What Colour is Your Cyclone?

Once upon a time there was a cyclone that decided to hit a sleepy sweltering city. And somewhere between blowing umbrellas belonging to middle-aged chinless men inside out and knocking trees at university over like bowling pins, this cyclone decided to take a tree down in a way that it fell right across the road, from left to right, like a branched barricade of brown and green. And while the tree fell it took some barbed wire with it.

Now you could walk your way back home through the weather or stay at university, but you choose to walk because you have never been out on a day like this, and why not try and cheat death if you can. You call yourself stupid and set out anyway and reach this tree fallen right across the road, and are wondering how to circumnavigate it when you see people actually trying to climb over it through the barbed wire. A woman manages to entangle her saree in the wire and it looks like a gradual unravelling of garments will begin, and while you're standing there wondering whether you should laugh or not, considering this is a Time Of Great Peril and Difficulty, a length of barbed wire flies straight at you. That's when you decide to cross the road to the other side and walk through the branches of the tree rather than climb over its roots. At least this way it feels like you're walking through a jungle.

People do stupid things all the time, and this might well be the stupidest thing that you have ever done, choosing to walk home with an inadequate purple umbrella that is more of an impediment than any impediment known to the history of mankind, including manacles and sidecars on motorcycles. But you realise this is quite something. Being pelted with raindrops that actually sting, not being able to see beyond four metres, wondering whether you're going to be blown off your feet. It must have been something, I was wondering whether I could be blown off my feet.

But hey, I didn't die. I'm not saying sorry yet. My throat is sore though. Tomorrow morning my phone shall be answered by someone doing a reasonably good impression of Marlon Brando in The Godfather.

Once upon a time there was a dripping shivering girl waiting for the elevator to come down, being told by the security guard, "Erokom leveler pagol dekhini toh." A question from the girl preceded this comment, but we'll keep that for another day.