even on the darkest nights,
    They will show the truest picture of oneself!

    — नि.भो.

  • If I Were to Give Death a Try

    If I were to give death a try
    The world would be ending

    The last of flowers dried and perished
    Oceans boiled

    No place left to hide my horcrux (i.e., you)
    Neither any magic left in those eyes

    The birds, flying off to space
    Meteors punching the soft Earth’s crust

    Nuclear bombs whimpering in a corner
    World politics, with the only vote on the ballot — NOTA

    If I were to give death a try
    The world would have ended

    — नि.भो.

  • माझ्या मनाची दशा आणि दिशा

    उत्तरेकडे खूप पाऊस पडला
    ह्या वेळेस थंडी जास्त असणार
    “आई sweater आणि hoodie काढून धुवून ठेव हं”

    मी राहणार दक्षिण मुंबईचा
    जिथे थंडीच्या नावाखाली फार तर फार baniyan घालून फिरावं लागणार

    अरे पण पुण्यात तर जाम थंडी असणार ना
    नुसता hoodie नव्हे तर full pant पण घाल
    स्वप्नं फक्त आणि फक्त थंडीचीच

    बसलो तर विचार येतात
    मनाभोवती गोल करून उभे राहतात

    एक विचार की – तुळशीचा रोप खूप दिवस झाले
    कुठे दिसला नाही
    दुसरा – concrete ला इतके तडे का जातात?
    contractor नी नीट काम केलं नाही?

    केस खूप पांढरे झाले आहेत
    आता कात्रीने काम चालणार नाही!
    पण आज संध्याकाळी पण तेच जेवण!
    यार मला ते परत खायचा मूडच नाही

    घरघर फिरणाऱ्या पंख्याला पण
    कधी पाठवले पाहिजे सुट्टीवर
    आई त्याचा motor
    आणि वडील त्याची पवनचक्की

    काय वाटत असेल त्याच्या घरच्यांना?
    साला हा पण Mumbaiत struggling actor!

    Iran ला bike trip वर गेलो तर…
    मिळेल का माझ्या अ-गणित प्रश्नांची उत्तरं?
    का यावं लागेल परत मला
    मन भागवून फक्त Irani chaha
    आणि Bun-maska वर?

    आयुष्य एक रेषेसारखं असतं
    एकदम सरळ किंवा वाकडी-तिकडी
    किंवा अधूनमधून थांबत थांबत

    ती रेषा कशी घडवायची
    ह्याची Shaka-laka boom boom pencil तर माझ्याच हातात!

    माझ्या मनाची दशा
    आणि माझ्या मनाची दिशा
    दोन्ही काही माझ्या बुद्धीच्या सध्या तरी आवाक्यात नाही!

    -नि.भो.

  • Winter of ’09

    It’s cold out there
    I don’t sweat anymore when I move
    Nor my hair is damp after wearing helmet for a while
    Bike rides and comfortable shorts

    Time’s somehow frozen
    Yet it’s moving like a gust of wind
    Doesn’t make sense right?
    Well this is how it is!

    Smoke’s piling up
    Lungs are choking
    Traffic’s streching longer and longer
    The wait isn’t getting over

    A few pages of blueprints on constructing a Paradise slipped from the holder
    The gentleman in a rush; didn’t even bother to look back
    Nor did anyone else cared to pick them up
    All hands on deck to make something-
    Paradise with potholes and misaligned bridges it is!

    I wear a hoodie
    And still shiver in the blistering cold AC
    Wrapped tight like a burrito
    O Mother some tomato soup please! Warmth it is!

    A lot has changed
    A lot is changing
    Years to end
    Nothing significant has changed

    I wish I could go back to school
    Wear brown sweater and thin khaki pants
    Try to hide the winter in my pant pockets and ear mufflers
    Shiver crazy and crack a laugh
    Military cut, Warm Samosa pav and tree to tree games it is!

    – नि.भो.

  • Linear/Non-Linear

    I ride
    the crests and troughs of life
    Linear or smooth, gentle slopes expected
    Wh(Y) should be mx plus c
    But the constants never stay

    Sometimes pink
    Sometimes Green
    Sometimes Navy Blue, and a smile in between

    The effort goes on
    Switching between Squares, Circles and Rectangles
    Always trying to fit into the new
    Ostriches are the new black?
    The base- no matter what remains the same i.e., triangles

    As our bodies are constantly flung around
    Distance, Velocity, Acceleration and Jerks all are frowned upon
    0,0,0,0- all peace and stability beloved

    The engines roar,
    Nuts and Bolts crackle
    Metal sheets drum up and bend a little
    Excitement and fear
    We grip our seats while on top of the largest explosives out there

    3…2…1! Up Up….
    Here we go!

    Who said it’s an Illusion?
    When in my mind it’s all real!

    — नि.भो.

