Livinghigh: RainMan
Monday, June 27, 2005
Livinghigh was here at 8:19 PM /



RainMan

Bombay is soaking. It reminds me of this big fluffy towel hung out to dry on the terrace, and you watch the drops of water go plink-plunk on the terrace floor, while the little rivulets are quite visible on the terry surface. Touch it, squeeze it, and a fresh gush of water splatters out on the terrace floor. Bombay is soaking.

There are downsides, and there are upsides. I bought my first umbrella - first umbrella that I bought! I'm using the new Nike jacket that bro darling bought for me from his videsh trip! The weather feels divine - a far cry from the sultry heat of Dilli. I love the smell of rain. And then there's mud and slush and getting soaked to the bone. There's the idea that you're wading in Kevin Costner's Waterworld come alive. But then, that's Bombay for you. I was warned reams and reams about it, long before I set foot in the city. Last year, I dropped down in September, narrowly missing the flooding, to land amid the tumult and chaos of Ganesh Chaturthi! This is my first Mumbai monsoon - perhaps, as auspicious an event as the Chaturthi itself!

Yesterday, I was passing by Worli Seaface and Marine Drive. I suppose it's quite natural for a Mumbaikar to see the huge waves wash up to the dividers, some even spray the roads... but I was stunned. Amazing to think about a city like that, living on the edge... Amazing to think of a people standing there deliberately, braving the sea's onslaught, willing to get soaked to the bone by another massive wave thrown into the air. Yes, it's dangerous, yes, there have been so many incidents of people having been washed out to sea, but for all you could tell, they still didn't care a damn! Exhilarating - tremulous... I'm impressed by this city I live in.

So is this a paean to Bombay then? Or the monsoons? Something or the other... I've had enough of mushy stories of heart ache and break-ups.


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