Hail Hailstones, Rumblers and Flashes

I went to the balcony to bring in Lucky's bed that I had put out to dry. It was mildly drizzling. In fact, it was so mild that I was not even sure it was drizzling. I brought her bed in & turned to greet the husband who was trying to get her returned home from their walk. 

Within seconds, there was a loud noise. Rain was pounding on the windows. Mum was yelling out to everyone to bring in everything that could get wet. The husband was rushing about, closing balcony doors (we have so many of those). I stood transfixed, staring at the window at the stairway and the rain that was lashing  mercilessly at it. I expected it to crash any moment, give way under the force with which the water kept slamming it. I waited. For a few seconds. The next thing I know, I was running around the house, yelling "Close the windows, close the windows!" I checked the glass door of the balcony and the windows. I ran into the bedroom & closed all the windows. 

The library was closed. I hesitated for a second and then ran inside, quickly closing all the windows. The mesh windows were of no use, the glass had to be shut. As I closed the window which would easily let water in, given the direction and force of the rain, I ran to check the husband's Mac. It was alright. Thank God! The glass window on the left had protected it. With a sigh of relief, I laid my palm on brother's laptop. Holy shit! It was wet, almost dripping. Almost... I am not sure because I was panicking. I looked around, tugged and yanked off a bed-sheet from one of the mattresses rolled up and wiped it desperately. Thank God, it was only the lid of the laptop. Everything else seems fine. I am able to do this blog, it must be fine.

All open doors and windows shut, I raced back to the living room where mum and hubby were watching the rain. What a beautiful sight! How lovely! It was a scary too. The wind was the roughest I have ever seen, my pots in the balcony had fallen off, the windows appeared to be fighting tough to stay in place and soon there were hailstones. I could do nothing but watch enthralled! It was thrilling to watch the force of the wind and rain. I have never experienced something like this before - visuals to the highest degree of awesomeness, yet alarming. So strong. 

The house was dark within seconds, it was bright outside. The rain kept lashing as I made desperate attempts to capture the picture on my mobile camera. All in vain. Not one good picture. I kept running from window to window, I did not want to miss what the outside looked like. So beautiful, so beautiful, I kept thinking. 

The rumble of thunder was in competition with the loud sounds of things crashing outside. We did not dare look out but we wanted to know what was going on. So much frenzy. It was all crazy. So exciting!

Twenty minutes later, the only sound of water is that of water dropping down from roofs of houses and pipes from balconies. We can still hear the rumbling of thunder and see flashes of lightning. It is nice and cold outside, unbearably warm inside. The husband opened the balcony door and let a rush of cool breeze inside. Ah, the pleasures that nature bestows upon us. I love the rains. I absolutely love the rains. 

And through all of this, Lucky lay down in the living room and watched. She watched people acting crazy, she watched the rains and listened to the strange noises it made. When it was over, she went back to sleep, with one ear cocked up to the sounds around her - mum and husband trying to clean the balcony with the rain water, me typing away on my keyboard. Oh! That reminds me. Shouldn't I be there, helping them? I think I should. I had better run along. In a minute. As soon as I post this. 

My Vote Counts

I cried for new shoes until I saw a man without a pair. Somebody said something on those lines, many many years ago. I read that in a book, as a child, and it stuck in my head ever since. As if I was not inhibited enough, the sentence rang in my head whenever I wanted something. I asked my parents for less, for I was not sure they could afford it and I told myself that if I could live without it, it was probably not something I should cry for. 

Today, my husband gave away an expensive pair of shoes, which he had worn only a couple of times, to the labourers who tarred the streets in front of our apartment. The boys work in the hot sun, hands and feet blackened with the grime and tar they handle. Yet, they obliged the whims of every house-owner on the street and toiled to spread the tar neatly wherever they were requested to re-work. The charity was well-deserved.

