Monsoon 2012.
Working in the rain.
Like the annual MRF Rain Day ads that never gets the day of arrival of monsoon in Mumbai right, we never tire of predicting the rainfall patterns every monsoon. Every year tonnes of newsprint and conversation time goes into the minute details of rainfall in the city and the suburbs.
Every year, without fail, there comes a day when the rains hit the railway network. The only difference is the amount of noise people have started making about the annual event. While we used to patiently walk home in the rain, wading though water and cracking jokes with new found friends on the streets, now we whine and scream and shout.
I think the newspapers in Mumbai survive by scaring people who do not step outside their homes or comfort zones. They love to be frightened with stories of crazy people, bollywood extras turned killers, autowallas, taxiwalla, leopards, etc.
I feel sorry for the school children, college kids, and the men and women who venture out to work because these frightened people are frightened to their bones by the daily dose of news. They always call you when something that they read in the news will surface from their subconscious, ask you how you are and slowly slip in the dreaded line - did you read about Xxxx incident in the newspaper?
If they hear about a train jumping tracks in Neral, they will immediately call the poor girl sitting in a classroom in Bandra and ask her to skip classes and head home right away because they now have the power to stay in touch always and with the power to scare a person they love, anytime of the day.
The frightened ones who have discovered twitter and facebook are even more frightening. If it rains a little more than usual, their screams now reach every corner of the world and you will have relatives selling alochol to igloo dwellers in North Canada in a blizzard calling you to ask if you have left office yet because there's likely to be a signal breakdown in the Sanpada yard.
I tell you, these people are the ones who cause wars.
And if you are my kind, you will read newspapers and feel angry. It's a great high too. However, anger is best enjoyed online, when you have a news outlet that is designed to provoke you to feel angry. Like thus one called First Post. Indian Hulks reads it.
