The chapo was over. Suppressing a mighty burp at its very nascence, after having devoured two Paneer-Pyaaz Paranthas, a Pav-Bhaaji, one and two-seventh portions of fried-Maggi and an aloo poha (the last of which, I detected was spoilt after having shovelled in a few spoonfuls), I struggled to rise from my seat which I am quite sure would have buckled under my weight had I eaten another morsel. The human brain recommends that you eat until you are full and then exist in equilibrium with atmospheric pressure - but this process is apparently deleted from the register when some one else is paying for your meals! Nevertheless, with great effort, not only did I manage to stand up, I negotiated a few steps towards the Ganga Canteen exit. To Cautley and beyond... Or so I had so naively thought.
The Met Department predicted, in today's newspaper, (which, thankfully, I have been allowed to read again by the newspaperwala) that the SE-monsoon trough has moved further up north. As an average human being, evincing as much faith in Met as I would express in the IITR Admin, I only thought it convention that a long dry spell should follow. And there. Met tricks you again! This one time they get it right and the everlasting dilemma of 'Can we always consider Met wrong?' continues...
It was 1 a.m. With my tangible presence getting soaked in moon-sized droplets and my mind still pondering about how I must run the Ganga-Cautley gauntlet, my temporal lobe picked up a nutter's quip, "How about football?" Bizarre sounding at first, it gained universal acceptance soon and then against my better sense of judgement, I jumped on the bandwagon too! And into some puddles, in jeans, slippers and all. What followed was an 'awesome' session of dragging the ball through pools, slush tackling (which apparently has it advantages) and observation of wet-ball aerodynamics. An irate Resident Warden and a feckless watchman looked on in awe. And veneration.
The game ended at one all (possibly), with no one keen about keeping scores, when most people had each completed the mandatory ten somersaults in the muck. Chemical's obsession with photo-shoots followed (which might even be uploaded by now) when the cloud-cover relented. I began my arduous, risky trip back home dodging tadpoles here and searching for bricks there. I also realized the importance of being on the look-out for live wires during rainy days such as these. My clothes are ruined, but it was fun all the same. It would have been just another day with a chapo and some footy. But it rained.
P.S. Frogs are cuter and nicer creatures than one imagines them to be. They actually oblige by leaping out of your way before every one of your steps.
Don't even get started on frogs. We saw at least a dozen squished on the road on our arbit walk last night- one was a live streaming seqeunce!
ReplyDeleteThe frogs in this part of the world don't seem to share the same intelligence. The Chronophile, HHH and I spotted three dead frogs within a space of 10 metres while on an insti walk last night.
ReplyDeleteThe Met department, like most things, isn't half as classy as its counterpart downsouth. In my first year in Madduland, there were three cyclone alerts- all followed by bright sunshine. Talk about consistency.
Has there been any change in the Canteen-wala's this year? Not really related to muddy football, I know. I was just curious.
ReplyDelete@ Venkat Ramanna,
ReplyDeleteThe lights were almost all turned off here, in the gaon. So I wouldn't know even if I squished any. Though when I checked later, there was nothing gooey stuck to my slippers. They were clever. Those croaks.
@ De La,
Yes. Madduland Met is too awesome! They can predict anything from twisters in Adyar to inland tsunamis and still get away with it...
@ Lefty,
The Canteen walas, most unfortunately, haven't changed... Standards of Cautley have plummeted further (yes, it is possible). Tables are beige-brown and the floor still has the remains of everything people have eaten since your first year! The only thing you can eat here is your last supper.
Yes the rain definitely made your night better than what it'd have been on a "normal" day posing your own theories on the entanglement of space and time....and I wonder if you'd believe the next time if the MET predicts thunderous rainstorms with snowfall here in Roorkee!....
ReplyDeleteah, speaking of the canteen walas, Jawahar continues to be as legendary as it always has been! and the UC is closed down! :( the closest hogspot around is alpahar i guess, on the plateau! :( :P
ReplyDeleteAh, and the Met department cant quite be more accurate in another country da, ours makes it a point to speak in opposites.... :P
and i surely hog more than you!!! :P
ReplyDelete...
...
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in meals for two days put together i think! :P
Playing football in the rain is simply brilli-aunt. Open ground, heavy droplets smashing against your body and puddles on the wet ground- the next thing you know, you get a football and start playing the legendary game!
ReplyDeleteThat said, a very arbit but sponti post. Keep 'em coming.
You actually ate THAT much?!
ReplyDeleteI have been forced to revise my definition of gluttony...
About the later part...well...I am jealous and I never said that!
at least i know what is going on in the insti.....
ReplyDeleteAnd btw, 3.0 can balance the ball on his head too...(or so it seems)!
ReplyDelete@ Baba,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I prefer a languid exercise of the mind over real physical fatigue, I'm forced to agree. Nothing better than the beautiful game in the rain.
@ Raghav,
Hogging more than me is nothing to be proud of. Even then, you have only but joined the league of a large number of individuals who already claim to do so. And good luck with that canteen of yours.
@ MK,
Couldn't have stated things better. I plead guilty to both accounts - arbit-ness and spontaneity; but as I have told someone who quoth the exact same words - Inspiration waits not for time or logic.
@ Prachi,
ReplyDeleteThough I ate a lot that day, I'd hardly classify this as an act of gluttony, which, most unfortunately, I think I'm incapable of enacting!
Nice to see it makes people go green though...
@ RS,
Of course... More importantly, you get to know what is happening in Dubai. Happening place man.
@ Jetty,
3.0 can do things you have never even imagined!
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ReplyDeleteThere is some thing idyllic about the rain, but sadly dry-Maddu-land has almost stripped that romance out of me.
ReplyDeleteAs for the met departments classy trysts with weathergod, I am reminded of the Unexpected Hanging Paradox. Do wiki it out.
And frogs, why did the maker let them be so squishy. God!
@ Shreyas,
ReplyDeleteOf course... But this time around, freak rains did give us more joys than usual.
And i did read the article - it must be renamed to the 'Met Dept Paradox'! And frogs weren't made so that you could treat them as carpets and doormats.