On a mundane summer afternoon, the air was dry, the trees looked parched. The view from the window was the usual hustling, the honking and the odd squabble thronged by eager on lookers. Strong but dry gusts of wind blew, rustling the foliage on the trees below. It seemed as though the last few months had taken a toll on the city, the unrelenting heat seemed callous leaving everyone teeming with frustration. People were flinging invectives at each other for frivolous reasons, making well documented references to each other’s mothers and sisters at the drop of a hat. Irritability was quite blatantly at its peak. Amidst this inanity, something conspicuously obvious slipped from everyone’s notice. A behemoth of a dark cloud gradually eclipsed the sun like an alien warship, announcing its arrival with a rapturous thunderbolt. That was enough. Enough to wake them from their life of drudgery, they peeped out of windows, came out of shanties, disembarked vehicles or stopped them dead to catch a glimpse, looking heavenward. It was a harbinger of respite. The sight mesmerized some.
Before anyone could grasp the situation in totality, it happened, the heavens opened; the tears of the gods fell like drops of joy. The parched mud quenched its prolonged thirst, sending wafts of its aroma across, pleasing the olfactory senses. Women ran to their windows to take clothes off the clothesline. Men ran for cover, thronging the makeshift tarpaulin sheet shelter at the 'tapri' (sic).
With another fleeting glimpse, I caught something that brought me vicarious pleasure. A bunch of kids in their school uniforms dashed towards an opening and welcomed the downpour with an impromptu jig. There was unbridled elation on their faces. They looked skyward, beaming from ear to ear as they got drenched from head to toe. Their concerned mothers shrieked at the top of their voices blustering threats but they cared less. They lived it. They lived as if there was no tomorrow.That sight led me into asking a question to my conscience, when was the last time I had shed all inhibitions and experienced sheer joy for a triviality of that sort?. Five minutes back, I had jotted down the goals in my life, things I aspired for and craved. It read at the top in uppercase “I AM NOT HUNGRY FOR SUCCESS ANYMORE, I AM STARVING!” .I stared at the piece of paper wide-eyed going through each of them, making an attempt to make sense. In a flash, it all did. I craved happiness.
Thoughts rushed hither-thither, but they were gradually silenced by the rain. I felt content somewhere, was it happiness? I wasn’t sure. But I knew I had lived the moment.