Last night, I went to a friend's wedding with a couple of girlfriends. I love my outings with these girlfriends. A motley crowd we are, we have so much fun. Lots of laughter, complaining about bad traffic and the state of affairs in the state formed part of our conversation. One of the things we discussed was the decreasing quality of work everywhere. Flyovers being constructed for years on end, the Metro rail project repeatedly in the news for wrong reasons (constructions come crashing down on people & cars on the streets, poor quality work, stopped work, endless years of work, etc) and the recent failure of the cryogenic engine in ISRO's latest GSLV launch. So many instances of shoddy work. 

Admittedly, the cryogenic engine construction that took 15 years is complex work. It cannot have been easy to create something indigenous to put in space and expect it to go right the first time. As the ISRO spokesman said, the US and Japan failed in their debut attempts too. That does not undermine the fact that 330 crore rupees were spent on this project that took minutes to fail. With technology getting better everyday and science making progress like nobody's business, why do flyovers and other road constructions fail every other week?

While we were feeling sorry about the state of affairs, I woke up this morning to a ray of hope. Loud noise right outside my house drew us to our balconies. We found government labourers toiling away in the hot sun. Anything that is 'government office' straight away implies callous attitudes of workers and indifference to the quality of work. It was a pleasant surprise to see the level of attention the labourers worked with. The process involved a big machine pouring gravel mixed with tar and other ingredients on the road, a bunch of workers manually pouring the gravel in areas that were missed, another few guys spreading out the tar evenly, another big machine levelling the roads with a heavy drum that rolled over the tarred road. I found the labourers paying so much attention to detail that it surprised me! They looked for irregularities on the roads and poured gravel repeatedly, they ensured that the gravel was lined neatly on the road and off the stoned pavements, they manually flattened the gravel while the machine did it's job, they kept going back and forth until it looked fine. 

While the residents looked on, occasionally directing the labourers  to level here, pour some gravel there, the watchman's wife grabbed a broom and started sweeping the excess off the pavements back to the road. It was a collective effort of workers who were not worried about whether they enjoyed their work or not. They were not worried about the heat or hard work. If they were, they did not show it or let that stop them from doing things right. 

They were tipped for their extra efforts, of course. Some of our neighbours and we gave away shoes that we no longer wore but were still in good condition. It was heartening to watch the so-called government employees do a neat job and to see that there were people who appreciated such efforts. The world is a nice place, there are nice people. So, why do we let the bad-asses rule? Why do we 'adjust' ourselves to the ill-effects from the illegal acts of the wrong-doers? 

I have a colleague who prefers to take "shortcuts" and get everything done using wrong methods. He has a callous attitude and his excuse is "This is India, this is how we work". How untrue! Why do we let such people get away with what they do? All it took for me to shut him up last time was to say, "I am an Indian too and I don't work your way". Such a pity that the bad are so confident and take lead while the nicer ones choose to remain inconspicuous. 

To all those people who whine about the government but refuse to vote, to all those people who refuse to vote claiming that this is not their home-state (so why do you expect the state you are currently in, to cater to your needs?), to all those people who think their vote does not count, I want to ask: "How would you know whether your vote counts, if you never voted?". What gives them the right to expect anything from the government if they never made a choice? This year, I did not vote for a party that I usually do because I was put off by one of my neighbours who has a bad attitude (especially towards my dog) and he belonged to that party. I voted for someone else. He won. Now, we have roads where I live. I'd like to think my vote counted. 

Mungaru Male

Ever since the movie, it's impossible to write those two words without using title case. Until the movie, my OCD would kick in if someone spelt the second 'm' in upper case. Now, it's the other way round!

A classic case of digression right from the word go. Darn! Why do I always do that?

So, I was standing in this bus-stop this evening, waiting for a Volvo - 201R. I saw three buses heading in the opposite direction and was confident that atleast one of them would return to take me home. Infact, I let all the buses to J B Nagar go, instead of taking one of them halfway home-ward. All in vain. Eventually, I had to take one of the JBN buses and change. 

