Idle musings

THE HEAVY RAIN IN BANGALORE ===========================     Yesterday, 25-Oct-05, it rained heavily in Bangalore. http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/oct262005/state18505420051025.asp has more details !     Perhaps, the mist in the early morning was a pre-cursor of things to come. At around 7:00 a.m. in the morning, there was a mist that made Bangalore resemble a hill station. The morning was pleasant enough. As the day progressed, the skies turned grey and a fine spray of a rain started. I was at work, absorbed in activities. When I looked out of the window, I was surprised to see the wet roads - had it really rained ?! The rain kept coming and stopping. It felt like the rains in Mumbai - and that can be really something as one day in July this year has shown us !     What was different yesterday was the duration the rain lasted and its intensity when it rained. Bangalore's infrastructure crumbled. What made matters worse (probably ...

MUMBAI RAINS     I took the day off from work yesterday. In the morning, I completed the work for which I had applied leave. In the afternoon, I switched on the TV and felt a blast from the past as I saw the news channel : there were heavy rains in Mumbai. I have fond memories of the monsoon deluges in Mumbai !     My school is in a low lying area and when the rain came down heavily, I would leave home for school with a hope in my heart that school would be closed ! During school, I had such holidays in school perhaps only twice, but the memory of those days lingers and form an indelible part of my "happy memories of school". A close friend and I used to walk, wearing raincoats and gum boots to school. We used to walk up a bridge, then descend from it - and there was our school. If the rains were heavy, the water used to come up to the knee level and walking (or wading !) in it would become an exciting experience for us ! To reach school and then learn of ...

    On Thursday, 4-Sep-03, I thought of a simple solution to the increased traffic problem after the rain in my city : I came home driving in the rain !     It was not as simple as it sounds.     When I saw the rain outside the windows at work, I actually turned back and decided to go later. On a second thought, I felt it was better I left in the rain. If I waited for it to stop, I would be joining the majority of two wheelers who would leave after the rain reduces or stops ! Turning my back on the comfortable office interiors, I revved my bike into action and set out into the rain.     It was terrible ! The rain was actually a heavy drizzle. However, as I opened the throttle on my bike, the coldness of the rain seeped into me, numbing me in a matter of minutes. I flatter myself that I can withstand the cold as good as anybody at home, if not better. Yet, the coldness of the rain was something that I could not bear. It di...