Monday, October 15, 2012

A Walk In The Rain


A Walk In The Rain

A walk in the rain, Yes a walk in the rain, reminds me of the famous Charlie Chaplin, evidently the funniest person of all times. This famous comedian was once quoted saying that it was best for him to walk in the rain, because in doing so he could hide his tears. I got the same feeling one day, a year ago, when I walked home on a rainy day without my umbrella.

It was sunny in the morning and rain was not expected then. But, as I returned from work, the rain started pouring down. People were running here and there looking for shelter; those with umbrellas kept to the roads and so did I though without an umbrella.

I don’t know what came upon me but I was melancholic-perhaps it is very true that the weather decides the mood. Tears were rolling down my eyes I felt, but I myself was not sure of it with all the water running down my face. The clouds were gray and dark, and I felt dull myself too. But the rain soothed me, I felt as if the rain was caressing me and washing my pains away.
 
I knew many would be dreading the rain that day- with or without umbrellas. In some place, a little Johnny would be wishing for the rain to go away so that he could play, and in some ill-fated place, people would be worried for their homes- some with poor shelter and some with the fear of an impending flood.   

But some people would be glad, their days of drought would have ended, those would be the luckier ones who long for even a drop of water. And it was quite probable that some lovers would be thanking the rain for holding them together longer.

I knew everything has a flip side, and I saw it myself that rainy day. There I was all drenched up and as I walked, I saw beggars even in the rain begging for their life, children playing in the rain enjoying the moment to the fullest, the vegetable vendor packing his goods while behind the vegetable shop a young women whose forehead was smeared with vermillion, kept staring out of the window at the road imaginably waiting for her husband to return.

Getting wet to the skin is normal for anyone even me. But the walk in the rain that day let me experience the feeling of elation and twinge at the same time. I realised that a blessing for someone may not be for the other. And that the rain was Mother Nature’s message to mankind that she still controls the space we dwell in and nothing is certain.