काँच का टुकड़ा

नज़रों के पर्दों से परे,
ख्वाबों के आसमां से दूर,
फेंका हुआ था कोने में,
काँच का एक टुकड़ा।

पर टूट कर भी बिखरा नहीं  था,
हौंसला उसका,
धार पैनी और पाकर,
खुरदरी सतह पर,
हो गया खूंखार, हिंसक, 
और भी बलवान।

कभी गुस्से में चमकता, 
बहुत तेज,
की चौंधिया जाती ,
दूधिया रौशनी में, 
आंखे मनुज की।
तो कभी,
सूरज की सतेज किरणों को,
परावर्तित, भ्रमित कर,
जन्म देता सात वर्णों को।

------ राजेश मीणा बुजेटा 

Village Visit Tour : Encountering Realities

Recently I was on a Village Visit Tour to Bhikhewala village, which is located in the Jind district of Haryana. It was a group of six of us (5 IAS+1 IPS) and we were touring the village from 3rd to 10 November. On the first day, Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) gave us introduction about the district and the issues we had to deal. The issues were Education, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), Education, Health and Sanitation and Agriculture. In the end the District Collector (DM) had a meeting with all of us and we submitted our findings to him.

We were made to stay in a Punjab National Bank Farmer's Training Centre near the village. The hospitality was great and food was even greater, Punjab and Haryana can never be doubted on this. We were attached with Block Development Officer (BDO) of the concerned Block and was provided with an official vehicle to move around. When we reached the Training Centre, BDO, Village Headman or Pradhan (Sarpanch of Panchayat), Village Secretary (Gram Sachiv) and many other local level level administrators were present. For the fist time, feeling of doing some administrative work was dawning upon. 

Over the next few days, we interacted with the School headmaster, teachers, students, Pradhan, other official persons, villagers, ASHA, youths of the village etc. By interacting with them and carrying out various activities as instructed by our Academy, we came to know about the actual problems and prospects of that village. Though I myself is from a rural background, but still this was very different. 

Villages of Haryana are supposed to be advanced, but still I didn't find it very good, may be because my own village and other villages I have been in Rajasthan, were better that it in many ways. But still, interaction with students from all classes, getting to know exact working of ground level administration by different officials, and watching everything in official capacity was very encouraging. Eating mid-day meal for the first time, supervising the teaching and teachers for the first time, looking at the heaps of cow-dung from a different angle for the first time, listening to the problems of villagers as an official for the first time and many other things alike can't be described in words.

Though we were only trainees, but the villagers treated us as if we were going to bring a revolution in the village. The heart-breaking tales of corruption, negligence, favoritism etc were eye-openers. Lack of education to children after class X, lack of support to the youths etc were issues towards which we felt so handcuffed as we could do nothing but listen and preach some moral tales as to what could be done. 

After having gone through all this, I am raring to go to district as my first posting as soon as possible so that I can bring as much change as I can within my official capacity.

मुखौटे

कल वहा मेला लगा था,
बिक रहे थे, हर दुकां पर,
प्यार के ढेरों मुखौटे।
वेदना से भरे।
ढुलाते थे पंकजों से,
आंसुओं की धार,
करुणा भरी।
स्वतः ही,
खिच गया ध्यान,
सम्मोहित हुआ,
और बढ़ गया हाथ,
 उस मुखौटे की ओर।
पहनने को उठाया,
तो पाया,
कि दूजी तरफ से,
लग रहा था ,
खौफ़ का चेहरा।
घोर काला,
भयानक! डरावना!!
और प्यार का भक्षक।।


-----राजेश मीणा 'बुजेटा'

शराब का कतरा

I.
कतरा-कतरा शराब का,
जब लहू में घुल गया।
सही-गलत की समझ को,
राख़ पोतकर,
कुछ धुंधला सा कर गया।
नशे की गलियों में,
दुर्गंध वाले कोने में,

घूमना,
और खींचना,
दो कश सुट्टे के।
गाली गलोच करना,
लडकियों को छेड़ना,
और दूषित करना,
स्वयं को,
बस यही काम बन गया।
कतरा-कतरा शराब का,
जब लहू में घुल गया।

II.
 बैठ दो-चार भेडियों के साथ,
जाम छलका,
अनगिनत बार,
नशीली लाल आँखों से,
बाहर आया,
डगमगाते हुए।
सनसनाती रफ़्तार से,
बाइक चलाते-चलाते,
बिगड़ गया,
संतुलन।
अपनों को रोता छोड़,
माँ-बाप की पलकों को,
गीला छोड़,
एक और युवा इस तरह,
मौत के आगोश में समा गया।
कतरा-कतरा शराब का,
जब लहू में घुल गया।


III.
नशे में धुत्त,
मादकता से  उन्मुक्त,
दरवाजा खटखटाया,
घर का।
बाट जोहती घरवाली को,
दुत्कारा, फटकारा,
मारा-पीटा,
हवस का शिकार बनाया,
सिसकती हुई उस नारी को,
गालियों की बौछार से नहलाया।
परदे के पीछे छुपा,
वो बालक,
देखता रहा सब,
नशे की आग में इस तरह,
एक और परिवार भस्म हो गया।
कतरा-कतरा शराब का,
जब लहू में घुल गया।


