paper boats...

if you looked closely enough, you could see her coming through the curtain of rain...
barring her yellow umbrella,the day presented a drab picture...the murky sky,the rain washed streets,a few plastics clogging the sewarage and two soggy paper boats sailing blissfully in the nearest pothole.
it had been raining since morning and looking at the sky,you could tell that it would go on all day.

she was at arm's length now.unkempt hair,trousers drawn uptill the knee,barefeet, she looked a bit worn out.the blue liner had smudged near the eyes but they exuded the same warmth as the last time we had met.
"fancy meeting on sucha rainsloshed day,huh?"she quipped.
"i see you havent any shoes on"i observed.
"ya,they are in the bag...fancied wetting my feet"
so 'fancy' was The Word now.last time we had met it had been 'flabbergasted'
it was fun hearing flabbergasted in every two seconds...
"...and i was so flabbergasted seeing that...and then that flabbergasted feling you know...you know what i mean,nah?"
and so it went the whole afternoon.

"sheesh man!"she was limping on one leg now..
"something bit me near my heel"she had already thrown a ruchus by then...
"relax.."i assured,"there arent any whales in here"
"how do u know?"
the liner had started trickling down her cheeks...it traced a blue outline all the way across her cheekbone...
it was raining hard now...
the yellow umbrella unfurled again...
"you said you would teach me how to make boats"
"you dont know how to make them?"
"what's the big deal?i'll learn today"i shrugged,a mild wave of indifference gaining on me..
she was cackling now..."you dunno how to make boats..fancy not being able to make boats..."she chanted in a sing song voice,enough to drive any sane individual up the wall.

an hour later, the rain had been pelting down hard against the tin roof..we were sitting legs dangling on a certain somebody's verandah...and a thousand paper boat lay strewn all over the floor...

and when the rain stopped,she waded through the water,barefeet,just as she had come, till the gathering darkness completely faded her away.

and the boats floated bithely in the potholes all night before another thunderstorm swept them away...

Of insomniac afternoons and indulgent reveries...

time halts and ideas play havoc in the mind.lying on the couch.feeling hot.sweaty.Maugham dangles precariously from hand.the fan drones noisily.the T.V is in mute.staring blankly at the screen.thoughts flood and apprehensions and premonitions adhere to the skeptic mind.sweaty beads on forehead.kajer mashi scurries past the backyard sulking noisily to herself about the work pressure.the chappal flaps on the hot cement.
tom smacks jerry on the head.tulsi cries.kumkum seeks vengeance.sidhhu roars with laughter at a not-so-funny joke.the screen flickers and vision blurs.
the couch feels unnaturally hot.the floor is cooler in comparison.the T.V is turned off.Maugham is returned to the shelf.the pillow is made even.hair hangs loose and spreads on the mosaic.staring blankly at the ceiling evokes hypnosis.the fan blades whip the warm claustrophobia.
and yet another afternoon whiles away in uneventful listlessness...