Nilgiri

In a drizzling monsoon morning, a sleepy, sophisticated nerdy town tries to wake up in the lap of lush green plethora of mid-risen mountains. The articulately designed streets crawl methodically in between well trimmed lawns, parks and little meadows. Some where they climb up the mountain slants, somewhere they slip smoothly into small tunnels. But most of these fun loving sensuous streets feel dejected...lonely. 

The intoxicated monsoon wind drools and slaps my damp face...I could taste salt water, which it has carried in its pocket all the way from the nearby Arabian Sea. 

Far away, a rainbow colored stardust gathers in front of a school building. Well, it's the morning prayer time and the gates are going to be closed soon...the tiny tots are baffled with their oversized raincoats. At the north east corner of my vision range, I could figure out, somewhat less distinctively, men and women on their feet and scooters hurrying down the slippery ways...Oh yes! How could I forget...its the moron Monday today. Its office hours starting. Punch cards are popping out of pockets.

The church bell is ringing faithfully...so is the temple shrine.

The Lord and/or the Bhagwan is busy finding his umbrella...followers meanwhile kept in "call waiting" mode.

Hey but what about my protagonist? There... She stands tall, upright, a few kilometers away from me. Like a transparent, sheer dupatta woven around a shy, stiff figure...Nilgiri emerges out from a cocoon of clouds, waiting to burst out on her.

Nilgiri stands still as she becomes cold and wet. She cannot shiver. Her children in her womb must be protected. She silently endures the pain of the dying lady within her, she shelters the mourning young man, who suffered a fatal accident last night, she keeps an eye on the lost girl within her fringed corridors, she watches the pigeons lamenting endlessly.

The perfectly picturesque intellectual town begs before the overhanging ceiling of clouds...spare yourself...don't come near me...else you might get wet by my tears...

You are already over saturated.