The day Delhi stood still...

I SO wish things were different right now..... its saturday morning, the beginning of the weekend...and there's so much i want to do.......and so much that I have to do....!!!! I want to listen to music on my lappy, I want to write a blog post, I want to fair out a letter that i've been writing (yea, an actual snail mail letter !), I have to go out and shop, I have to go out for lunch with friends (this i want to also, actually :P).......? I CAN'T multitask !! If i listen to music, for example, i'll be unable to write a post.... I don't want the weekend to just whizz by...again ! -So much to do, so little time- its funny, isn't it? sometimes this phrase seems so apt...and so ridiculous at others....

There's something I've wanted to write about since monday, but somehow have been too cought up (read lazy) to do so..... IT RAINED LIKE CRAZY ON MONDAY EVENING ...in Delhi...... and the city fell on its back, and died like an insect..... i'm seriously disgusted with the whole thing..... you know I love driving, right? it usually takes me an hour to get to work, and another to get back home in the evening..... well, this monday evening, I left work at 7:30 in the eve.... As I walked towards the car, it started to rain...all of a sudden...a lot of things in Delhi have a habit of creeping up on you suddenly...the weather is one of 'em, traffic jams are another...... so, it suddenly had started raining hard...like a sprinter who gives out a burst of speed as soon as the gunshot is heard......
fine, I said to myself....and got in the car fast...... for the first 15 minutes, after i started, I was actually enjoying the whole scene.... rain crashing down hard from the heavens, me all alone in the car, the AC making it really nice n chilly inside.... even nice music playing on the radio..... it was almost magical, when i looked towards the skies and saw the raindrops in the streetlamp's glow...out of a book, as if......specially since i was dry

(wierd pic, i know..but hey, i clicked it ! ... streetlight seen)

Then I got stuck.... the route i usually take was waterlogged at a point...so i took a diversion...turns out, everyone else in the entire WORLD had also taken the same #$%# diversion ! That's when the night's horror starts..... the point which I usually cross in 15 minutes, had this huge jam.. which kept me stuck for an entire hour! i'm serious, i didn't move an inch...... when I stopped in the jam, initially I didn't mind...cuz i had expected the roads to be jammed (a little).... but after 30 minutes, my patience started to give way..... there were people getting out of their cars, soaking in the rain, shouting at the traffic from the opposite side, who were doing the same thing too...... I kinda don't love the rains too much, remember...i preferred to stay in and not participate in the intellectual (and innovative) exchange of words (read @#$@) ...

Somehow, after an hour , stuff started moving a little, and I manoeuvred the car out of the mess... initially I thought of going back and stopping at a friend's house for the night.... but after being stuck there for so long, i just had to move on.....

Little did I know that there were 3 more equally horrendous jams waiting for me.... with one resulting in a verbal exchange of 'pleasantaries' (riiight) between a biker and me....... and one resulting in my car getting flooded with rainwater and me singing "row row row your boat, gently down the stream ...." in my head.... I seriously thought the car would die that time... cuz the water level had gotten so bloody high !

I actually saw myself going through a lot of emotions in that entire time..... especially since i was alone in the car that evening (co-incidentally) .....

First, there was glee, and awe at the rain Gods and their work....... then there was disgust at the delhi municipality and their work...... then there was concern for my car, and myself , possibly a hint of fear too..... then there was a burst of brainwork, and a realisation (and joy) that I could innovate, adapt to and overcome difficult situations.....

Finally, when i had cleared all the obstacles, and it was 11.45 in the night, there was peace..... and it was magical once again..... I had rolled down the car windows, the air was chilly ..... the roads were empty, it was dark, almost midnight, I was speeding home.... happy, cuz I was returning home after ages of war, like a true knight (stop laughing...i was happy OK !!) ..... it was one of THE most memorable scenes of my life, I just knew it....... empty, dark road, cool midnight breeze, my car waaaay over the speed limit..... and everything was good.... as they say ...

hakuna matata