Thank God for small pleasures

They say, when one has got nothing useful to speak about, one talks about the weather. And this is going to be my second post about the vagaries of nature. Call me boring :(

The weather has gone berserk, it has gone crazy and in the very very very good way. Its sunny!! (I feel like going and kissing the sun - a la Hanuman style) Yeyyyy! Literally every single day since Monday I have been jumping in joy seeing the bright sun. While last 2 weeks had made me bring out my autumn jacket, this week has me roaming even without a light sweater. Its hello floral skirts and summer frocks! And flip flops. There is no ear piercing autumn wind, there is no dampening rain, its just sunshine and lot of warmth all the way through. Touchwood! Seems like Bhagwan ne meri sun li.

Somehow the weather reminds me of home sweet home. This is exactly the sort of 27-28 degrees temperature that remains at my state during Dussera. This is the time for Puja Pandals with huge mandaps being erected with extravagant statues of Goddess Durga. The general work atmosphere would be lax around this time with people taking time out to visit family and friends. Nights would lead to illuminations and popular Bollywood music blaring out of loudspeakers. The food on the streets is to die for. I have not tasted street food which can hold the mirror to what we get during Puja anywhere else (I might be sounding way too chauvinistic, what to do, I am a bit too attached to my quaint little city). It is also this time that winter slowly sets in, with the markets getting slowly loaded with cauliflowers, cabbages, peas and carrots. This in turn ushers in the season of fried rices, gobi and matar ke parathe and gajar ke halwe. Yum yum yum, the tongue is on cloud 9.

It is as if God has snatched a bit of those joys here. With the sunshine, the crowds are back on the streets, colourful clothes have made a comeback and everybody is surely smiling. And I am ever grateful to Him for this.

Whats wrong with me

I simply hate any form of precipitation. Rain, hail, snow - nothing agrees with me. I cannot fathom how people can go poetic over rain and cloudy weather. I see them as spirit dampners and as a major inconvenience.

But yesterday something really weird happened. I was walking back home from an errand and it started raining. It wasnt the normal drizzle which is so rampant in this part of the world. It was as if someone was pelting huge liquid stones. Then the intensity increased. It was nearly like a huge thunderstorm. People who were trying to save themselves from the rain, accepted who was the tougher contender. Wet passerbys exchanged smiles which said "Some rain mate!". It was first funny to watch people frantically tries to maintain their umbrellas against the gales. But then it seemed somewhat heart warming. I nearly let out an "Aww" at the fate of the flimsy umbrellas at the hands of the mighty winds. Even mine was being blown haywire and I had to hold on to the fringes of it.

Coincidentally I had some rain related Tam song on my ipod. I did not understand it, but somehow the feel of the song pepped me up. That was bizzare behaviour on my  part by any standards. As if to reward my happy approach towards something I have always regarded as disgusting, the sun shone all of a sudden. With the shining sun along with the torrential rains, there came - Yes a SPLENDID rainbow! I could not help but smile ear to ear at the sight of it!