Recently I read on my friend's blog, her views on the rains in chennai. Not finding much scope to write on, thanks to Chennai's virtually nil rainfall, she moved her topic to mumbai which obviously boasted of considerable rain.
But her blog got me thinking... In chennai we complain so much about the rain gods not blessing us and then complain more, when they do, about our city not being equipped to manage the bounty.. But what happens in between? Like the days we are having now.. the stifling heat in the mornings followed by a wisp of cool breeze by afternoon and then the oh-so-beautiful dark clouds gathering in the sky by evening and.. and just when one thought gale and rain would pound the rain starved city.. the skies open up and a mild shower descends on us. Beautiful...
Ha! Didnt think I would use that adjective right? But it is beautiful.. as I happened to experience yesterday.
Not really taking our recent sporadic showers seriusly, I had left my arsenal against the rains - my raincoat, which has seen better days, at home. Yes... I know that my bike has a luggage compartment which is cramped with rather important stuff.. like er.. my quintessential handbag, very important lunch box, an office diary, mills & boon (you dont have to roll your eyes in disgust now) and other paraphernalia to contend with the city traffic cops.. that take precedence over my rather battered torn-at-the-armhole-raincoat.. You know what i mean.
Anyways, after a rather hectic day at office my friend and I decided to visit a colleague whose wife had recently delivered a baby in a hospital in Alwarpet. Since I was closeted in my room I did not have an opportunity to see the climate changing...not that I would have had a chance to do so being upto my ears in work. But at the end of the day just when it was time to leave for the hospital I heard a sudden whoosh, which, sounded like a giant bird swooping down, but thanks to my extreme sense of reality (inspite of reading books like M&B) I identified it as rain. But it was only for a minute.. the downpour I mean, not my sense of reality silly. So my friend who is a very prepared very systematic girl (one of the reasons I stick with her) and I took out our respective bikes. Considering my description of her you wouldnt be surprised if I told you that she had this all-weather blazer tucked into her bike. When we started off it was drizzling very lightly.. not the drenching kind but the oh-how-i-would-love-to-hug-someone kind. The hospital was situated in a place that touched the arterial road that lead to the Marina beach (the geography is for non residents of chennai). Stopping at a traffic signal I happened to look up at the sky and the view was awesome.. the wispy dark clouds were moving along the sky, a clear sign that it wouldnt rain too much. It was a lovely contrast to the mercury lights put on in the city. My friend.. inspite of her blazer prayed for the rains to grace us after we reached the safety of our destination. Her prayers were answered and we reached the hospital without further incident. After cooing to the new born child and giving our blessings and congratulations, we took off again in the persistent drizzle. We parted half way down and then I was on my own. I guess God was not very pleased with me too much that day coz the moment I parted from her, the strength of the rain increased and I was not only getting lightly soaked but also the droplets were stinging my eyes. Just when I thought the romantic atmosphere would disappear before I reached home, the rain slowed to a lovely drizzle. Altogether I had a wonderful wet cool evening in our very own chennai. Whoever said rain in chennai was disgusting?
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