----राजेश मीणा बुजेटा 

LBSNAA की मस्ती

यह कविता मैंने हमारी अकादमी में काव्य - समारोह में सुनाने के लिए लिखी थी । अतः मेरे बाहर के मित्रों को थोड़ी अटपटी लग सकती है । हालांकि मुझे उम्मीद है कि आप सब इसे पढ़ के आनंद लेंगे ।।
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

इक दो साल पहले की, कहानी मैं सुनाता हूँ, (As the journey starts)
कि गुज़रा दौर से जो था, वो अफ़साना बताता हूँ।
कोई इंजीनियर बनता, कोई था मेडिसिन पढता, (I am an Engineer though!)
मगर पागल मैं बेचारा, भटकता दिल्ली जा पहुंचा। (Mukherjee Nagar in Delhi)

UPSC की तैयारी, बड़ी रोचक कहानी है, (No comments now!)
ये मेरा दिल नहीं कहता, ये हम सबकी जुबानी है।
जो हो गए पास तो समझो, बनी फिर जिंदगानी है,
गर जो fail हो गए तो, कोई coaching चलानी है। (This happens in Delhi!)

कोई DM कहता है, कोई बाबू समझता है, (My outside friends)
मगर O.T. की बेचैनी, तो बस O.T. समझता है। (Officer Trainee- our official
वहां सब लोग कहते है मेरी ऊँगली तो घी में है,                name at the Academy)
मगर इस mess में हम सब, कोरी रोटी चबाते है।

मेरी आँखों में सपने है, मगर मैं सो नहीं सकता, (Coz, the wake up time is 5:30am)
रात को Net पे Chatting कभी मैं कर नहीं सकता। (Because internet is closed
वहां सब लोग कहते है मेरी जिंदगी मजे में है,                    down sharp at 11:00 pm)
काश उनसे मैं Polo-Ground के दो चक्कर करा सकता। (Every morning we have
                                                                                      to go down the hill to
                                                                                         this ground for PT)

कभी history पढ़ाते हैं, कभी वो law सिखाते हैं,
मगर हर class हम OTs सो सो कर बिताते हैं। (Sleep deprived, we are!)
अधूरी नींद है सबकी उन्हें मालूम है फिर भी,

मगर वो रोज़ हमको एक नया show-cause थमाते हैं। (Whenever we miss any
                                                                                    class, this is what
                                                                                                 we get)

बहुत कुछ है कहा मैंने, बहुत कुछ है सुना तुमने,
मगर जो बात है दिल की, तुम्हे अब वो बताता हूँ।
भले हो लाख  Universities, कोई Oxford, कोई Cambridge,
मगर इस दिल में अब केवल लबासना ही धडकता है। (LBSNAA-the acronym
                                                                                     of my Academy)

तो फिर ये शाम अब मैं बस तुम्हारे नाम करता हूँ,
शब्दों की इस लड़ी को मैं, समर्पित आज करता हूँ।
इसीके साथ अब सबको, अलविदा दोस्त कहता हूँ,
कोई गलती हो कविता में, तो sorry please कहता हूँ।।

       ----राजेश मीणा बुजेटा 

Interaction with some Self Help Groups (SHGs).....a field visit.

Recently in October, 2012, I along with my team was on an official visit to Tehri in Uttarankhand. Our lodging was done in Sri Bhuvneshwari Mahila Ashram (SBMA), an NGO with its head office in Tehri. You can visit it HERE This NGO was set up by Swami Manmathan, who came from Kerala and settled there. SBMA mainly works in the field of women empowerment and child education. Simultaneously, it also do work in areas like bio-farming, poultry, seed farming etc. throughout Uttrakhand. It is also helping many SHGs in that area.

I also visited many villages, during which I had healthy interaction with 4-5 SHGs. During such a visit to one village, we were welcomed by the members of these SHGs.  The group included the leaders, treasurers and other members of the groups. They put a tilak on our forehead and sang the song ' itni shakti hume dena data...'. During our discussion with them, they told us that most of them were formed few years back around 2008-09. Each SHG was composed of 10-12 lady members of same villages. To begin with they had deposited around 5,000-10,000 rupee each and now the bank balance of their SHGs is ranging in few lakhs. They have also opened bank account in nearby State Bank of India. This shows that the savings of these SHGs were quite impressive and they were profitable in their functioning. The treasurer informed us about the exact details of investments, terms and conditions, savings and profits etc.

With increasing savings, they are becoming more self-reliant, as they are doing many works like making biscuits, pickles, sauces, selling of eggs etc. When I asked them whether they have to seek the permission of their husbands before doing any financial transaction, one lady from Gajraj SHG quickly replied, "who cares about them now...." and everyone burst out into laughter. The SHGs lend money to members at time of requirement at nominal interests. This helps in financially empowering them and this money can be used not only for fulfilling personal requirements but also expanding their business as a group. Hence such mechanism is helpful to both individuals and whole group. They also got certain incentives from the government like a fixed number of hens or chickens, so that they can rear them and generate some revenue.

It was really good to see the success stories of these SHGs. The overall socio-economic conditions also changes in the long term as the women are able to do business during lean cropping seasons, they are sending their children, including girls, to the schools, they know the importance of family planning etc. They are self dependent and highly empowered now. This is in stark difference to what the situation was about 5 years back.