HE LISTENS

It was around seven when I had left the college campus to get a tablet for my hand in which I felt blood circulation was not proper since the time I had slept on it, two days ago. When I reached the Chittoor Bus Stand, the centre point where we go for many things, and where we used to go for almost each and every need 3 yrs back, I saw my friend Manohar from auto, caught him getting into a juice shop, and we had a juice each. Meanwhile he asked me why I had come there and was I going to the Bombay Anand Bhavan. I told him I had come there for the medicines as the college medicine shop was closed it being Sunday. Then I realized that there were hardly any chance of having a good food in mess as for last four years, the Sunday dinner has been constantly bad despite all the good and bad changes the menu has been through. So finally I decided to take a turn towards the BAB as I got my tablets. When I reached the place, it was 8 and the place was really crowded, with no tables available at all. I took the token and reached the counter. The guy there told that it was too crowded and the pizza I had ordered would take 20 mins. I had ample time so didn't mind. In fact the guy seemed pretty much friendly and I told him that I would come after 20 mins to get both the pizza and the shake together.

I came out on the main road and started moving to a side road. When I went in, I felt I had never realized that this place too had a residential area. I got a feel of the newly made colonies of Dehradun (That's the place where I get to live in colonies, except the government quarters of my Jijaji in Bangalore). It seemed so much of my own; something I could relate my past with. Well, due to stray dogs there, I didn't think of staying there for long and went back to see what all was going on in BAB. The condition was the same and in the ten minutes almost nothing had changed. So I started again on the main road. Walking, I felt that it had started raining, drops here and there. I wished, I really wished that it should rain, rain heavily. But it didn't. It kept on the same way for around ten minutes and then almost came to a halt. The time I entered BAB was 8:20. I was right in time. The person asked me, "aa gaye, actually humne order doosre ko de diya". But there was no problem as I still had lots of time so I asked him to get another one ready. He gave it in less than 5 minutes, during which I came to know that there was the same song going on which I had been thinking of while on the road just a few minutes back.

Pizza came, with the shake. I had them both and came out. No signs of rain it seemed. I was disappointed. Then a drop, and after a few seconds another drop. I didn't want THIS rain. I wanted it to rain, didn't want a few drops from the sky. I went on the road, slightly frustrated, when I saw something in front of me. I could see it was 'raining' below the next lamp on the road. I could not understand for a few seconds what was going on. I thought whether to move ahead or not. And then I realized, I wanted this rain. And even if I don't go there, it will come here. So I moved towards the rain, and the rain towards me. It was a raining heavily. It was stormy. After walking for a few seconds, I started almost running. Probably for 100 meters or so, and I was almost completely wet. I moved to a tin shade on one side of the road. Switched of the cell, and remembered God. And some more people. I was feeling so satisfied that my eyes became wet. Though it hardly mattered, because I myself could not feel it against all the water that was there. And then I felt that I was leaving something I shouldn't have. When God had given me the rain I had asked for, I should take it completely. I went to the road once again. And this time, I think I moved even less, but the rain filled me tiptoe. Now i could feel the rain with me completely. This time I stopped under another shade, thanked God, and then seeing the condition of the people there, asked God that I had what I wanted, and requested Him to stop the rain for them all. And not more than two minutes later, I started from there as the rain started fading away. And soon, the rain almost stopped and the lives of people started again.

I caught an auto and came to the college. I had seen almost a miracle. And though I could not help thinking how it happened, I am not going to ask that to anybody, as somebody has said, "Nobody questions a miracle."