WASHED OUT SUNDAY

There is nothing worse, (at least for a government servant I guess,) than waking up to a rain- soaked Sunday morning than being told to come to office. That is what happened to me last Sunday which I now rank as one of the worst Sunday of the year. I had planned to do quite a lot on Sunday- go to Abids, watch Just Books that I missed on Saturday, take a nice post lunch nap, go out with the family in the evening and so on. The moment I got the call from office to come all such plans were swept away in the current of irritation that filled my mind.

If the rain filled morning wasn't enough, the Sunday paper was not delivered until eight in the morning. And when it came it came with the front page sodden. The rain continued to fall until it was time to go to Abids. It is one habit that consumes me on Sundays and it is something that leaves me uneasy if I do not indulge in it. I had initially decided not to go because of the rain. But when I met Uma at about half past eleven the rain had stopped. We decided to make a dash to Abids where there were more disappointments in store.

The regular shops were open for the Ramzan shoppers which meant that the second hand booksellers had to set up shop at other places. Some like the Best Book guys did not even put out any books. It is usually in the heaps of books that BB has that I find some good books like the two Spenser titles that we got the previous Sunday. There weren’t the usual sellers to be seen which took away some of the fun from the hunt. The seller who had Timeri N Murari’s ‘The Arrangements of Love’ that I had seen the other week, asked for a hundred and fifty rupees for it. I was not willing to pay that much so I walked away and later, I regretted not buying it. I came home empty handed.

After a hurried lunch I left for office feeling totally disappointed. It was a couple of hours work calling up district and finding out about the heavy rainfall. The news triclked in that four people died in the heavy rains. It was distressing to read the details. One person in Mahbubnagar was washed away in a stream. When I read the detailed report that said he had three small kids my gloom deepened. There are some things about the job that make you wish you were doing something else than read such things.

At half past five I finally left the office and went to Adarsh for tea. Of late the chota samosas at Adarsh seem to be too hot to taste. Someone in their kitchen seems to be too fond of green chillies and is adding them to the chota samosas in abundant quantities. The overspicy samosas did not go down well with the chai and added to my disappointment.

Anyway, on the way home the rain started again and for almost two hours there was no let up. I sat on the steps of a shop in Himayatnagar watching those in cars go by unmindful of the rain. There were entire families on motorbikes on the road getting wet but keen to go somewhere. By the time I got home it was half past seven. I had not bought a single book at Abids, I missed my nap and also missed watching 'Just Books' that is telecast at four on Sunday afternoon. More than that I missed out on some quality time with the family on a holiday. But that's the price sometimes we guys in the government have to pay.