Omen

Shanmugam was driving the car; we certainly cannot call that fast. He is too old to take the risk of driving fast. Only young men and women get that thrill from fast driving. Old men only get heart attacks when they drive that fast.

Shanmugam, took that right turn slowly, even under the pressure of a sound horn from the bus that was coming closer to him. Most buses and cars take that route to reach the Mettupalayam Road on their way to Ooty. We cannot call that a congested road but at the same time, it does have a traffic that is on par with a busy road. But then, the road is not very broad and would not be more than forty feet.

Immediately after the turn, there was a speed breaker and Shanmugam slowed his car to a crawl. After coming down the speed breaker, he picked up speed and would not have gone 20 meters. A dashing cat sprinted across from the his left side to the right.

All that hit Shanmugham was that it was a bad omen. A cat crossing from left to right in front of you, is certainly a bad omen, he thought. In a second, he had decided. He should allow the others to go forward and cross first the place where the cat ran across. Then, the omen will not have the impact on him.

He stopped is car and wanted to allow the vehicles behind him to go first. But to his dismay, the bus that was also picking up speed could not stop at the nick of the moment. Shanmugham felt a strong impact from the bus in the rear of his car. It appeared as if his head had sheared from its base at the neck. At the same time, his head moved forward and found its mark on the steering wheel.

He fell unconscious.

When he woke up, he was in the hospital. Doctor was talking to his wife. He could sense a bandage on his head. And then, there was the neck support to hold his neck. He looked around.

'Ha, he has opened his eyes! I told you so!' said the doctor. 'He will be alright. There is nothing to worry. He had a minor knock on his head which sent him unconscious. His neck is hurt by the sudden crash. It will become alright in two to three weeks. He needs complete rest'.

He looked at Shanmugam and said. 'Sir, you need complete rest. The accident happened because you suddenly braked in the middle of the road and the bus driver could not stop. If one of you had been alert this could have been avoided'.

Shanmugam murmured. 'I know. It is all due to the cat. This accident is due to the bad omen. Even if you do not cross the place where the cat ran across, the bad omen has its impact'.

The God, the Rains

It had not rained even after the monsoon season had started. Water levels in most of the storages were down and the people were getting restless.

The city had seen worser droughts but this was different. Today, people are wealthier. Therefore, they cannot tolerate a failure by the state. The water department has been sending water trucks to that road once every five days!

The truck was due to arrive any moment in the next two to three hours. There was a huge queue of plastic pots. The colors of the pots formed a myriad pattern on the road occupying more than fifty percent of the carriage way.

The sun beat down on the pots with unending cruelty. The pots not only carried the colors of the plastic, the heat of the sun but also reflected the numerous prayers of the people who had placed them in the morning. For more than three hours now, they had been parched in the sun. And without respite, the queue has been increasing in its length every other minute.

Every one left their pots with an earnest desire to get enough water for their families. They also left back earnest prayers to the lord God for bringing down the rains at the earliest. Every one of them in the large crowd seem to have the same prayer on their lips.

'Oh God! Please send us the rain at the earliest. We cannot tolerate neither the heat of the sun nor the dust and the fumes that emanate from all those numerous jobs that we human beings carry out. God, we again implore you to send us rains immediately, so that we, your children, do not suffer any more! Please send the rains today, today and today!'

The prayers were hard and seemed to echo not only in every ones minds but also in the empty pots that lined the road though colorful appeared melancholy.

Just about three kilometers away from this spot, a large construction activity was going on.

They had dug the ground and were in the process of laying the foundation posts for building the large mall that was expected to come up shortly. Only for the last two weeks the workers had got this project going and if it continues for another ten days, they will have food for the next one month.

The real estate business had gone down last year and most of the construction activity in the city had come to a grinding halt. The daily wage earners and laborers in the city could find no work. These people were lucky to get this work going. Thanks to the owner of the building for starting it now and feeding all these men and women.

The digging is almost complete. But now, they will have to throw the concrete in, line it with the steel rods and allow them to settle down. But this job of fixing the rods and then pouring the concrete would easily take next ten days. After that, there are no issues atleast for one to two months!

Lucky for the workers, the south west monsoon had delayed. If it had arrived on time, then the builder would have shifted the digging time at least by one month if not two. The workers and their family would have found themselves literally on the streets with no work and no food even for the kids. 'Thank god', they thought, 'you have been kind to us. You have delayed the monsoon and made sure we got work to do and earn our daily bread'. Their prayers came up from their silent lips, thanking God.

'Oh God, you have ensured our bread for the last ten days. Another ten days of work, we will be happy for the next one to two months. Please, oh God!, please delay the monsoon atleast by ten days if not more. We will earn our bread and then you may bring the downpour. We would also enjoy it! Please do not let us down!'

Their prayers rose with the piling block high above the ground trying to reach the heaven that would bestow them with their desires.