Rain - Nature's most amazing miracle. One dimensional motion of water, from top to bottom, but it comes around our lives in so many dimensions, almost defining the phase of our life. Think about it: an enemy for toddlers, deny Jack his day of play in the park, with friends and folk under the bright sun in a gay day. A rival for kids - splashing puddles and beating the storm when you forget to take an umbrella (some of us walk naked in the rain even if we have an umbrella!). A friend for teenagers; remember your rocket science maths lessons, the villainous teacher scratching her chalk on the black board - you know how busted you will get for not paying attention. But when equations go over the roof and you in search of solace, you notice water sliding over the slanting roofs of your school and flushing down in front of the classroom; the elegant streamlined flow of water; droplets dangling on the window, as you wait for it to gain mass and drip on your fingers. Rain as a friend who saves you from boring maths classes. And finally - rain, your lover! "Walking in the moonlight, I am thinking of you. Listening to the raindrops I am thinking of you!!!" And then college gets over, you get a job, and this same old rain comes back to ruin your drive to office. The Cycle continues...
Waiting at the bus-stop in the rain - such a sigh of relief when you see your bus coming approaching, "Finally, I can shove my umbrella back in my bag and escape the rain!" Seriously guys, you would have loved to see the expression on my friend's face when he got into the bus and found water leaking on his shirt. RIOT! Tragic traffic to top it off, so a journey that might have taken us 10 minutes on a fine sunny day took us half an hour on this leaky rainy day. As a CA student who skipped college and jumped into work life, I always consider office as college. But looking at the hard time the Goddesses are giving me with their showers from up above, seems I have actually missed a phase of life!
We got off the bus - rain has subsided and we were relived from the leaky ass jammed vehicle. "Do you want me to drop you somewhere?" It was still drizzling and I thought courtesy demanded I offer him a ride in my umbrella. He politely declined and we bid adeu like good friends. "Cya later SUCKER!!!" About turn and march towards my humble home.
Seriously, Chennai is a disaster when it rains. So much of slush and mud and puddles and more slush, all of this amidst the never ending metro rush. And the army of homeless cripples who have found shelter under the bridge and along the pavements - the Govt. is doing nothing to improve infrastructure, forgivable. Leaving these helpless souls to fend for themselves, atrocious! I mean, that is my policy, forget development, forget economy, the least a government has to do is make sure no one stays hungry. The basic right to live is being denied in this nation.
But every time I swear at the Govt, my conscience stings me, "You blame the Govt? What good are you doing for the nation!?" I hate my conscience. Doesn't a man have the right to even blame a stranger. I mean, come on guys, you all know how much relief it gives you, fall in trouble, blame a stranger, end of story -so simple. But O NO! My conscience wouldn't allow me to sin. Not only will it stop me from throwing the blame on the authorities, but it has to point towards the blind cripple laying on the road.... beaten by rain.... ignored by passers by.... "What can I do?" Obviously, when you are given a task, what is the first thing you do? Come up with an excuse the shelve the task (Yes, now you believe that I have an office life don't you?). But O NO! My conscience has to show me a plank of wood lying on the ground, just an arms length away from the beggar. So if I lift it up and have it lean against the wall next to which the beggar lies, I would have given him shelter from the rain. But that means I have to cross the road (you know T.Nagar rush in the evening right!), pick up the plank which is lying on the ground (Pinnacle of hygiene), and God bless me if the plank falls on that man. Well then, *SIGH*, there is no running away from you conscience. I set off on my task.
And success! The wrinkled cripple is saved for the day. I bow down to look at his face, a show of relief would be reward enough for me. As I bend down for a closer look at the "damsel in distress" I had rescued, an SUV drove past, splashing the flood all over the two of us, and before I could turn around to swear at the bloody blundaleomite, I saw the worn out human body crumbling into pieces. Like a castle of sand, the man, piece by piece, flowed away with the water, and as each bit drained out of his body, he started to glow! Hatching from an egg that the body seemed to be, a glow of light popped up in the year. Was it actually silent or was I just too mesmerized by the miracle I was witnessing. The plank fell down and I stood straight, to see this.... thing.... flutter higher up to reach my eye level.
