A New Definition of Living

जीने की नई परिभाषा

कहीं ग़लती से वो मर तो नहीं गया?
ज़रा पास जाकर देखो
शायद कुछ साँसें अब भी ठहरी हों उसके भीतर।

बहुत नाटकबाज़ है वो,
साँस रोकने का हुनर भी सीख लिया है,
ऐसे स्थिर, जैसे जीवन को मात दे दी हो।

कुछ बोलता नहीं अब,
जैसे कुछ ऐसा देख लिया हो
जिसे शब्दों में बाँधा ही नहीं जा सकता।

आँखें बंद किए बैठा है,
मानो किसी और जगत की ध्वनि सुन रहा हो,
जहाँ न तुम्हारे सवाल पहुँचते हैं,
न तुम्हारी समझ।

कभी-कभी लगता है,
वो मर नहीं गया
बस जीने की नई परिभाषा ढूँढ ली है।

Did he die by mistake?
Go a little closer and see,
perhaps a few breaths still linger within him.

He is quite the dramatist,
he's learned the art of holding his breath too,
so still, as if he has checkmated life itself.

He speaks nothing now,
as if he has witnessed something
that cannot be bound by words.

He sits with eyes closed,
as if listening to the sounds of another realm,
where neither your questions reach,
nor your understanding.

Sometimes it feels,
he hasn't died,
he has just found a new definition of living.

Behind the Poem

This poem captures a state of profound stillness that might be mistaken for death by the outside world. It speaks to a deep meditative state or a realization so intense that it renders one silent and immobile, disconnected from mundane reality but perhaps more 'alive' than ever in a different realm of understanding.