It’s a rainy Tuesday morning. The world is one big, wet ball of gray. There’s water everywhere you look; fat drops falling from the sky, clammy mists swirling around, eddies gushing across the street, puddles lurking in corners. No matter how big an umbrella you’re under, it finds a way to get to you. It falls at an angle to drench your nether regions, it collects on the pavement to seep into your shoes, it splatters on you off the umbrellas of others, it gets splashed on you by inconsiderate drivers.
But this post is not about the rain. It’s about me.
And the fact that I’m not wet.
Yes, you heard that right… I’m dry! I’m brilliantly, gloriously, blessedly dry! :D
How, you ask? How on earth did even the lastknight, being strong of will and brave at heart, accomplish this seemingly impossible feat? Well, with a simple insight… No knight ever rode out to battle without his suit of armour! :P
Right, so it had been raining since yesterday afternoon. When I went to bed it was raining, and when I woke up in the morning, the first sound I heard was – surprise surprise – the sound of rain! And rather heavy rain it was too, by the sound of it.
The last couple of times I’d to go to work in the rain, I’d ended up pretty much soaked all through, which needless to say ensured a not-very-comfortable day at work. So this time, I was determined to leave no stone unturned in the quest for dryness in the teeth of the storm.
I rolled up my pants, put on a pair of floaters, put my shoes in my bag, put on my raincoat, and buttoned it right up to my chin. Then I wore my bag against my chest, so as to keep it from getting soaked. And finally I opened my trusty umbrella with a flourish, stepped out from under my building, and dared the rain to do its worst.
My flatmate The Questioner, no doubt encouraged by this display of fortitude, decided to do the same himself. Only his raincoat is an opaque navy blue, as opposed to my translucent green (hey, don’t knock it before you see it, it’s funky!), and he was carrying two bags, one against his chest, and the other on his back, so he ended up looking rather one of those black cat commandos setting off on some covert mission… apart from the fact that he was brandishing an umbrella rather than a rifle. :D Actually, we must both have looked like a couple of soldiers setting off to fight a battle, albeit one that was expected to be a trifle more wet than the average skirmish… :P
The first few steps after leaving the safety of my building were pure jubilation; I was dry, and staying that way! However, after about thirty seconds, a more sobering thought began to sink in; it was raining rather less heavily than I’d thought. No one else in sight was carrying or wearing anything more substantial than an umbrella, and they didn’t seem to be any worse the wear for it. Matter of fact, two girls walked past us, and as we approached each other, I heard what sounded like a very definite giggle. Ah well… I suppose there’s no harm in spreading a little cheer on a rainy gray morning! :P
Alright, so we may have a been a tad over-dressed for what turned out to be not as much of a torrential downpour as we'd thought, but we still ended up much drier after it all than we would have been otherwise... After all, even a light drizzle, if you're out in it long enough (even with an umbrella) , can soak you rather thoroughly. The rest of the story’s fairly uneventful… We had to wait for about fifteen minutes to find an auto, then we got to work. Getting out of the raincoat and floaters and into shoes and a tie immediately after reaching work did make the morning a tad more complicated than usual; but the thrill of discovering a dry, albeit slightly crushed shirt underneath more than made up for it! :-)
But the happy ending was not to be, matter of fact, it may have been happy, but it was no ending. As I write, it’s almost half past seven in the evening, and it’s been raining cats and dogs all day. It seems to have tapered off now, but how bad the scene outside will be when I leave is anyone’s guess…
One thing is for sure, though… This knight shall quail at the rains in Bombay no more; for with my trusty raincoat by my side (or around my front, back and both sides, rather :P), he shall brave downpours, puddles and the odd tidal wave without fear!! :D
But this post is not about the rain. It’s about me.
And the fact that I’m not wet.
Yes, you heard that right… I’m dry! I’m brilliantly, gloriously, blessedly dry! :D
How, you ask? How on earth did even the lastknight, being strong of will and brave at heart, accomplish this seemingly impossible feat? Well, with a simple insight… No knight ever rode out to battle without his suit of armour! :P
Right, so it had been raining since yesterday afternoon. When I went to bed it was raining, and when I woke up in the morning, the first sound I heard was – surprise surprise – the sound of rain! And rather heavy rain it was too, by the sound of it.
The last couple of times I’d to go to work in the rain, I’d ended up pretty much soaked all through, which needless to say ensured a not-very-comfortable day at work. So this time, I was determined to leave no stone unturned in the quest for dryness in the teeth of the storm.
I rolled up my pants, put on a pair of floaters, put my shoes in my bag, put on my raincoat, and buttoned it right up to my chin. Then I wore my bag against my chest, so as to keep it from getting soaked. And finally I opened my trusty umbrella with a flourish, stepped out from under my building, and dared the rain to do its worst.
My flatmate The Questioner, no doubt encouraged by this display of fortitude, decided to do the same himself. Only his raincoat is an opaque navy blue, as opposed to my translucent green (hey, don’t knock it before you see it, it’s funky!), and he was carrying two bags, one against his chest, and the other on his back, so he ended up looking rather one of those black cat commandos setting off on some covert mission… apart from the fact that he was brandishing an umbrella rather than a rifle. :D Actually, we must both have looked like a couple of soldiers setting off to fight a battle, albeit one that was expected to be a trifle more wet than the average skirmish… :P
The first few steps after leaving the safety of my building were pure jubilation; I was dry, and staying that way! However, after about thirty seconds, a more sobering thought began to sink in; it was raining rather less heavily than I’d thought. No one else in sight was carrying or wearing anything more substantial than an umbrella, and they didn’t seem to be any worse the wear for it. Matter of fact, two girls walked past us, and as we approached each other, I heard what sounded like a very definite giggle. Ah well… I suppose there’s no harm in spreading a little cheer on a rainy gray morning! :P
Alright, so we may have a been a tad over-dressed for what turned out to be not as much of a torrential downpour as we'd thought, but we still ended up much drier after it all than we would have been otherwise... After all, even a light drizzle, if you're out in it long enough (even with an umbrella) , can soak you rather thoroughly. The rest of the story’s fairly uneventful… We had to wait for about fifteen minutes to find an auto, then we got to work. Getting out of the raincoat and floaters and into shoes and a tie immediately after reaching work did make the morning a tad more complicated than usual; but the thrill of discovering a dry, albeit slightly crushed shirt underneath more than made up for it! :-)
But the happy ending was not to be, matter of fact, it may have been happy, but it was no ending. As I write, it’s almost half past seven in the evening, and it’s been raining cats and dogs all day. It seems to have tapered off now, but how bad the scene outside will be when I leave is anyone’s guess…
One thing is for sure, though… This knight shall quail at the rains in Bombay no more; for with my trusty raincoat by my side (or around my front, back and both sides, rather :P), he shall brave downpours, puddles and the odd tidal wave without fear!! :D
