Rain. What a Pain!

So for all you rain lovers out there, this blog entry is not for you. Having said that, I do wish that you'll take the previous sentence with a pinch of salt because I just said that to give this blog entry a grand beginning. Put up with my feeble attempt at humour. In reality, I don't think I even have such a wide readership in the first place, to be assuming that there'll be a percentage who DON'T like rains. 5 outta 5 friends who read my blog like them. (See what I mean! :P)
Anyway, coming to the point. Rain. Why I Don't like it dates back to the stone age of when I was a kid. Dunno what triggered it, but I've always thought of rain bringing gloom and even boredom, to an extent. Therefore, you can't blame me for not liking it and hating it even more when I get wet, splattered and splashed on. How I manage to look like a scare crow at the end of a rainy day wouldn't surprise you if you knew what I'm put through when in college.
I study in a university that's well known for its huge campus, greenery and plenty of flora and fauna. Somehow, all of these hold very less appeal to me, now that the rains are here.
The paths get so muddy and slushy that one's forced to do a tight rope walk ( yeah, complete with your arms sticking out) in order to not slip and fall, face down. Puddles are like well used palttes. The array of colours you can get from one tiny dirty pool of water is amazing. Light brown, dark brown, grey. You name it! The after effect of stepping into one makes you seem like a likely candidate for a 'Tide' detergent ad. You being the 'before' version of course.
The sudden outburst of fauna in the form of shudder worthy insects and worms (that literally crawl out of the wood work) makes you want to run to the hills. Then again, you've to be sure toward what kind of hills. There are plenty of ant and snake hills all over the place and you don't for the love of your sensibilities want to run into either.
Mosquitoes and flies deserve another blog entry dedicated to them. I cannot begin telling you how difficult it is to try and listen to a sleepy lecture through one ear and have a mosquito hum in the other. It's at times like these you wonder why in the name of everything holy didn't Noah swat those two blasted things on his ark!
But only just a dealing with a rainy day is not the start of my woes. It's making a commute from the university to my house that really tests my patience. I've used every mode of transport save air and water ways in this transit. Well, to be fair, I haven't travelled in a truck yet, but going by the way things are, I'm sure I might get to travel in filmy style of sitting on stacks of hay sometime. I just don't want bugs for company!
So yeah, running (un)like a pretty heroine to catch a train, stepping into slush more often than I would like, having people open umbrellas in my face and accidentally poking people with my own, is just about my routine on a rainy day. Nah, not too much to complain about in contrast to bad days when I encounter leeches and caterpillars, have to wade through water in white or have to dry off in class smelling like a wet blanket and then having to face my professor whose behaves like one!

Drops of Faith :)

How wrapped up are we in our lives, today? Do we take time out to stare out of an open window at leisure? Do we actually enjoy a quiet meal with our loved ones? Do we unwind after a long day of work with a good book or with a silent prayer before turning in?....
Of course we do! I'm convinced that all of us have, at some point or the other done one or all of the above mentioned things. But that's not the point. Its not about enjoying the little joys in life once a fortnight or month. Its about doing those small things often enough to make life matter. If I sound too preachy or annoying, forgive me but I'm in a very contemplative mood today. One of those things that happen to a person now and then. Its a 'then' right now, in my case.
Has it also occurred to those reading this, that we get so many chances in our everyday life to be happy and thankful for all that we have? Thankful for being blessed with such wonderful families, caring friends, plenty of constructive things to be occupied with and a happy life in general :)
Yet, we're forever brooding about the stuff that isn't right about life. A pathetic job for instance, an annoying boss, squabbles with one's friends, a failed love life... The list is endless. Noticed how these thoughts tend to have a snowball effect in one's mind? A single thought is all it takes to set us off... And sometimes, its easy being a despondent. But that's not how things should be. That's not how Life's meant to be.
I don't claim to be a shrink or someone who has a lot of expertise in preaching the 'word of the Lord', or anything that dramatic. I just know, that for things to work out in life and for it to be more livable, all one really needs sometimes... are Tiny drops of faith :)
I'll illustrate that with an example. A couple of months ago, on a not so fine day I was having a horrid time. Things at the preschool (where I work) were getting out of hand. The kids were driving me crazy, my boss was being testy, I'd had a blazing row with my mom, so I was truly at the end of my tether by evening. For want of something to do, (to curb the murderous feelings I began having) I decided to go out with a friend for a spin on her bike.
To clear my head a little, get things into perspective, not blow things out of proportion in my tiny brain, were the things I had in mind....
All of a sudden, I felt it (Not the faith silly! :P). When the first one hit me, I thought I'd been imagining it. Then another one came. And another.
Rain drops were coming down hard and fast and there was no where to run for cover. For those of you who don't know, I'm not a person who loves rain. In fact, its just the opposite. I'd rather do without it, if you ask me.
Therefore, those merry drops (that bring delight to a lot of people) only got me further ticked off. 'That's it! Last straw!' I thought. 'Of all days, God chose today to make it rain! And I PRAY to Him!'... Riding in the rain with the stinging drops in my eyes, it wasn't long before I'd started with water works of my own.
And then it happened. Almost as abruptly as it began, it stopped raining. Completely. I looked up from riding, and then I saw it. The clouds parting to make way for a glorious sun and beautiful blue sky. I cannot tell you how much it meant to me. Like God really thought he should make it up to little kiddo....
For my patient readers who came this far and who're about to roll their eyes at this seemingly childish ending... Let me tell you, its not. Life's not about living and getting it over with. Its about much more. Its about enjoying it. Its about being happy with it... And of course, using those tiny drops of faith to get by sometimes... :)