The World Around and InTeRpReTaTiOnS

"We are going to Tirupati in June," announced my co-sister, sometime in March. And I was elated— not because I'm a believer, but this was my chance to trek the 11-km climb to the Tirumala temple from Alipiri. The next few weeks were spent with zero preparation for the trek, and the D-day arrived in no time. On a hot Saturday afternoon, we were standing at the foot of the hill, while I stared at the steep steps and told myself, "no, I can't do this." But then, this happens each time, and I know I can march on and reach the top. Armed with a water bottle, a towel and glucose tablets, and no slippers on our feet, we start climbing up. The stone steps scorch the feet, forcing us to climb faster. Three minutes into the climb, my heart starts beating rapidly, and sweat starts inundating my body, when not even a few hundred metres of the trek are covered. The next 10+ kms seem impossible, and I just want to give up and start resting on the side platforms meant

I feel like running into the rain lashing around now... and letting the rain wash my soul, too. How therapeutic it is to open my mouth and hands to catch those falling pure drops of life... To get drenched in pureness and fill my soul with pureness... My poor soul needs a lot of healing... the disrupted and devastated state it is in is never imaginable - it has shattered into pieces! They say time heals. But does it, really? Maybe it's all consolation in action. Or maybe it's all psychological. But we should give it a chance... In my experience, Rain, too, heals. It melts away the disjoint pieces of soul and forms a new mixture out of which a phoenix is born again. Words fail me when I start describing rain and its beauty... The happiness and peace I get in the presence of rain... It's beyond all descriptions... it's just ethereal. To me, rain means a lot. Rain is the outcome when the foul-mood cloud, loaded with worries, breaks down and clears itself, catapult