  • मैं शराब नहीं पीता

    Darta hoon
    Apne khayalon se
    Darta hoon
    Kahin sach na keh doon
    Ki zalim hai yeh duniya aur khudgarz hain yeh log

    मैं शराब नहीं पीता
    Yeh sheher sharaabi
    Aur iss sharaabi sheher ka main Raja
    Iss sheher ko chalane ke liye koi toh hosh mein hona chahiye?!

    मैं शराब नहीं पीता!
    Ajeeb si aashiqui hai
    Nashe mein dhut ho kar kisi ko yaad mein rona nahi maanta
    Bas raat ke 2 baje tanhai mein dooba hua…
    Khaton mein kahaniyan likh deta hoon
    Ki shayad ki ab toh woh maan jaaye

    मैं शराब नहीं पीता!
    Neither am I afraid of myself or the truth in its bare
    So I sit alone with my thoughts to have real conversations
    Where no lie is left unturned
    Lies about myself or others

    मैं शराब नहीं पीता!
    Kabhi socha hai ki kuch palon ki mauj ke liye…
    Kitne gharon ki khushiyan chhin jaati hain?!
    Kitne bachchon ki padhai ruk jaati hai?!
    Pyaar aur aman ko qabr mein dafnakar…
    Tanhai nashe dhut padi rehti hai!

    मैं शराब नहीं पीता!
    Kya hoga agar… ek गिलास aur ek घूँट pe main khud ko rok na paoon?
    Kya koi aakar bachayega mujhe?!
    Ya doob jaaunga kisi sharaab ki botal mein?
    Kya aayenge woh dost?
    Jinhone mere honthon se pehla gilaas lagaya tha?

    मैं शराब नहीं पीता!
    Hasta hoon…
    Khelta hoon…
    Wahi bachpana apne andar lekar ghoomne ki koshish karta hoon…
    Nachta hoon… as if, there is no tomorrow!
    Samajhta hoon… apnon aur apne logon ko… as if, there is a better tomorrow!!

    मैं शराब नहीं पीता!
    Mummy ne mana kar rakha hai!

    — नि.भो.

  • All good things (and bad) must come to an end

    A lush green Jungle
    Full of life
    Birds Dancing, Animals Dancing
    A just King rules

    All it takes is a spark
    To burn down the paradise
    From heaven to hell
    Journey of a few hours

    Not all change is so violent
    Death/Change creeps in mostly silent
    Away from the heavy forward marching sound of life
    In the shadows of our own

    For new life to take place
    Trees must take permanent slumber
    For new Kings to be born
    The old vacate the throne
    (Even at the cost of paradise)

    New stories become old
    The passing becomes stale
    Of yesterday’s News
    The magazines demand “Hot & upcoming”

    So here’s one to the God’s of destruction
    To change,
    We bred challenge
    Lived adventure/exciting

    To the youth of us
    All good things must come to an end

    — नि.भो.

  • It’s a long journey, choose wisely

    Anything is possible!Dream on!Run till your heart desiresLove don’t think Just one job switchLife will be setJust one more home loanLife will be set Kid’s school projectMedicineResponsibilities Early morning walks to stay away from heart attacks Emptying nestsPassions left to starveRespect required How hard I tried?! We’re Hindus,We reincarnateTo fall short?…All over again? It’s a…

  • Not too distant (in the future)

    An asteroid floating in spaceThere’s more to it than just floating aroundOn a trajectoryWith a purpose of its ownMaybe to surprise the dinosaurs of the worldNot too distant in the future For days in makingThe bees and the birds awaitThe blooming of the Pink and the yellowHungry,Yet they say to themselves…Not too distant in the…

  • A piece of everything

    Maybe I just like to romanticise everythingBeing aloneBeing togetherWhen it bleedsWhen it clotsThe screaming of the Metal/RockThe frustration of rapThe Thunderstorm shaking me to the coreA poem that just resonates with your stateA bottle of cold waterOr a piece of chocolate bitter sweet It’s love to the extremeOr maybe self obsession of sortsObsessing over livingPeople…

  • An Ode to Being you pt. 2

    An Ode to Being YouGet out of those curtains and stop fiddling with themBut ma! I’m playing hide and seekStop drying your hands with curtainsBut ma! My hands are wetAgain! Open those curtains it’s too dark in the roomBut ma! I want it to be dark na…. Trickle trickle trickleLike a drop at a timeYou…

  • In between trivial things

    I livedAs I thought so,But,Not in the whitesNor in the blacksBut in the GreysJust like everybody else… ApparentlyOn a spectrumEverything went into a circle Should have let everything go when,Everything was in the blues,Of yesterday, today and tomorrowLet it shine like a rainbow, half circle Being oblivious is a weird thingOr the exact word is…

  • It’s Hard to Let You Go

    The clock’s ticking,And it’s almost time to say goodbye.Like a child, I held your hand(gripping your index finger tightly),Fearing I’d be lost in this unknown world—For you were the only familiar face I knewIn this goddamn jungle. I know, I know—I’m contradicting myself from a few days agoWhen I said I wanted to get away…

