Rains are a blessing as well as a curse for most of us. If we could control them and bring them on whenever we are in need of or keep them off as long as we desire, then, of course, rains would be a blessing. But as it is, man is helpless before nature. It follows its own pattern which is sometimes not to our liking. There was one such day when it rained and I did not like it.
They day was a holiday and I had planned to spend it m my own way. I was to pay a visit to my sister at Meerut which is at a distance of 70 kilometers from my place. Early that morning I started from home. Even at that hour I could see bad weather ahead. Dark, smoky clouds threatened rain. I thought I would be safe if I got into a bus. Alas! It was in vain.
As I was getting into the bus it started raining and it rained quite heavily. Within a few minutes everyone was drenched to the skin. None got the time to get a shelter. In a very short time the roads were flooded. Traffic came to a standstill. Visibility was reduced only to a few metres. It poured so heavily that even the headlights of the bus could not pierce the thick sheet of water pouring from the sky. Water collected more speedily than it went down the drains. The stalls and the temporary structures of the shops at the bus stop dripped. Those inside the shops and buses as also those outside on the road were getting wet. The worse was yet to come.
Stools, benches, chairs and small tables kept for customers outside the shops and stalls, began to float in the rushing streams of rain water. It was a pity to see people running after their articles. A man running to catch a bench fell into a nullah. He might have been swept away by the strong current but the water itself threw him out. The poor man stood for a moment looking dazed at the rushing water.
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It rained for four hours during which period all activities came to a standstill.
When at last the rain stopped I was fully drenched and not in a shape to go to Meerut. There was hardly any time left for the return journey. Moreover, I felt home sick and longed to be at home in my comfortable bed. Hence I came home.