Zyklon B

Holocaust Memorial, originally uploaded by heartthatbeats.

Millions just swept away like particles of dust. And their memory as dead as they themselves. Children, women and old alike, killed as though they were "born to die", or like pests removed from harvest - the harvest of death. The science of murder predates the science of cloning by decades. Had heard of "neccessity is the mother of invention" but for Zyklon B & IBM Punch-card Machine - "death gave birth to these invention".

What is the final solution to human madness?

About 9-11 million people were exterminated in holocaust out of which 6 million were Jews (estimates ranging from 5.1 to 6.2 millions) in the death factories between the years 1939-1945.

Don't believe it? Following the links below for getting convinced:

The Holocaust (Wikipedia)

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Holocaust Survivors

The Holocaust History Project Homepage

The World Must Know: The History of the Holocaust as Told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Death Dealer: The Memoirs of the SS Kommandant at Auschwitz

Commandant of Auschwitz : The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess

If you feel sad learning the truth, don't blame me, just say a prayer...

Butterfly-by-night !

Nectoronics !, originally uploaded by heartthatbeats.

And there she sat in front of me. Her eyes enquiring, "what next?"

I hadn't fancied or fantasized encountering a butterfly although I had questioned myself as to how I would react to one. No wonder I was unprepared, I would not even recognize were she not introduced by another flower. While fellow flowers fluttered, I shyied away folding my petals and hiding in the dark of the night. I could have had all her skillful love for a little nectar - no but I would not part, I wouldn't exchange.

"Toss the dice", she said "and make fortune of the night". "I don't gamble", was my muffled reply. Before she could open her wings, I walked away.

The close encounter with a butterfly ended before it began.

Drama in Ladakh Sky

Drama in Sky, originally uploaded by heartthatbeats.

It was drama unfolding in the sky. The plot thickened to the climax as the sun descended. I heard the air whisper in my ears - drink it as much as you can and get drunk, tonight's your last here you may not return soon.

Now, I'm looking back, longing for Ladakh !

Smile in the face of adversity

When the going gets tough, originally uploaded by heartthatbeats.

आसमान को चूमती मेरी आकांक्षाएं

फ़ौलाद से बुलंद मेरा हौसला

प्रकाश की गति से तेज़ मेरी कल्पना

दुखों के पीछे भाग, उन्हें दूर भगाती मेरी मुस्कान

मत देखो मेरा शरीर, मत समझो मुझे अपाहिज

मैं मेरा शरीर नहीं ।

एक निरर्थकता का एहसास !

एक प्रश्न जो सभी बुद्धिजीवी सोच को निशब्द करता है - वह है:

मैं क्या हूँ और मैं क्यूं हूँ।

कईं रातें बेचैन करवटें बदलती रहीं, कईं शामें चाय की सुर्खियाँ भरती रहीं इसी प्रश्न के कारण । उत्तर जैसे रेगिस्तान का पानी, जितने कदम बढाये उसकी ओर उतना ही दूर पाया उसे अपने होटों से । चारों ओर बचा केवल एक निरार्थक सा एहसास और जीवन चल रहा है एक टीले से दूसरे टीले पर एक बूँद की तलाश में ...

Love is a wonder ...

Taj Mahal, Agra, India, originally uploaded by heartthatbeats.

Is she an imagination of a dreamer or a dream of a lover
Is it words of a poem or colors of a painter
Drawings of an architect or craftsmanship of a mason.
Whatever she is but she's surely the mecca of photographers all trying to capture her and take her home.
Wah Taj ! Or you may choose to say Wow Taj !!

More photos of Taj !

Taj - A Love Poem !

Taj - A Love Poem !, originally uploaded by heartthatbeats.

Peacefully she lays there enshrined by a monument of love. But she needs to wake up again in the heart of Mughal children and kindle the light to make them see that it's easy to kill but difficult to love. And that a killer is forgotten as easily but the lover lives on in every morning sunrise and everyevening sunset, in stones and in misty air.

More photos of Taj !

Kashmir screams ...

Sonmarg, Kashmir, originally uploaded by heartthatbeats.

I was so beautiful, so innocent - a much envied virgin. Then they came and ravaged me - sometimes in the name of men and sometimes in the name of God. So unrelegiously did they devour me as though there was no God - and probably there wasn't.
I see no light ahead. Will I ever be someone's wedded wife or will I always remain a mistress of no one?
It's me, Kashmir.

This image shot in June 2003 at Sonamarg, Kashmir, on a transparency - Reala 100 with Nikon F80 & 24mm F2.8 Lens - scanned.

Visit to Kashmir was a dream come true and living in a house-boat at Dal Lake, Srinagar is a truth that's so dreamy !

Ladakh - My Photographic Pilgrimage ...

Flights of Fancy, originally uploaded by heartthatbeats.

Breath-taking - literally & figuratively ! Yes she takes your breath away but inspires life in you. She is full of paradoxes - barren but beautiful. High gompas, high mountain passes and high altitude lakes are sure to give you a life's high that you would have never experienced before. And for the shutterbugs, Ladakh is the ultimate photographic orgasm or photographic pilgrimage - depending on whether you love photography or worship it !

This is the image of Pangong Tso ! For more photos of Ladakh click here.

नवजात शिशु !!!

ब्लॉग के संसार में मैं स्वयं का स्वागत करता हूँ । ना मैं लेखक हूँ और ना मैं कवि । बस अपनी भटकती कलम की पगडण्डी यहाँ बनाना चाहता हूँ ।