Day 56

Began with memories of heavy rain early in the morning, and I snuggled under the covers and caught an extra hour of shut-eye. Few things are as wonderful as waking up in the morning on a work-day and finding that you still have some time to kill before the alarm finally rings.

I woke up 2 hours later, knowing that I would be running late again. But no hurries today. And no reason for the relaxed behaviour. Just the state of mind.

The rain in Kolkata does that to you. And rain it did. I waded through water for close to fifteen minutes in search of an auto. And then stopped one in the middle of the road. Carrying an umbrella as protection from the rain is in vain if you end up sitting in an auto rickshaw after that. The water pours in through the open side, wetting most of the sleeves. And even when you reach office sopping wet, and stand under the hand-dryer in a desperate bid to dry off before heading for the freezer that is your office, you know that you wouldn't want to commute any other way. Long live the rains, the floods, the troublesome umbrellas, and the indefatigable auto rickshaws.

Of course, the whole day spent in office has been rather cold. Even though the jeans had been rolled up, they got wet in the flood, and the floaters had also got wet, and then cold, as the office AC was in chill-pill mode. The coldness remained right till 4.30 p.m., when the jeans finally did manage to dry off.

One and a half hours later, I was back on the road, trying to beat the rain and get home. On the way, my auto stalled, then started, then stalled, then finally started again. And while crossing a road, my convex umbrella decided to concave in thanks to the wind. But I managed to set it right again.

The rest of the way home was a happy though mucky walk, and I was actually singing (humming rather) in the rain. The song in question was 'Drops of Jupiter' (kinda apt-ish for the weather, though I didn't make the connection till just now).

This was followed by Kaathi rolls for dinner (I chomped down 3) and one bhaar of mishti doi each. Blogger Onnesha thinks I eat all the time. I suppose I do.