yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

घाट पे हम क्या करेंगे तुमने एक दिन पूछा था   आदि केशव का प्राचीन मंदिर उस से उतरती सीढ़ियाँ उन पे सरकती चमकती रेलिंग इस नये पुराने के मिलन पे हम  साथ  बैठेंगे   कभी हम पुराने सूरज - चाँद देखेंगे कभी उनकी नयी परछाई   कभी हम नयी लहरों को सुनेंगे कभी पुराने पानी को छुएँगे   कभी हम नयी ट्रेन को जाते देखेंगे कभी पुराने पुल को खड़े   कभी हम नयी नाव को बनते सुनेंगे कभी नहाते बच्चों की पुरानी हँसी को   कभी हम पुरानी यादों के साथ रहेंगे कभी नयी यादें बनाएँगे   इस नये पुराने के खेल मे घाट  पे  हर रोज़ हम हाथ थामे चुप्पी भी शेयर करेंगे   और कभी कभी चाय की चुस्की लेने चंदन शहीद दरगाह पे भी चल चलेंगे Illustration by children of classes 5th and 6th, April 2024

Why do we assume that the other person knows less? Two lines that I came across during a recent election have stayed with me since. A newspaper article which reported that ‘ intellectuals have asked people to vote for the betterment of society and vote for a particular party ’ and a friend who commented, after listening to couple of crowd pulling netas, ‘ Six year olds; that is what our political leaders take us to be ’. Both the scenarios highlight that a few (politicians, intellectuals) thought they were more intelligent than many. They knew; the others did not. What is it that has many of us believe that the other person knows less? That we know more. Many of us also have a tendency to explain, proffer clarifications in scenarios where the receiver is rather better off without them. Wonder what drives these – the opportunity to feel more intelligent and smart than others? This is a domain where otherwise lax individuals turn out to be overzealous human beings. Texts which accompany...