Images in the rain

It had been an unusually hot afternoon. So, it was no surprise that it grew dark and cloudy by late evening. With hardly five days left to start, I had to get a photocopy of all the important documents. But by the time I decided to step out of my home to do my task, I started to drizzle a lot. Therefore, I went back home, ditched my plans of going to the photocopy shop by my bike, took an umbrella and decided to walk all the way. Not that it was too far away. It was hardly a ten minute walk.

I had hardly walked a few blocks away from my home, when it started to rain quite heavily. I had the documents safe inside my shirt pocket. The road I was walking on criss-crossed one of the many slums in Chennai. It was amazing how rain causes different reactions from different persons. People who had so far been sitting on the roads and chatting aimlessly, rushed inside their respective shelters. A nearby tea shop, which I had noticed as always empty before, was teeming with customers. The shopkeeper appeared to be thanking his lucky stars, or rather, his lucky clouds. I had every reason to believe that by the time I would come back home, he would have earned enough for at least a couple of days.

A little further down the road, another shopkeeper looked as if he had been completely shattered. And he had every reason to believe so. He was dealing with construction materials, and it seemed that he had no time at all to prevent all his cement stock from getting wet. So, there he was, looking completely lost and sat staring at all the wet cement bags from inside his small and dilapidated showroom.

As I walked a little more, I saw that a lot of people had left their motorcycles on the road and were seeking refuge from the rain near the entrance of a small temple. On one of the bikes was written 'Masha Allah'. Well, rain knows no religion nor caste, does it? A small kid was riding his bicycle, enjoying cycling over the large puddles of water. I envied him, for he had no worries about tomorrow or the day after.

The rain had become heavier, and soon there were strong winds too. I positioned the umbrella in a position that would counter the effect of the wind, but it didn't prevent me from getting completely drenched. I had completely forgot that my documents were still inside my pocket. I rushed inside a nearby ATM, and took them out slowly. All I recovered was shreds of paper. Amazing isn't it, how rain can affect a person's life so much.