10 00 Hours:-
I opened the door, to be greeted by a blast of high velocity air, and water. I closed the door in a hurry, dragging the newspaper inside as I did. That was the first time I was reading a newspaper dipped in water. Not much of a read. I wondered how there could be so much rain in Chennai, for this place hasn’t seen rain in about four years. Good for all of us, I guess. I called up my colleague to find out what he was up to. Apparently, he was as dumbstruck as I was. I guess the poor guy must have lost his senses; he left for office in the maddening rain, in a state transport bus. They declared a holiday before he could make it.
13 00 Hours:-
I looked out of the window. There seemed to be no sign of the rain letting up. That meant I would have to leave the safety of my enclave and venture out into that inclement weather for my morsel. So be it. I donned my under-sized raincoat and left the house, struggling with the rain cap (the blasted wind wouldn’t let me keep my cap on) before I realized it was to be tied the other way round. The road next to the house seemed pretty dry for all that rain. So, it wasn’t going to be so bad after all, I thought. I walked out of my street and entered the main road. Whoa! Wait a minute! I didn’t tell you about that god-forsaken dog that started barking again, as it so often does. The stupid dog thinks I am after its bone. The moron doesn’t seem to be able to tell a man from a dog.
Anyways, back to where I was. I entered the main road and behold; all I could see was knee deep water up to whatever distance my limited eyesight could afford. This was going to be a really grimy lunch. My first foot in the water; quite cold. I was walking in the middle of a road, in knee deep water; not something I get to do everyday. It was pretty exciting though. I must have been walking, no wading, for about five minutes, by which time, I usually would have reached the food joint. Today, I had modestly managed about 10 feet into the water. I had been advised, and wisely, to be on the lookout for fallen electrical wires. There were none. Neither were there any fallen trees, for the time being.
The ordeal ended, briefly, as I entered the food joint, dripping. As I started with my lunch, I came across an acquaintance from my CAT class. The guy had come with an umbrella, and was pretty dry. I fail to understand how he pulled that one off. Well, he asked me about my tests, and as usual I cribbed about the whole thing. So did he.
The wind had grown stronger by the time I finished. It was raining harder as well. It had grown to an extent where I could hardly see where I was walking. The walk back was much more taxing. As the wind increased in intensity, I fought my way through the water, watching the all too familiar strangers, waging their own private wars against nature's fury.
16 00 Hours:-
I managed to reach home in one piece. I was about to open the lock, when I realized that I hadn’t bought anything for the evening. I had been told that the weather was going to get worse as the day went by. So I set off again, thanking my stars that I didn’t have to go back to that same road this time. I came back with my purchases, which comprised of a couple of biscuit packets, a loaf of wheat bread and some cheese. I sat down on the bed, determined to put some hours of solid study. I fell asleep.
19 30 Hours:-
I woke up with a start; the weather had gone from bad to worse. I could hear the howling of the wind. The windows occasionally opened by themselves, only to be thrashed against the window pane; ghostly. I was reminded of movies like ‘The Haunted House’. Suddenly, as if by cue, the light went out. I was thrown into the infinite reaches of this black rainy Thursday. Feeling my way through nothing, I managed to reach the main door and wrenched it open. The wood had expanded and the door was starting to jam. It wasn’t any better outside. I was reminded of the snakes and bandicoots I had seen as I ‘served time’ in this house. So I went back into the darkness closing the door behind. Not much choice, I reckoned. I sat down on the bed and leaned against the wall, pulling the bed-sheet over me. Time had stopped, for it seemed as if the heavens would fall any moment. The weather was intimidating.
21 30 Hours:-
I woke up to the inviting brightness of my tube light. I was hungry again. I thought of the bread and the cheese, and thanked my folks for having brought the toaster along. But I realized that they alone wouldn’t suffice, what with those biscuits and groundnut balls. I looked out of the window for the n-th time that day. There was but a slight drizzle which seemed to be waning away. So I set out again, in search of some vegetables to stuff into my sandwiches. There is a vegetable shop nearby; my only hope of getting something as time slipped by slowly into those familiar small hours. I got into this shop where I noticed some onions at the far end. I got around to inspecting them. I must admit, that I hadn’t seen more rotten entities in my life, my ignorance of vegetables notwithstanding. But so did this other woman who looked equally lost in the ‘sea of the rotten’. So, I wasn’t the only one! After mining some more, I hit upon gold, or so I thought. I took home my ‘prized possessions’; cut them one by one. Rotten they were; every one of them. What a pleasant day!
00 00 Hours:-
I made another weak attempt at study; struggling with no-brainers. CAT isn’t for bird-brains, you know. I am yet to figure out when I dozed off.
So, would you like a sandwich?
