Where have all the monkeys gone?

Nah..I aint that big a wild life conservationalist. But you'd wonder too if the gross, hairy monsters(oh believe me they are..anyone who steals precious home-made goodies is one),who by ganging up on you in the hostel corridors hamper much desired progress to the bathroom, just disappear on the most glorious of all mornings.

It's 5:45 AM and its raining buckets outside. *Shivering* Brr..It's awesome to feel cold. Never thought we'd have to pull out sweaters in Chennai. Damn..my sweater's at home..will have to make do with my train top.

After much lazing around in bed, decide to scramble out. Pick up the cell to message a rather upset boyfriend good morning. Hmmpf..no signal.

*Mumble a curse* Never mind..unlike last night net's at least working..will mail him. (God save us!)

Venture out of the room, not exactly expecting a monkey at the end of the corridor but who knows! How come it never struck anyone that artificial rain could be a solution to the monkey menace? Honestly!! Those gluttonous hairballs are never around during the rains.

Need to attend a very disastrous A slot but after much deliberation (with self..with others too, but that bordered on pestering) conclude that Prof's too lazy to bother turning up himself.

A friend and me convince two others to dare breakfast. 'Dare' cos the mess isn't located in the hostel, it's a short walk from the hostel. The path aint perfect even from the point of view of landscaping. Using common sense as the looking glass, it's not even passable, there are small pools forming even for a slight drizzle.

But today's just awesome. There's knee deep water all the way..girls shrieking about water snakes (face it people..as someone rightly pointed out..where'd they go on other days?..there's no water in Chennai)..and you gotta choose to wade through this or walk on wet grass..what a start to a day!

Brings back memories of the glorious abandon of childhood in Mumbai. Skating through higher than knee deep water, bullying the kid who didn't own skates by playing hockey with his slipper, getting stuck in the semi-open drain, sharing piping hot food with close friends, ignoring all warnings and threats from parents only to fall sick the next day..and spending the next two days comparing the intensity of our colds and being showered with attention and good food..aah!

Yupp food..reach the mess to smell crisp, hot vadas, sambar and for a change even the coffee seems inviting. I like the rains, they always make me hungry. And if there's good food, why not indulge? That's what we did.. cos who knows what's gonna happen? There were rumours of a cyclone, what if we were holed in our rooms for days with nothing but the stock in SAC to rely on?

Anyway..return trip far more exciting than the one to the mess..crazier girls asking if there's any 'dragging/pulling' force in the water..Sheesh people! Get a life..enjoy the rain! Maybe those stupid monkeys should be up and about too..at least the babies.

Spend the next few hours watching a movie called 'Garden State'..weird but nice. Spent a decent amount of time pondering over this particular dialogue between the two lead characters.

Andrew Largeman:You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone.
Sam: I still feel at home in my house.
Andrew Largeman: You'll see when you move out it just sort of happens one day. One day and it's just gone. And you can never get it back. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist. I mean it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place.

Reached a conclusion which shall be reserved for a detailed post some time later. For now, I choose middle ground between Andrew and Sam.

Not another movie post lunch..let's go to the terrace. God bless us, everyone..starting with my friends. We went to the terrace with the sole intention of enjoying the rain. Thanks guys, this is a perfect memory, the kind which is like 'stamping out a horse-shoe all in one go'.

There isn't a thing we didn't do..yeah dance, maybe. We sang, we shivered, we screamed at the innocent bystanders downstairs, we clicked pictures striking weird (and in the case of a coupla us embarrassing) poses, we struck titanic poses much to the horror of the same bystanders, we skidded, we larked... it goes on.. but most of all we got drenched.

I love the wind blowing in my face. Even better if it blows a spray of water with it. Somehow, this gives me a feeling of my troubles being blown away, that the wind greets me face to face, it's overjoyed on meeting me, it hugs me and when it leaves, the good friend that it is, it takes my troubles with it. Sometimes it gets carried away and rumples up my hair in the process of running its hands through my hair. I complain, but I still like it.

One always has to round up a set of Asanas in Yoga with a relaxation Asana. The ultimate relaxation Asana is the 'Shavasana' or the Dead Man Pose. One acquires this pose step by step. Though it has to be done in complete silence, I can always here my teahcer's voice guiding me through the steps. At one point my mom's voice takes over and it is at this point where you've completely let loose all the muscles in your body and are thinking of nothing. If done correctly, you find yourself subconsciously concentrating(without trying) on something.(in my case a light..more precisely a flame) My mom's voice says let go, relax but somehow I always find myself having a deepened arousal of my senses. Maybe that's the effect of the Asana and not the Asana itself.

Anyway, a discourse on Yoga later, what i want to say is today I felt the same way. Not when I was out frolicking with my friends. I also took this walk by myself.(I enjoy that at times)

The rain picked up slightly as I reached the edge of the terrace. (relax..to do nothing more than see the people, all tiny, downstairs) I felt the wind blow the hood of my jerkin off. Don't know why.. I just let it be, I just stood on this stump with my eyes closed, my face turned towards the wind, feeling it across my cheek (too huddled up in my jerkin to feel it elsewhere), letting the rain strike me in sheets, turning a deaf ear to my friends yelling for me..heck, for five precious minutes I didn't even know this world existed, I was just hearing my mom's voice in my ear(I didn't mention that everyone's voice gets musical while doing this Asana, my mom's seemed to be keeping beat with the rain), just satisfying my senses with what seemed like a marvellous tango of Nature's fury and warmth, despite the freezing cold and the consequent numbing of my fingers.

The Asana's done..I can hear my teacher saying roll on your side and get up. I opened my eyes to see the lush green tops of trees. I've never been so overjoyed in my life. It just rained on me, pretty literally too, why green is the colour of fertility. At that moment life just seemed so much fuller, so much more complete and green just seemed to spell life.

The expression 'I am so happy I could cry' just makes sense but I am so happy that I can't even think of crying. Yeah, this image is gonna stay with me for the rest of my life. It's this awakening of sorts, where 'I'm the king of the world' (from Titanic) or 'Flying without wings' just seem like the closest you'd get to describing your state of mind.

When the monkeys don't seem to bother you..nothing does. Yes, where have all the monkeys gone? They are missing a brilliant day.