It’s raining again. As I write this, it is now only a drizzle. But it’s very dark outside, signs are ominous. It’s going to rain again heavily after a brief respite – much like what the stock market analysts say – the markets will bounce back after creating new lows. This spell was not unexpected. Over the past few days, rains have been very heavy in the Konkan belt and I have been following it path northwards. So, it “Floods in Kolhapur” on Friday, “Heavy rains lash Chiplun” on Sunday. I braced myself for the inevitable. It had rained throughout the night.

I work for a financial services firm. Our office timings are a bit odd. Tuesday to Saturday – 12 noon to 8 PM. So, we are closed on Sundays and Mondays but we generally catch up with pending work on Mondays. Today morning we were supposed to go on some official visits at 9:30. I got up early and did my exercises. I looked at the heavens through the window, shook my head – no sign of the sun – and went for my bath. It was then that my boss called up. “You don’t come today”, he said. “We will manage.” Later, the visits were cancelled. I sat at home flipping channels – the big news being India winning its first ever gold medal in individual event - and soon got bored and suddenly the pending files on my desk started gnawing on my conscience.  Well, finally, I did go. Whether I managed to clear those files or not is another matter.

Now, I am sitting at home, listening to Pearl Jam – Ten and it seems perfect. Well, almost perfect. Would have liked to smoke a cigarette now. But with mother around the house, it’s going to remain just that – a wish. I can recall my past days when I have enjoyed such days in different ways, but those thoughts invariably depress me. Hence I am trying to come up with a coherent blog – and miserably failing.

Ma asks me if I want anything to snack on. If she has her way she would have liked me to be like Adnan Sami, prior to him trying to pull down. She makes a face and walks away. My niece comes and pulls the earphones – she wants to listen to the music. Now she is trying to sway to music, like she sees me doing but obviously “Black” is not her style. She returns it.

They are a strange breed – the women in my life. I can say without an iota of doubt that I have not been a good son; even my parents will vouch for that. I have never done their bidding. I have always done what I wanted to do, often ending up hurting myself in the process and have  fought with them on trivial issues – issues that seem trivial now – but for some reason that I cannot fathom, they still have kept their faith in me, especially Ma. Sometimes I think I would just like to see her faith shake up, just a bit. She has been lately down with painful arthritis, but that does not seem to deter her from doing the work.

Another woman happens to be my younger sister; she has been my best friend. She somehow manages three houses with great élan – her own, her in laws and her maternal - and she is a career woman! Now, she is staying with us as Ma is she I have confided in her my darkest deeds. In fact, she still thinks I don’t hide anything from her. Well, fact is I have. Hehe.

And then there is my niece, a three-year-old bundle of energy, light of everyone’s lives around, full of questions, or rather one question “Why?” It is quite taxing and it takes immense patience to answer her queries truthfully and not say, “It’s like that.”

And then there is that “remote server”, much like a full moon in the dark night.

Hmmm, what would my life be without these women?

Now, my niece comes again, snatches the earphones. She wants to listen to Jab We Met songs – she loves Kareena Kapoor. I trace that song for her. She is singing along.

This has been a rambler of a post. Won’t bore you more.

Bye. Before leaving, congrats to Abhinav Bindra for winning the gold. A great feat. A lot of us hadnt heard of him before, but we can expect to know more about him soon, with endorsements chasing him. We will know which soft drink he drinks, which brand of clothes he wears, what chocolates he eats, etc etc. Watch out for Saina too, she has made the QF.

BC