इक आग

इक आग दिखी है,
जाने कब से लगी है,
जाने कितने जले हैं,
जाने कितने जलेंगे,
जाने कितने थे  मेरे,
जाने कितने थे उनके,
बस इतना पता है,
इंसान ही मरे हैं,
चाहे मेरे या उनके,

इक आग दिखी है,
जाने कब से लगी है,
जिसने है लगाईं,
जब थी ये लगाईं,
कैसे हाथ न कांपे,
वो कैसे रात को सोया,
वो कैसे दिन को जागे,

इक आग दिखी है,
जाने कब से लगी है,
मैं इसका हिस्सा न हूँ,
ना ही बन पाउँगा,
मैंने कितना बोला,
मैं बहुत चिलाया,
इक आग दिखी है,
जाने कब से लगी है...

The System needs to Run

Today (should be few days back i.e. on 4th Feb 2014) there was another death in the institute, another suicide. I cannot imagine a person killing himself or herself. From where did he find the guts to do such a thing? What situations did he face to end up like that? But in the institute, or may be in the part where I live or my life is embedded in, everything seemed normal, everyone was going by doing their normal work in their normal ways. The system really seems to doesn't care about the human being. May be when people say that human beings have been reduced to a simple raw material, it holds certain truth to it. I am not blaming anyone here. I cannot. Even I am involved in that system and even I want it to run otherwise how will I get my food, my internet and many more things.

It's like that story named "Lullaby" which I recently read (Available Here). The story was of a mother, a child and the system. It tells a tale where the child dies in the end while mother was working inside a jute factory, while the machines in the factory were still running, while most of the workers still working. There were few who gathered around the woman on hearing her cry, those who were working near her. 

My situation seems to be similar, the student died, the people around must have felt something, must have gathered to see or may be to murmur something, and there would be a lot like me who felt bad on hearing the happening, but didn't get up from their seat of comfort zone. How can they? And how can I? I need this system to run. May be it will eat me someday, yes it will (it has many ways of eating up the raw material). That’s how the life goes on, right. Now, suicides are also part of this institute just like the buildings, the students, and the faculty.

I always thought "System was made for human beings" but in this particular case the human beings were made for the system. That's why the system didn't stop but the human being did.

In the end... who is responsible for his death? We all in the institute are, including myself. We always run the system (I don’t know for whom), but we forget the people. I hope it changes or at least I change.