Rain Riposte!

"Kannada Naadina Jeeva Nadi-Cauvery" (Cauvery is the life giving river of Karnataka)…..goes the song on the radio on a bright Bangalore morning...

The bus driver, rather annoyed at the soaring temperature, snaps back at the radio saying, "How do you expect rivers to flow and be the life to a place, if there aren't any rains?"

This defied the lines of the song that followed, as the disappointed driver looked up to the skies, hoping it would rain and that the rivers would flow in their natural course; so would life....

There're songs about our glorious past and there's everything else that makes you wish you weren't living the life you live today! Every reference, small or mighty, takes us back to a simple yet rich life, rich in terms of happiness, nature and not materialistic richness for which we unreasonably, insensibly crave today.

Everything these days is dry; The only thing that is full - is a controversy - something that we are comfortably drowned in...

P.S: It rained that night :)

Bangalore Showers

Bangalore rains - I just can't complain! 

Pours in when you need it the most- takes away your anguish of the days that have been worst…

Tempting midnight cravings - Bangalore rains - takes away all the pains.

Transitions...

I lay to rest as I try fight off this sharp stinging headache - 'foreheadache', rather - heavily annoying from early evening on a laborious labor day; I generously apply some 'pain relieving' balm, close my eyes, let 'the burn' dissipate along with the other frustrations that gradually found their way in to my already pounding head and as if I lost my physical being, I shift in to a very vague memory of my past - a memory that lead me to the ABC song, the shoehouse story from my kindergarten times and my mother's singing of 'twinkle, twinkle, little star'…The stress suddenly, irrelevantly, seemed to fade away like nothing had ever happened…. maybe its the balm…maybe its the distraction…to me, it's just mother's love from a long time ago that still soothes me.

Twilight!

The sudden mesmerizing splash of colour in the evening sky, that warms up the unexpected soul.

Broken Thoughts...

…and then I stare into my computer, quietly and unknowingly zone off into a world of thoughts that engulf me in my own presence…it takes me until I hit rock bottom to realize that my few minutes of life just passed in front of me, looking blankly at my bright Mac's screen….(cursor blinks)

The Bitter Truth!

A sharp sting through the heart, a skip of the heart beat, the rise of tempers...

Life, bound by it's uncertainties, unfolds to a deep, dark, bitter truth - nothing is constant.

Simple things and Joy.

There's something highly calming about early Bangalore mornings - the cool breeze flows into your system, simply, instantly calming the senses.

I'm at the Cantonment station waiting for the train to Chennai, to arrive and take me on my journey; to help me revive all my memories of "Train and Me"...The train arrives at the platform, stirring up a heavy cloud of mixed odors, the ground below my feet cheers merrily to the rhythm of the iron wheels braking on the rail lines...(*this is the part where 'boards-train-settles-down' is merrily skipped, well, almost....*)

The lifting aroma of steaming hot idlies, dosas and masala vadai with the chutney (a mouth watery delight you'd never wanna miss on such journeys) wakes you up to 'BREAKFAST!'...I hold myself back with great difficulty because I have milagaipudi (gunpowder) covered idlies my mother so loving made, at 5 am...(well... So much for the drooly-excitement - Sigh!)

Trains journeys are always a pleasure and there's always so much to learn from it.
Feel good factors: Returning lost smiles and waving merrily to random kids and passers-by...
You always see something unexpected - a weird colour of paint on a house, 'hilarious-but-absolutely-unacceptable' spellings of words, unimaginable growth in rural areas and what not?

Train journey's, I feel, are one's own council - it teaches you to value certain things that are usually neglected in the daily hustle.

The View and my Nokia XpressMusic fone:

        I was lucky enough to get a seat by the emergency exit window, giving me an all access pass for perfect photography...Pictures of passing trains, the beautiful landscapes, random sights, vehicles parked in the oddest places...self photography...and a 360 degree snapshot! What more could I ask? My 2 megapixel phone gives me decent pictures, making my trip so much more memorable!

I saw a monkey sitting on platform with an empty water bottle in hand - who knew Katpadi JCT could actually surprise you with such rarities?

Hunger strikes right on time when you rise early... I quietly, but joyfully wipe down my spiced up breakfast -all wrapped in foil and banana leaves - doubling my eating benefits...A juicy apple makes its way in to my tummy for balance..(*chomps quietly*).

I turn up the volume on my I-pod and play my favourite songs - occasionally, smiling away at memories that ran through my mind...It's such a simple thing - to travel by train - and as they say, one does find joys in simple, little things!