It's about 11:30 pm IST, and I am the only one awake in the house. I was watching cricket (I only follow about half of the game's rules, but it seems pretty simple) when it all started. All the doors started shutting and opening on their own. No matter what your view of life is, a door moving on its own appeals to a very basic part of the human psyche. It is always a bit of a fearful feeling. So, it was all the more wierd because it was happening to me, the only awake guy. And one must remember that I am on the other side of the planet, to boot.
Then the lightning started and all of the lights in the house went out.
So, I pick my blackberry up and decide that I am going to write a blog entry entitled "Monsoon Blues". This is the end of the monsoon here in Andhra Pradesh, and it's the reason the wind kicked into the house and the power is out.
But, then I decided to come out here. I am sitting out on one of our covered patios. We live in a pretty neat place, multiple patios.
There are about six huge slabs of white marble underneath me. They are the massive floor of this patio. We live in Jubilee Hills, so I am looking down into the city of Hyderabad. It's like any vista from above a city - impressive. The rain is coming down in sheets, and there is a mist blowing into the depth of the patio where I am sitting. There are two huge columns in front of me on the edge of the patio. They are neither Ionic nor Doric nor Corinthian. They are - Indic. I am not sure if that is the right term, but if it is not, it should be. I am bright enough for neology - I think.
I responded to the doors and the wind and the rain and the blackout in absolutely the wrong way. I was being gently ushered out onto this incredible spot by the Gentle Hand who has provided me this amazing experience, as well as given me the priviledge of being with those four amazing people currently in their beds. The same Gentle Hand that has allowed adversity in my life to be replaced with graceful rest - again and again and again.
I was all wrong.
It's about being lead.....
