These days, it rains every evening in Bangalore. The sky is persistently clouded, casting a gloomy spell whole day long. I watched the rain through the glass panes from the fourth floor of my office. I could see the rain droplets plunging down, and the intermittent gale of wind blowing the drops upward, creating a hazy pattern up in the air. It's fascinating to watch these patterns from high above.The rain thrashes down on the parked cars and people run helter skelter for a cover. But there are few guys walking around, as if they are unaffected by the nature's fury.. I wonder, are they trying act super cool or are they really enjoying this..I quiver at the thought of getting drenched and later having to sit inside the air conditioned office space..
As I came out of the office after the rain, everything had a glossy washed out look.The air was cold and the evening sky was engulfed by menacing thunder clouds. As I walked through the tech park, lined all along with colossal glass buildings, I could see the dense blue-grey monsoon clouds reflecting on the tall glass structures and imparting them a quaint bluish tint. The lights inside the buildings added to the magical feel.
As I walked, it started drizzling and I had to pass by the lake, which is inside the tech park. The cold wind blowing through the lake gave me goose bumps. I wished I had a warm jacket on. It's beautiful to watch the lake in the rain. I stopped by to watch the dusky light from the evening sky making the rippling waters even more beautiful. The lake has a dense carpet of flowering plants, lining it's edges. Occasionally, during daylight, we find fishermen in coracles fishing here. At other times there are buffaloes waddling in the murky waters. Group of cormorants (black duck-like birds) breed on this lake. It's a curious sight to watch these water birds. It occasionally flings it's pretty neck into the water and does a vanishing act. After a few seconds, it reappears in some other part of the lake with a wriggling live fish in it's beaks. Then it just tilts it's head up and swallow the entire fish down, in the blink of an eye. After devouring a sumptuous meal of fish, the cormorant flies out of the lake to the distant horizon. Sometimes it perches on the branch of a nearby tree, spreading out it's wing, as if to dry in the sun.
The night was settling in. I could neither see the menacing beauty of the sky, nor the rain. All I could see were the silhouette of the buildings against the night sky and lights reflecting in the lake. I walked on in the city rain..