Is it me in there?

The slanting orange rays of a languorous morning sun created some wonderful photographs. I was too lazy to open my bag and take out the camera. My mind wasn't tuned to the photographic frequency. I reached the station far ahead of time and awaited Adda. We would join an NGO to serve breakfast and spend time with children from an orphanage.

I saw some dust being poured from the flyover onto the railway track below. The wind swept them all over. Curiously, there were a lot of people crossing the tracks by jumping down from the elevated platform onto the dirty tracks and climbing back again. The fact that a goods train stood right in the middle didn't deter them! Mothers, fathers and children, went hand in hand and ducked under the train on their way to the other side. It occured to no one that there was an overbridge right above. This is India. Sometimes, it makes very little sense.

My camera remained firmly inside the backpack. Even at the orphanage, it came out reluctantly. It created its own inertia, unlike most other days. I took shots, mostly like going through the motions. Wasn't totally attuned. There were the cynical teenagers, and some quietly confident youngsters. Mostly, all were eager to get clicked. Just that some expressed it with lesser hesitation. In the end, I even managed to have one of them click my photo. And when the enthusiasm to click was bursting among the little ones, we had to make our way back. It was a happy bunch, despite their condition.

The sun rose overhead and shone mightily. The food, though oily was tasty. But an appetite, was missing somewhat. Printing took far too much time. A lot of quickly typing fingers, and some lazily emerging photos. Some funny acidic smells too. By the time they were done, so was the sun. It was raining heavily.

A quick and heavy shower for half an hour turned the roads into flowing rivers of muddy water. Had no option but to let water get into my socks. The soaky sound stayed with me all the way through. We didn't take the bike or the car, so it was all about public transport. There were sixteen of us, at one point packed into a smallish vehicle, a bit larger than an auto-rickshaw. I sat at the back, my thighs too long for them to close the door. One of the co-passengers held the door all the way through. Water dripped from the overhead rail, which I enjoyed. One of my sleeves was completely soaked and my skin clearly visible through it. Others seemed to find it odd, me not trying to resist the rain. They smiled and whispered into each others' ears, I smiled back. Even the Swatch was tested for water resistivity. I particularly liked the very tiny droplets that hit my face and covered the whole of my glasses. I saw everything through them. Rain is good in hot places.

And suddenly as it came and crippled the city, it stopped. And clouds, that catch the rays of a receding sun began to emerge. Spots of blue that were hidden before emerged too. Seasons seemed to change again. Sometimes, that's how autumn is. I like it.

Here's another two shots. Too lazy too process more.