I step out with the grumpiest look possible, the rain just makes everything so dirty. Jumping between puddles of water and eeeeeking every time something wet or muddy splashes me. Upset that my shoes and bag have mud spots on them. I crib incessantly and grumpily cross the road. Hail a million autos to finally get one. "Bahiya central jaana hai"....with more eeks and nags about the puddle filled pune roads, i reach my destination. Going through the floor picking up and putting down what seemed like a hundred clothes, i manage to get a few i find "not as bad as the rest". Still with my air of bitchiness i pay the bill...huddle out in the windy front and sign again at how God's just being unfair to me. I mean come on i had a horrible day with the rain and muck and the autos and the really bad clothes and.....when just across the road from where i stand,i see a bicycle...a single one..weighed down by a man in his late 40s, his wife, their two children and a packet of vegetables. Weighed down by their smiles. The kids giggling and laughing while the mother smiled at them while telling them to behave themselves. The father, well he was just satisfied...he had the look on his face, the kind you get when suddenly there's nothing you need anymore. when the whole world seems harmonious and you're content. Everything else became invisible to me, it was just that one bicycle with a family of four...happy.satisfied.not cribbing. and there was me...we'll i think I've already said enough about my pathetic self.
Its not what you got or what you want. Its what you need. And you need very little to feel happy.
I walked back in the drizzle, smiling at myself for absolutely no reason. Suddenly the world looked gorgeous and the water comforting...in some way camouflaging the tears trickling down. The only weight was of the shopping bag which i wish i could throw somewhere. Fast.
