Tell them… that I lived in the time of Hector… The Tamer of Horses… tell them… that I lived in the time of Achilles…
Silence followed by long sigh… Overwhelmed… that was all I could feel after watching Troy. Brad Pitt… don’t know how he always manages to take my breath away. And what a movie…! What fantastic display of war-tactics…! What valour! What glamour! What courage and honour!
I look at the wall clock. It’s 3 pm. Gosh… just didn’t realise how the past 4 hours went by watching the movie… Wait! Did I just say 3 pm? Damn, I am already late for office (my shift starts at 4 and it takes me a little more than an hour to reach Noida from CR Park). RUNNNNN...
I rushed into my room, quickly changed my clothes to the first decent thing I could lay my hands on… something which is not a pair of shorts and would look fine enough in office. Finally, settling for a pair of jeans and a tee, I rushed to the kitchen to stuff myself with a parantha (uh huh… correction… a delicious parantha Ma… thanks… you are the best cook).
Hurry… hurry…. HURRY…!!! I slid my fe
et into a pair of chappals and rushed out of my house, determined that I would run and run and not stop till I reach the bus stop (well, that too is a distant dream as the only time I run is when I compete with my sister for the TV remote by running from this end of the bed to the other).
But today, I had to run… really! ‘Hey hold on!’ My feet halted…I looked up in the sky… big mammoth size droplets fell on my face lovingly. For a moment, I forgot about getting late for office.
Felt like Zeus – the Rain God – is really happy for some reason… may be for the reason I watched Troy… Uh… Get that? Zues? Troy? Greece? Ummm… foolish logic… sorry for that…
I turned back to face my home just to see my mom already standing with an umbrella for me (so sweet!).
The sight of rain refreshed me. It seems like heaven to feel the water droplets on your face, hand, body after facing days of scorching heat over your head, isn’t it?
‘I have to enjoy this! I HAVE TO ENJOY THE RAINS!’
I bent down to fold my pants. Opened the umbrella, and started ‘walking’ towards the bus stop, purposely splashing water wherever it had accumulated.
Half drenched despite carrying an umbrella, I reached Nehru Place to catch No 493. The driver spotted me standing on the road (a regular savari that I am) and stopped at a point where there was no way I could get on the bus without getting one foot under water. This is what I at times love about India, rains bring a complementary gift along with them - water logging. So, keep splashing!
When you know you’ll get wet, why not let it happen in style? Instead of carefully finding my way to the bus stairs, I jumped and hopped, pretending to have spotted the right stone underneath, which wasn’t visible anyway.
The next 45 minutes in the bus was the most soothing journey I have ever had, especially when I knew the destination was my office. Plugging my ear with the new head-phones I purchased a week ago, I started listening to all the romantic songs my mobile possessed. I always believe rain and romance go hand-in-hand. Oh! How I wished I could sing a duet with Brad Pitt on the beach of Troy…!! How I wished… and wished…
‘Atta market wale yahi utro.. aagey paani bhara hai… bus waha nahi jayegi’
Heck…what a terrible way to be woken up from day-dreaming. For a moment, I thought that I was asked to get down in the middle of nowhere. However, the weather outside shed all mood of hostility and invited me for an adventure under the blue-grey sky.
I walked through the traffic jam, dodging the cycle rickshaws and motorbikes. And then a horrifying scene struck my eyes… well, let me not exaggerate, it wasn’t that horrifying.
There was knee deep water for at least 100 more meters. A little worried now, as I definitely didn’t have the intention to walk another 100 meters with half my body immersed in the visibly dirty water, I thought of a weird idea of using my umbrella as a boat. ‘Not feasible’… Think, what else!
I thought of getting on the back of any bus that would pass by… but that didn’t happen as all the buses, like mine, decided to take a different route to avoid the mess.
Then, I saw a man pulling his vendor’s cart. He didn’t seem quite bothered about the scenario as his cart would surely not stop in the middle of the ‘lake’ due to water entering the engine. EUREKA MOMENT!!!
‘Bhaiya, aap mujhe yeh rasta paar karwa doge? Office jana hai, late ho rahi hu’, I asked if he could help me cross the road, as I was already late for office.
Taken aback and sceptic, the man looked at me with suspicion. I thought, probably that wasn’t a very nice favour to ask. After all, how could I expect him to allow me to sit on a place where he probably keeps his fruits and vegetables for sale.
‘Please bhaiya,’ I pleaded.
‘Chalo aajao. Lekin bus yeh paani paar karwa dunga, uske aage nahi’, he allowed me to come over on a condition that he would just help me cross the water, but take me not an inch further.
Who needs more than that, I thought and jumped onto the cart. It felt like a joyride that my uncle used to give me on his cycle when I was young.
A couple of passers-by found my act very amusing. Some even waved at me as if I was a little celebrity out on a monsoon spree. I blushed and waved back. Feeling elated, I took the whole episode as an achievement... smiling through the rest of the journey.
The joyride ended, bhaiya had successfully dropped me to the other side of the road. Next, I took a cycle rickshaw and came straight to office. Although I was late by 15 minutes, it was still an achievement, taking into consideration the impediments that the weather had put in my way.
But what the heck, journey to office has never been as exciting as this before!
