Rains

It has started raining here in this part of the world where I live after a very hot summer - though less hot compared to rest of India. However, the rains in this place can be quite frustrating.

To put things in perspective, I love rains, I love monsoons. I have spent most of my life in Mumbai and an aversion to rains can make one immensely miserable in Mumbai. And if you have spoken to me for as little as 15 minutes, you would know that I love Mumbai more than anything. Thus, by this chain of reasoning, I love rains. A walk in the rain or just feeling rain on your skin is such a joy-giving expereince.

Bengalooru, is a gift as far as rains are concerned. We have downpours that don't last for more than half an hour usually. That is followed by drizzling, light breeze and lower temperatures, not to mention cleaner air. So there. I love the rains in Bengalooru as well.

What I hate and detest and even fear, however, is the traffic situation in Bengalooru after the rains. Even a 15 minute heavy downpour puts a clamp on the roads. A bad one at that.

The problem is the junctions that do not have traffic lights. Come rains and the traffic cops who man these junctions disappear and, lo and behold, we have a traffic jam. Also, because there are no lights or cops, vehicles from all directions try to force their way out, ultimately ending up in a block through which no one can move. As you can guess, this is a sure shot recipe for disaster. Now, till a frustrated citizen doesn't get down from his/her car and regulates the traffic, which btw can take a long time, there is no hope for respite.

Then to add to the woes, trees fall like nobody's business here (Well, that maybe because these guys have trees to begin with) and water logging happens super fast and people of Bengalooru do not want their vehicle tyres to touch that water. I, for one person, can never get this as I have seen people drive in swimmable water. Hell, I have done it myself. Probably once every year in Mumbai, last year in bangalore. The other option was to shut the engine, lock the car and sleep on inner ring road at 1am. There were scores of cars waiting for the water to recede. As for me, surrendering to water logged roads would have been an insult to years of training. I slept in my bed. There's nothing like it, is there now?

For this monsoon, just last week I was stuck in one of the aforementioned jams. Luckily, it was not past midnight. I could see the place where I wanted to reach, it was just a block away but I was at one of the aforementioned junctions. The level of frustration was unimaginable.

Now I'm only hoping that it doesn't rain like crazy right when I have to go home.

Mini skirt meteorology

Hehe.

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..research at Internet auction site eBay, which says that the rises and falls in the length of skirts can be used to predict what the weather will be like three days in advance.

...On occasions, the trend is said to have predicted a shift in the weather before any advice has been issued by the Met Office using more traditional meteorological methods.

..."If you want to know what the weather is going to be like in three days, just take a look at hemlines."

**

Reminds me, I bought a mini skirt on Sunday, not from ebay though. Thus, by extrapolation, if you are wise, you would carry an umbrella today.