Wow. A beautiful evening!

One of the most beautiful days in a million, today is. What started as a usual cycling trip around nanganallur - several crisscrosses through the market road to anjaneyar temple( too crowded it was so He had to miss my attendance), then through the nanganallur subway to join with the ruthless traffic in the GST road opposite the Officers Trainers Academy; from there to our house through the minambakkam railway crossing(a fairly long route)- became an interesting one with the rain’s entrance.

I was actually a bit disappointed when the rain that has been punctually visiting nanganallur in the evenings this week didn’t turn up till then. Maybe she was too touched by my expectations and perhaps went a bit more and wanted to embrace me(had been extending my hands through the sit-out grills to “feel” the rain till yesterday-). Anyway here she came following a rush of strong winds that suddenly caught the bikers and the side-lane walkers unaware. The drops became heavier quickly and before I could reach the bus stand near the Aavin shop, she was in FULL form. I had been praying for this to happen and so, was in no mood to run for cover. Running from rain?? That’s stupid. Remember the dialogue from Om Shanthi Om? “If you wish for something earnestly, the entire Universe will work to make that happen”. The “entire Universe working” part is the dialogue’s main attraction. What a great feel it gives, thinking about the situation in that way!

Ganesh, these days is one, full of apprehensions. Always flooded with thoughts of “What to do now” or “Shall we join the BPOs atleast” or “My future is doomed” or some related bla bla.. Recession syndrome! And I’m not doing anything worthwhile to put these thoughts to rest either. Life’s almost a hell, going by the usual definition people give for hell. But this torrent of rain just washed away all these thoughts and brought out the part of me, who is still a child and free from all these futile apprehensions. A small smile as I see the bus stand becoming a mini parking lot for bikes. Only wheels under closed boxes cruised through, unaffected. I don’t understand why people-in Chennai especially- run from rain when they suffer for most part of the year without it. It’s as if a giant singer jumps onto the earth taking most of the people by surprise; then without caring about their reactions, starts to sing the song she had composed for this momentous occasion. A few like me who are “crazy” enough to pray for this to happen, join her in her song by getting drenched happily; Lightning streaks ,thunder beats; an opera! Throughout the way to my house, the rain still strong in her song, I received “Is he mad?!” looks. Also some genuine smiles that conveyed, “Good.. Go on!”. Satisfactorily I noticed one more “mad” guy other than me enjoying his walk through the rain. My sleeveless T and tracks were completely soaked. What a thrill! Especially thinking about dad’s reaction. It’s been years since I got a nice flogging from him; most probably the run is going to end, I thought. Just then an idea struck me! I parked and locked the cycle not caring to notice the stunned looks of the ground floor thatha; directly went to the terrace, picked up a drenched towel , wringed it as best as I could and to some extent dried my hair with it. I stayed there watching the rain under the “protection” of the concrete ceiling as the air sucked in some moisture from my face and T-shirt. I remember the marina trip when we -Gokul,Arun, Santhosh monkey and me- got completely drenched in a rain that appeared as suddenly as this one. A walk from the Kannagi statue to the bus stand was enough to make us as dry as a slice of Rusk! The Chennai air is as thirsty as its people, perhaps. That’s the reason I escaped from dad with a hasty

“A ‘few’ drops on my head and maybe a bit more on my tracks. That too while I was locking the cycle.”

Mom later came to me while I was starting to type this with an “I know you”-smile.

“You did get drenched. Didn’t you?”