I started writing in 2018. This book is a compilation of everything: my unfinished notes, personal writings, and stories. The title is in Urdu: Tilism means Magic, and Masknat means Misery, the powerful forces that make life humble.

Within these pages, I’ve laid bare my vulnerable emotions: happiness, joy, silence, rage, my women, and my acquaintances.

My poetry is both an experience and a chaos. A chaos that arises from both pain and pleasure. In an ocean of miseries, poetry became my nonchalant screaming. It echoes through every layer of my life and perspective. It is like vapour, rising when the core burns from the journey of a heart full of emotions to a mind capable of resistance. I have travelled far, internally and emotionally.

There is no structure, no rhyme scheme, no rules. I chose to be raw. I chose to be real. I wrote what I wanted to write. I screamed in this book, loudly. The language trembled and scattered across each page, soaked in meaning and feeling.

I have only shared this book with those who know me, those who have travelled with me. It is my way of doing justice to them. They are both my pleasure and my pain.

कुछ सफ़ों में मैंने कुछ ऐसे लम्हे लिखे हैं, जिनको बयां करना मेरी ज़िंदगी की सबसे बड़ी उपलब्धि है। हर उस फ़र्द को दिल में पनाह देना और हमेशा याद रखना—मुझे कुछ ना कुछ सिखाता रहा है। मैं हर उस फ़र्द का इस्तिक़बाल करता हूँ, जो मेरे दिल में है… और इस किताब में भी।