It wasn't all too bad, though. There was a sweet, gentle breeze tickling my hair and it felt great. I looked up to see the sky all messed up, with dark and light grey clouds. It looked beautiful. Thick swirls of dark grey mixed with splashes of light grey clouds, on a sky that was another shade of grey. No sign of the sun at all. It was only 6.30PM. There was something so pleasant about the feel of the grey evening. Maybe it was still the wind. That's when I felt little droplets of water on my bare face and arms. Mungaru Male. Ah, the wonderful feeling of the early summer rains!

Then it started raining faster, bigger drops. I had to get my umbrella out to save the contents of my bag. At some point, I decided to take the JBN bus and when I got off at Thippasandra Main Road a few minutes later, the rain was pounding the streets. As I stood on the wet pavement, the hem of my trousers soaked in the soggy grime and the sound of rain on my umbrella serving as a background score to the scenes in my mind, I thought of my friends working all over the world - US, UK, Australia - and wondered how it must feel to be able to experience such diversity. 

As a kid, I always wanted to go to Europe or Australia. For some reason, US was never on my list. I had a picture of a crowded place, a big place where I could get lost and I did not want to go there. So, it didn't feel great when an astrologer read my horoscope and said I'd move permanently to the US. Did he know that I would go to the United States or did he just mean that I would move to any country outside India (in those days, US was the most popular)? Since I don't believe in astrology, I never bothered to find out, so that's a question I'll probably never hear answers to.

Then I looked around me and noticed how dark it was! Why does it get dark so early when it rains? Everything was so wet and dark. Normally, that would make me feel gloomy. Today it all felt nice. I loved the flashes of light, the breeze, the wetness... I stood at the various bus-stops, waiting for buses, for over an hour and all I felt was good good good. Great, in fact! That's the magic of Mungaru Male, I guess. It cooled my spirit. 

At the earliest signs of the rain reducing, I slipped off my umbrella. Took a bus to LRDE and walked home with a spring in my heart. The infamous power cuts had rendered the area completely dark but my mind was so uncluttered this evening that even the darkness of the night made me smile. It was as if someone had swept off cobwebs from inside my head and vacuum-ed the place. I come home to find that my mum has neatened up my house. Less clutter. Brighter interiors. Cleaner air. Bloody hell! Today was a day of nice-ness! 

Mungaru Male. I simply love it!

This Weekend

It's been one hell of a weekend! 

No riding and that feels awful. In fact, no exercise all of last week and I feel like I've missed a major exam! When did that happen to me?

After a very long while, I spent an entire afternoon in the balcony reading and finishing a book in one shot. It hasn't happened in so long that I don't remember the last time that happened. Then, I finished another book! 

The weather in Bengaluru seems to have improved. It's still very hot at nights but there's a slight wind in the air, always and that makes the heat bearable in the balconies.

Cleaned the book-shelf and loved spending so much time with my books. Found a handful that I either hate or just know that I'll never read again (unfortunately the Starbucks book is one of them... loved it but won't read again). Earlier when I used to go on a books cleaning spree, I'd always find money hidden in my books (can't remember why I did that but I always did, as a child). At times, I've found upto a couple of thousand bucks. Today, I emptied all my bags, piggy banks and cleaned everything out... found a whopping eleven grand in 1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 rupee notes! My husband couldn't believe what he was seeing... obviously, it's the first time he's done this with me... mum wasn't surprised!

Made a raisin-and-nut ice-cream dessert for my husband, to appreciate his help with all the cleaning. He was happy but didn't binge on the ice-cream. I have a cold, I didn't eat any ice-cream. This is a miracle. Normally, we're both quarreling for the tub like six-year-olds! 

Somewhere in the midst of all this, I heard a rumour about myself. I found it so funny that I almost felt like fanning the fire myself. Did not. Atleast, I think I did not.

A number of unusual but normal events, sort of happy surprises this weekend. It's been one hell of a weekend!