"TINKER BELL", I screamed in my head, and the fairy smiled. Fairy, not pixie; similar to Tinker Bell, but not the same, an Indian version maybe. Actually it looked more similar to the fairy in Tom 'n Jerry, the one who gives Jerry a magic potion that makes him invisible... yeah, that one. A pink frock and a star tipped wand. And a beautiful woman, just as big as Tinker Bell. "Such a nice boy!" It squeaked! I shocked (Too shocked to even notice Grammar). "Here's the least, I can do for you", and the fairy touched my head with the tip of her head and fluttered off towards the pregnant clouds.
"Thank God I found you!" Rain had turned into storm. Horns were blaring around me. My umbrella was held high and under it.... she.... *ME NAME IS POTATO*
I saw her face right next to mine; she brushed her wavy hair, wet and yet beautiful, behind her ear, leaving just two locks of hair dancing in front of her eyes. Her eyes, like peacocks dancing in the rain, like a doe in the grasslands, like a swan in the pond..... Like Sruthi Hasan (Now you get it?). She looked at me and with one upward motion of her eyes, "What happened?"
What happened? To hear your voice, I waited an year! Sitting across the room in the same office, unable to approach you, unable to talk to you. The eternal brain vs heart conflict had denied me the opportunity of being close to you. As my heart had fallen for you on the first day of articleship, but my brain never gave me the strength to come close to you.
And now here you are! Her fingers curled around mine to clutch the umbrella, her body pressed against mine to flee the rain and her eyes on me, it spoke everything. "Thank you", her eyes (accompanied by those stunning full lips) said.
All of a sudden, every curse turned into a blessing. I held her arm to help her through the pits and puddles, the most generous crowd of Chennai squeezed us together, and the rain, it had finally become my lover. I held her by the shoulder and guided her through the crowd. "So, what brings you here?" I finally asked with all my courage, and she gave a detailed, well illustrated, elaborated explanation which totally went over my head. But her voice, listening to that is always melody. And the fact that she is talking to me. ME! Cloud 9 it is baby.
When that lecture got over, I managed to ask her another question. Then another one. And then another one. And she kept speaking, and speaking and speaking. Finally, an awkward silence. The awkward silence. I looked at her face, and maybe its because I was, I saw her blushing. I finally decided to say it. "You look beautiful!" I said it in my mind. Practised again. Carefully modulated the pitch and the tone and was ready to fire. I opened my mouth and BMW stopped right beside us. A Fair and Lovely Gents model (he looked like one!) stepped out of the vehicle and this woman, rushed through the rain to give him a tight hug. He pressed her against himself and opened the door for her. And they both drove off.
Right next me a beggar lay on the road, bathing in the rain, unable to move. I swore at him until my lungs gave out and marched away.
Love
Waiting at the bus-stop in the rain - such a sigh of relief when you see your bus coming approaching, "Finally, I can shove my umbrella back in my bag and escape the rain!" Seriously guys, you would have loved to see the expression on my friend's face when he got into the bus and found water leaking on his shirt. RIOT! Tragic traffic to top it off, so a journey that might have taken us 10 minutes on a fine sunny day took us half an hour on this leaky rainy day. As a CA student who skipped college and jumped into work life, I always consider office as college. But looking at the hard time the Goddesses are giving me with their showers from up above, seems I have actually missed a phase of life!
We got off the bus - rain has subsided and we were relived from the leaky ass jammed vehicle. "Do you want me to drop you somewhere?" It was still drizzling and I thought courtesy demanded I offer him a ride in my umbrella. He politely declined and we bid adeu like good friends. "Cya later SUCKER!!!" About turn and march towards my humble home.
Seriously, Chennai is a disaster when it rains. So much of slush and mud and puddles and more slush, all of this amidst the never ending metro rush. And the army of homeless cripples who have found shelter under the bridge and along the pavements - the Govt. is doing nothing to improve infrastructure, forgivable. Leaving these helpless souls to fend for themselves, atrocious! I mean, that is my policy, forget development, forget economy, the least a government has to do is make sure no one stays hungry. The basic right to live is being denied in this nation.