  • War

    In life and deathI shed no more tearsTo the hypocrisy of  the WestTo the agression of the East Sometimes I question,Was war the inevitable truth for forever to reign?The discomfort between individuals belovedThe silent crashing of cultures into oblivion People’s faces glow more than everLess of smiles and more of screensConnected to the hive mindDisconnected…

  • Correction

    From afar, I saw youYour eyes dripped with redemptionFor life has never been kind to me I clutched you in impetuosityMy heart said, “Grab and bolt down the centrepiece!”“And we’ll figure out the rest of the puzzle later” Yet we forgot—the grip of despair is too strong to bearThe piece of blue sapphire cracked in…

  • Guts to your feelings

    You know when it is meant to be yoursIt’s one of those midnight chills you get during the dayLike a crossbow on a journey, alone in snow-covered mountains You know it when you know itOne of those things not meant to be spoken The universe knows your secretYou radiate it through your mind every dayIt…

  • Comfort and Cost

    In life and deathI shed no more tearsTo the hypocrisy of the WestTo the aggression of the EastSometimes I question,Was war the inevitable truth for forever to reign?The discomfort between individuals belovedThe silent crashing of cultures into oblivionPeople’s faces glow more than everLess of smiles and more of screensConnected to the hive mindDisconnected from us…

  • Middle Class ख़यालों की जोरी

    आसमान सेतोड़ लाऊँचाँद-तारेसजा दूँ इन गहमा-गहमी वाले रास्तों पररोक दूँ ये trafficरोक दूँ ये चहल-पहलकि बस हो गई ये भागा-दौड़ी जादू ना आए तोजादूगर ही सहीसीख लूँ छड़ी के मंत्र,आम के मौसम मेंपेड़ों पर आम की जगह खट्टे-मीठे lollipop उगाऊँ खेल कईखिलाड़ी कईऔर ख़त्म ना होने वाली पढ़ाईना ख़त्म हुए exams में आने वाले सवाल,बोहोत…

  • A toss and a tail

    Why don’t you hate me without the thin veil you wear?Just straight up tell me that it’s not meant to be!That fish are better even in the shallowest pond there’s to be (i.e., those tears of mine) All this drama,Like a dog going around in circles,Trying to catch its own tail!Or like the Haka,Performed but…

  • If I Were to Give Death a Try

    If I were to give death a tryThe world would be ending The last of flowers dried and perishedOceans boiled No place left to hide my horcrux (i.e., you)Neither any magic left in those eyes The birds, flying off to spaceMeteors punching the soft Earth’s crust Nuclear bombs whimpering in a cornerWorld politics, with the…

  • माझ्या मनाची दशा आणि दिशा

    उत्तरेकडे खूप पाऊस पडलाह्या वेळेस थंडी जास्त असणार“आई sweater आणि hoodie काढून धुवून ठेव हं” मी राहणार दक्षिण मुंबईचाजिथे थंडीच्या नावाखाली फार तर फार baniyan घालून फिरावं लागणार अरे पण पुण्यात तर जाम थंडी असणार नानुसता hoodie नव्हे तर full pant पण घालस्वप्नं फक्त आणि फक्त थंडीचीच बसलो तर विचार येतातमनाभोवती गोल करून उभे राहतात…

  • Winter of ’09

    It’s cold out thereI don’t sweat anymore when I moveNor my hair is damp after wearing helmet for a whileBike rides and comfortable shorts Time’s somehow frozenYet it’s moving like a gust of windDoesn’t make sense right?Well this is how it is! Smoke’s piling upLungs are chokingTraffic’s streching longer and longerThe wait isn’t getting over…

  • Linear/Non-Linear

    I ride the crests and troughs of lifeLinear or smooth, gentle slopes expectedWh(Y) should be mx plus cBut the constants never stay Sometimes pinkSometimes GreenSometimes Navy Blue, and a smile in between The effort goes onSwitching between Squares, Circles and Rectangles Always trying to fit into the newOstriches are the new black?The base- no matter…

  • मैं शराब नहीं पीता

    Darta hoonApne khayalon seDarta hoonKahin sach na keh doonKi zalim hai yeh duniya aur khudgarz hain yeh log मैं शराब नहीं पीताYeh sheher sharaabiAur iss sharaabi sheher ka main RajaIss sheher ko chalane ke liye koi toh hosh mein hona chahiye?! मैं शराब नहीं पीता!Ajeeb si aashiqui haiNashe mein dhut ho kar kisi ko yaad…

  • All good things (and bad) must come to an end

    A lush green JungleFull of lifeBirds Dancing, Animals DancingA just King rules All it takes is a sparkTo burn down the paradiseFrom heaven to hellJourney of a few hours Not all change is so violentDeath/Change creeps in mostly silentAway from the heavy forward marching sound of lifeIn the shadows of our own For new life…