A walk under the clouds


My heart now hums quite comfortably on the sixth lap .... strange how malleable the human body is. Train it, and it will learn. The raindrops have been floating down for a lap now and I have been able to ignore them so far. I decide against the seventh lap. The skies have become darker and the even over the sound of my beating heart and rushing blood, my instinct has made its decision.

My evening jogging sessions have become my sanctuary, offering a space where the soul and the mind meet under cloudy skies and above soft red earth. The rain hastens as I begin the kilometer walk back. On the road, vehicles shriek their horns in vain. The communication protocol that was once established on Indian roads, when very few vehicles had horns, has now completely wasted away. Yet, no one seems to be thinking.

Strange, I wonder. For a country famed for its spiritual beacons and towering swamis who gave the world the notion of internal inquiry, we have so little regard for silence.

The rain has now intensified to a downpour. In the refracted rays of the yellow sodium vapour lamp, the rain falls in sheets, much like the contrived rain showers you see in the movies. I wonder if I should make a run for it. I decide against it, trying to recreate the experience of indulging in the elements again. I loved to walk in the rain as a child, and I haven't done it for the longest time, thanks to the layers of protection that we are obliged to create against nature.

My skin is now drenched through my shirt as it gleams like a waterfall. I walk on, trying to remember where all the dog poop was so I can avoid it on the road. On the road vehicles plough on, delivering their occupants to destinations where they shall carry on planned and unplanned activities for the evening.

Day laborers cover their heads with sheets of plastic, thinking about getting to their homes, and to their dear ones where they can share a meal of cooked rice and 'rasam'. They ignore the fact that vehicles do not wait for them to cross the road as they should... they are, like me at some level, I'm sure, unaware of their own rights and place in the world.


A fruit vendor rushes to cover his merchandise with more plastic, taking great care to tuck in the sheet without much regard for his own uncovered back. The merchandise represents his tomorrow, which he will invest in at the cost of his today, again, much like so many others at varying points in the economic ladder.

I think of my commitments for the evening... I have an international conference call that will help in the creation of a product that will seek to justify its own value. As I think about preparing for it in the rain, I step over a small obstacle and plonk my foot straight into a puddle of water. My shoes and feet are completely wet. I hate that feeling.

As I walk on, young couples talk over the pouring rain standing beside their parked motorbikes under a small tree. They are oblivious to everything but each other, and even more oblivious to their own topics of conversation. They are enjoying the rain as much as I am.

I reach home amidst these, and many more sights, all coloured by the rain. Life in its interaction with a changing facet of nature. The noise, the intent, the clarity, all take on a different meaning in the pouring rain.

Of this and that ....


These days, life is whizzing by and I have more to do than I have time for. Here are some snapshots of the world that I see and experience ....


India seems to be doing well at Trentbridge (Thank God for small mercies).


I need to find a new song to play on my guitar ... there's only so many times I can pound out the odd Pink Floyd/Coldplay.


I finished reading "Face to Face with Ramana Maharishi" ..... great book. My plan to visit Arunachala at Thiruvannamalai has not yet materialized though.


I am currently reading "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". Nice little book. The chapter on the inception of taxes is quite revealing and amusing, especially when you see that taxing the proletariat/middle classes these days is simply the Capitalists applying a Commie stunt squarely back at the Commies who wanted the rich taxed to begin with. Karma never seems to fail us.


I should be traveling again .... sometime this month to the west-side of the USA .... the tranquil Pacific beckons and I look forward to my rendezvous with it. I never get tired of saying that I was a fish in my last life. Probably a whale... or a dolphin ... a shark perhaps.


I have been surprisingly regular at running, and have dropped some weight ... I can comfortably
pound the earth for 35 minutes non-stop at a reasonable speed. On the downside, I have picked up the odd knee niggle which I hope will go away soon.


Work is piling up and my brain to-do list has hit the alert button following its last overflow.


I ate far too many hot wonderful jalebis yesterday (my favourite sweet) after a very long time .... I really shouldn't have.


And finally, in between watching the test match I channel surfed to find a bronzed Aishwarya Rai, in Dhoom2. I'm glad I wasn't dragged into D2 like I was into D1. Another one of those stooopid movies that we just cannot seem to get enough of. For her part, Aishwarya looked quite fabulous, but everything else about what little I saw of the movie ... the script, the dialogues, the acting, was so terrible that I wondered (once more) how any self respecting individual can be party to this crap !!! And Aishwarya would have been so much better off keeping her mouth shut.

... AND I BECAME A RAJNI FAN






All, I have to confess that I went to 'Sivaji' more out of curiosity. I had never before watched a Rajni movie ..... had seen bits and pieces on TV but never seen a complete movie. Man, have I missed so much or what!!! I was pleasantly surprised.

I was blown away by how funny the movie was ... if you scrape at the surface, this movie is so spot on with its innumerable observations of irony that pertain to Tam culture, India, and of course the world. The fact that I had just returned from a visit to Chennai definitely helped me appreciate the movie all the more.

Rajni fights everyone ... stereotypical Tams, goondas, cops, politicians, prospective father-in-laws, some 200 Mahindra Scorpios .... he then stops bullets with his mind, kicks baddies downstairs and tosses coins vertically and horizontally.

Finally I have to mention that the heroine is a work of art herself ... if you watch the movie, you'll see what I mean.



I am a fan!!!!!