THE RAIN GIRL

It was cloudy...full sky was covered with dark black clouds. The cool breeze was competing me to go back home and enjoy an
English movie with some pakoras and tea or a pizza with hot chocolate drink. But it was morning rush hour, whole of traffic consisted of
people heading towards their respective offices. So was I. And hence, the pakora and the pizza would have to be postponed for some other time.

Suddenly big droplets started pouring. The street - that was tampered, tortured, battered everyday by the thousands of
cyclists, bikers, four wheelers, bus and heavy transport vehicles was now cooling down itself -thanks to the shower. And the bikers,
cyclists, pedestrians and hawkers got drenched within a few moments.

But few people, stuck in this traffic, were enjoying the now pleasant weather and did not
run for cover as others. They just enjoyed the cold rain water kissing their lips, forming droplets over their spectacles, not bothered that the rain was washing away
their makeup they had applied minutes back.

I was there in the bus window seat. Though the passenger seated behind me, urged me to close my window glass, but I did not heed to his words as I
was enjoying the cool breeze now accompanied with rain dropslets.

Just then I saw the girl. No, am not saying about anybeautiful attractive girl, though there were some too; am talking about a child. She was around six or seven years
old and wearing her ragged, soiled and not very well stitched dress but very distinctly patched in some places. May be it was the
only one her parents could afford for her.

She was standing out on the street and looking, or rather trying to look towards the sky. Could not understand if she was smiling
cause her face was continuously bombarded with the big and fast falling rain drops. She had opened her arms and standing like Army Signal Squads' Romeo position inviting more of the weather. It felt as if it was raining just to please and make her happy.

The girl started going round and round with occasional jumps. Her dress was fully drenched and clung to her gawky torso. Her waist long hair was wet
and now covering all her small face, like an entangled web of a spider. But she was not worried about them, she was just enjoying the rain.

She stopped for a while and looked around her surrounding, to the people who were now trying hard to keep themselves dry and to those scrambling for some shed. As her sight shifted from one place to the other, he eyes met mine. Recognising that i was also looking at her, and enjoying her thrill sitting inside the bus she smiled at me.
I smiled back which in turn brought a bigger smile on her
face and she waved at me with both her hands, just when the bus started moving ahead as the traffic got cleared.

An old thought crossed my mind:
Those who were penniless enjoyed the rain,
And those who had many, ran for cover!