I opened the door, to be greeted by a blast of high velocity air, and water. I closed the door in a hurry, dragging the newspaper inside as I did. That was the first time I was reading a newspaper dipped in water. Not much of a read. I wondered how there could be so much rain in Chennai, for this place hasn’t seen rain in about four years. Good for all of us, I guess. I called up my colleague to find out what he was up to. Apparently, he was as dumbstruck as I was. I guess the poor guy must have lost his senses; he left for office in the maddening rain, in a state transport bus. They declared a holiday before he could make it.
13 00 Hours:-
I looked out of the window. There seemed to be no sign of the rain letting up. That meant I would have to leave the safety of my enclave and venture out into that inclement weather for my morsel. So be it. I donned my under-sized raincoat and left the house, struggling with the rain cap (the blasted wind wouldn’t let me keep my cap on) before I realized it was to be tied the other way round. The road next to the house seemed pretty dry for all that rain. So, it wasn’t going to be so bad after all, I thought. I walked out of my street and entered the main road. Whoa! Wait a minute! I didn’t tell you about that god-forsaken dog that started barking again, as it so often does. The stupid dog thinks I am after its bone. The moron doesn’t seem to be able to tell a man from a dog.
Anyways, back to where I was. I entered the main road and behold; all I could see was knee deep water up to whatever distance my limited eyesight could afford. This was going to be a really grimy lunch. My first foot in the water; quite cold. I was walking in the middle of a road, in knee deep water; not something I get to do everyday. It was pretty exciting though. I must have been walking, no wading, for about five minutes, by which time, I usually would have reached the food joint. Today, I had modestly managed about 10 feet into the water. I had been advised, and wisely, to be on the lookout for fallen electrical wires. There were none. Neither were there any fallen trees, for the time being.
The ordeal ended, briefly, as I entered the food joint, dripping. As I started with my lunch, I came across an acquaintance from my CAT class. The guy had come with an umbrella, and was pretty dry. I fail to understand how he pulled that one off. Well, he asked me about my tests, and as usual I cribbed about the whole thing. So did he.
The wind had grown stronger by the time I finished. It was raining harder as well. It had grown to an extent where I could hardly see where I was walking. The walk back was much more taxing. As the wind increased in intensity, I fought my way through the water, watching the all too familiar strangers, waging their own private wars against nature's fury.
16 00 Hours:-
I managed to reach home in one piece. I was about to open the lock, when I realized that I hadn’t bought anything for the evening. I had been told that the weather was going to get worse as the day went by. So I set off again, thanking my stars that I didn’t have to go back to that same road this time. I came back with my purchases, which comprised of a couple of biscuit packets, a loaf of wheat bread and some cheese. I sat down on the bed, determined to put some hours of solid study. I fell asleep.
19 30 Hours:-
I woke up with a start; the weather had gone from bad to worse. I could hear the howling of the wind. The windows occasionally opened by themselves, only to be thrashed against the window pane; ghostly. I was reminded of movies like ‘The Haunted House’. Suddenly, as if by cue, the light went out. I was thrown into the infinite reaches of this black rainy Thursday. Feeling my way through nothing, I managed to reach the main door and wrenched it open. The wood had expanded and the door was starting to jam. It wasn’t any better outside. I was reminded of the snakes and bandicoots I had seen as I ‘served time’ in this house. So I went back into the darkness closing the door behind. Not much choice, I reckoned. I sat down on the bed and leaned against the wall, pulling the bed-sheet over me. Time had stopped, for it seemed as if the heavens would fall any moment. The weather was intimidating.
21 30 Hours:-
I woke up to the inviting brightness of my tube light. I was hungry again. I thought of the bread and the cheese, and thanked my folks for having brought the toaster along. But I realized that they alone wouldn’t suffice, what with those biscuits and groundnut balls. I looked out of the window for the n-th time that day. There was but a slight drizzle which seemed to be waning away. So I set out again, in search of some vegetables to stuff into my sandwiches. There is a vegetable shop nearby; my only hope of getting something as time slipped by slowly into those familiar small hours. I got into this shop where I noticed some onions at the far end. I got around to inspecting them. I must admit, that I hadn’t seen more rotten entities in my life, my ignorance of vegetables notwithstanding. But so did this other woman who looked equally lost in the ‘sea of the rotten’. So, I wasn’t the only one! After mining some more, I hit upon gold, or so I thought. I took home my ‘prized possessions’; cut them one by one. Rotten they were; every one of them. What a pleasant day!
00 00 Hours:-
I made another weak attempt at study; struggling with no-brainers. CAT isn’t for bird-brains, you know. I am yet to figure out when I dozed off.
So, would you like a sandwich?
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