Love Showers by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (epub read online books TXT) 📕

Not even a single symptom that it may rain until she started from home. On her way to the central bus terminus where she needs to board her bus, drizzles brought in cool air inside the bus relieving the excess heat that smothered everyone.   Heavy crowd thronged the bus as the weekend home goers wanted to spend their continuous stretch of holidays with their family.

“It may rain.” Someone in the bus predicted.

“No. It should not rain.”   Sharon prayed desperately.   She had already experienced the havoc caused by sudden showers. Evening showers loved to test the tolerance level of the commuters and mercilessly shattered their travel plans.

Sharon looked at the dark clouds that sailed across the sky. Thunder echoed and streaks of lightening brightened the congested corners of the road.

“I am not going home now.” Few girls squeezed through the crowd with their heavy luggage.

“Ouch” Screamed an old lay. “Move away from me” She pushed the girl harshly that made her stumble near the steps. The crowd at the door saved her from falling down.

“How long will it take to reach the central terminus?” She enquired the lady near her.

“Another 45 minutes. This is usual every Friday. Today the rain has made it worse.”

“I need to get my 7:30 bus.”

“If the traffic moves like this, you may reach there only by 8 pm.” Someone answered from the crowd.

“Even if you get the bus on time, it may take another one hour for the bus to move out of the terminus and reach the national highway.”

“I usually go by train. This time I could not get my ticket confirmed. I decided to take the bus.”

“I don’t know why there is such a heavy rush on any holiday.” Sharon murmured.

Chennai thrives with the floating population.   Eighty percent of the people who live at Chennai are not permanent residents.  On any auspicious day the whole city will wear a deserted look as most of them would have traveled to their home towns. The stretch of roads that suffered with heavy traffic congestion will be empty without any speeding vehicles or any two wheelers to overtake the vehicles that rush past without minding any traffic rules.

Sharon didn’t want to waste a single second. She managed to get down and searched for an auto so that she may reach earlier. She could not get an auto. Uniformly they refused with an excuse that they would not be able to travel in that heavy traffic. Sharon decided to reach the station by walk. It took her more than twenty minutes to walk that short distance.

It surprised Sharon to look at the crowd that thronged the station. There was a long queue at the ticket counter and it took another ten minutes to get her ticket. The slippery over bridge foot path prevented her from walking fast. The crowd that moved in and out of the station didn’t mind anyone on the way and they walked as if obsessed.

“I am a fool. I don’t know why I decided to take the electric train.” Heavy crowd rushed into the train that already had no space for anyone to enter.

Her shoulder ached in pain; she moved to the nearby cement seat and put her luggage on it.  The family that occupied the seat rushed to get into the train that moved in.

Sharon relaxed for a while. Drops of water rolled down from her disheveled hair. She looked at the shrunken folds of skin on her fingers.

Even after thirty minutes, she could not find a train with some space to enter.  She decided to cancel her travel and return to the PG hostel where she stayed.  It took another fifteen minutes to move out of the station.

“You can’t get out of me.” Sharon could hear him chuckle.

“This Christmas you are going to celebrate with me; and also the New Year.”

Sharon walked to the auto stand. Days like this turned out to be lucky for the auto drivers. They demanded high fare and the commuters are left to decide on their favor.

The usual fare to her place didn’t go beyond one hundred rupees. But on that day everyone demanded two hundred rupees. Left with no choice, she climbed into the available auto. The traffic congested road left no space even for the pedestrians.  

The auto driver drove through small lanes and she managed to reach her place at least by 10 pm. She thanked the auto driver for having taken her safely to the place.

The warden was not surprised to see her. Luckily Sharon had some dinner to eat and she went to bed after changing her wet dress.

“Achoo… achoo…” Sneezing started ceremoniously and she sneezed continuously for the next ten minutes.

“Shall I bring milk with a pinch of turmeric and pepper?” The woman at the kitchen asked her with concern. Without refusing she drank the milk in a single gulp.

Sharon joined the girls who were watching the news in the local television channel.

“How did you manage to reach here?” Sharon narrated the incidents that happened for more than two times.

The entire news channels showed the traffic congested roads at Chennai and Sharon decided never to travel on a day like that. As her mother advised she decided to take a day off and travel a day earlier to the home town.

Publication Date: 06-11-2015

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Dedication:
Showers that can cleanse all sins