5 Fascinating Minutes

I had a scary ride back home from work, nearly hit a few times (as is normal if you're riding or driving in Namma Bengaluru) and bullied off to a wrong turn on the flyover, bothered by sadistic guys with nothing worthwhile to do with their lives... In short, I spent most part of my ride mentally cursing the traffic around me, people on the streets and anything but enjoying the ride. By the time I reached the gate to our building, I was still fuming and decided to vent on my blog tonight. 

I stopped at the gate, saw the neighbour's kid playing cricket in front of my garage again and felt like kicking his dad for teaching the son such unhealthy habits. He constantly hits my car and one of these days, he'll go home with a broken bat. So, that was my state of mind at 7PM tonight.

And then the sweetest thing happened to me. In the next 5 minutes, the weariness of my entire day and the ride had just slipped off me! I met the cutest kids ever. 

The first one came running to me (call him A, for I'm such a douf that I did not ask their names). Pointing to his head he says, "Aunty, what is this?". "My helmet. Do you want to wear it?", I asked. He is quick to refuse "No!". 

I just start to ask him why when the next kid comes running to me (say, B). "Aunty, what is this?", he's pointing to the back of his palm. I smiled at him and said, "Those are gloves" but did not ask him if he wanted to wear it. Maybe he did not. I did not wish to remove them either.

Kid C comes running and says, "Aunty, I want chocolate!". The smile on my face is plastered. Such adorable kids. "Hmm, you want chocolate, let me check if I have any", I said as I mentally prayed fervently that it was one of those days that I did have a chocolate in my backpack. I remember throwing a bar of Cadbury's Fruit and Nut in my bag a couple of days ago but I was not sure if this was the bag. 

I release my backpack from my shoulders and slide them down, almost to the ground. I'm trying to desperately find the bar of chocolate from underneath the bags in my backpack, containing my work clothes, shoes and papers. Kid B yells, "Aunty, you have a dark blue bag, so nice!". I asked him if his favourite colour was dark blue and he shakes his head, "No, I like light blue". I can't help laughing. 

It was an awfully cute moment. The kids were so enraptured by everything I carried. I fish out the chocolate bar and Kid B screams again, "Aunty, you have chocolate!". His eyes widen and he has excitement written all over his face. It was the most beautiful moment of my day. My week, maybe. Or even this year! Kid C, who had momentarily moved to watch the elder kid play cricket, came running. All the three of them huddled close, eagerly watching as I unwrapped the bar and started breaking chunks off the chocolate.

I gave them each one piece and ate one myself. Not one of them said, "Thank you". When I was a kid, manners were hammered into our heads. I remember my dad dragging me down the stairs to say "Sorry" to the neighbour in the flat below us when I was apparently rude with her. Back then I'd thought I was funny and I had a big ego that would not let me apologize but the fear of dad's hands making contact with my teeny ass compelled me to apologize. 

Coming back to this evening, nobody thanked me. I almost said it aloud and made them thank me. In an impulsive moment, I stopped myself. I did not want to hear them say it. I could see it in their excitement. They did not throw tantrums or ask for more. When I broke off the fourth piece saying, "I also want to eat chocolate", they just watched without a word. I faintly wondered if they thought it was such a waste of good chocolate for an "aunty" to be eating but hey, they were sweet, did not say a word. 

It was such a pleasure to see that one small chunk of chocolate could make each child so happy. They hopped off, after they ate, for I had stuffed the rest of the bar back in my bag. I wondered if I should give them more but I was not sure if their parents would appreciate it. I'm lying. It's just that Fruit & Nut is my favourite, I do not ever want to share it. The kids made me feel like a million bucks, I could not have not shared with them. 

I parked my bike, locked it and came home to a warm welcome to another cutie-pie. My baby Lucky. Wagging her tail and rubbing herself against me. Twenty seconds later, she was sniffing at my bag. Mmm, chocolate! So easy to give it to her and watch the happiness wash over her face but I could not, it is poison to her, no matter how much she might love it. Surprisingly, she was as well behaved as the kids downstairs. She did not persist or beg further. 

I met the most delightful kids today! Oh, how I adore them... even when they say the darnest things!