But every time I swear at the Govt, my conscience stings me, "You blame the Govt? What good are you doing for the nation!?" I hate my conscience. Doesn't a man have the right to even blame a stranger. I mean, come on guys, you all know how much relief it gives you, fall in trouble, blame a stranger, end of story -so simple. But O NO! My conscience wouldn't allow me to sin. Not only will it stop me from throwing the blame on the authorities, but it has to point towards the blind cripple laying on the road.... beaten by rain.... ignored by passers by.... "What can I do?" Obviously, when you are given a task, what is the first thing you do? Come up with an excuse the shelve the task (Yes, now you believe that I have an office life don't you?). But O NO! My conscience has to show me a plank of wood lying on the ground, just an arms length away from the beggar. So if I lift it up and have it lean against the wall next to which the beggar lies, I would have given him shelter from the rain. But that means I have to cross the road (you know T.Nagar rush in the evening right!), pick up the plank which is lying on the ground (Pinnacle of hygiene), and God bless me if the plank falls on that man. Well then, *SIGH*, there is no running away from you conscience. I set off on my task.
And success! The wrinkled cripple is saved for the day. I bow down to look at his face, a show of relief would be reward enough for me. As I bend down for a closer look at the "damsel in distress" I had rescued, an SUV drove past, splashing the flood all over the two of us, and before I could turn around to swear at the bloody blundaleomite, I saw the worn out human body crumbling into pieces. Like a castle of sand, the man, piece by piece, flowed away with the water, and as each bit drained out of his body, he started to glow! Hatching from an egg that the body seemed to be, a glow of light popped up in the year. Was it actually silent or was I just too mesmerized by the miracle I was witnessing. The plank fell down and I stood straight, to see this.... thing.... flutter higher up to reach my eye level.
"TINKER BELL", I screamed in my head, and the fairy smiled. Fairy, not pixie; similar to Tinker Bell, but not the same, an Indian version maybe. Actually it looked more similar to the fairy in Tom 'n Jerry, the one who gives Jerry a magic potion that makes him invisible... yeah, that one. A pink frock and a star tipped wand. And a beautiful woman, just as big as Tinker Bell. "Such a nice boy!" It squeaked! I shocked (Too shocked to even notice Grammar). "Here's the least, I can do for you", and the fairy touched my head with the tip of her head and fluttered off towards the pregnant clouds.
"Thank God I found you!" Rain had turned into storm. Horns were blaring around me. My umbrella was held high and under it.... she.... *ME NAME IS POTATO*
I saw her face right next to mine; she brushed her wavy hair, wet and yet beautiful, behind her ear, leaving just two locks of hair dancing in front of her eyes. Her eyes, like peacocks dancing in the rain, like a doe in the grasslands, like a swan in the pond..... Like Sruthi Hasan (Now you get it?). She looked at me and with one upward motion of her eyes, "What happened?"
What happened? To hear your voice, I waited an year! Sitting across the room in the same office, unable to approach you, unable to talk to you. The eternal brain vs heart conflict had denied me the opportunity of being close to you. As my heart had fallen for you on the first day of articleship, but my brain never gave me the strength to come close to you.
And now here you are! Her fingers curled around mine to clutch the umbrella, her body pressed against mine to flee the rain and her eyes on me, it spoke everything. "Thank you", her eyes (accompanied by those stunning full lips) said.
All of a sudden, every curse turned into a blessing. I held her arm to help her through the pits and puddles, the most generous crowd of Chennai squeezed us together, and the rain, it had finally become my lover. I held her by the shoulder and guided her through the crowd. "So, what brings you here?" I finally asked with all my courage, and she gave a detailed, well illustrated, elaborated explanation which totally went over my head. But her voice, listening to that is always melody. And the fact that she is talking to me. ME! Cloud 9 it is baby.
When that lecture got over, I managed to ask her another question. Then another one. And then another one. And she kept speaking, and speaking and speaking. Finally, an awkward silence. The awkward silence. I looked at her face, and maybe its because I was, I saw her blushing. I finally decided to say it. "You look beautiful!" I said it in my mind. Practised again. Carefully modulated the pitch and the tone and was ready to fire. I opened my mouth and BMW stopped right beside us. A Fair and Lovely Gents model (he looked like one!) stepped out of the vehicle and this woman, rushed through the rain to give him a tight hug. He pressed her against himself and opened the door for her. And they both drove off.
Right next me a beggar lay on the road, bathing in the rain, unable to move. I swore at him until my lungs gave out and marched away.
Love
