A fire alarm

A fire alarm was a plaything for me in my childhood.He ,he...not a joke.One of my neighbour had an emergency lantern with an emergency siren .She showed it to me the very next day her dad brought it from abroad.She dint believe when i said its the same sound a fire engine makes and every one give way when it comes.We turned it ON and peeped from inside her house to see if some one is coming running.Only her grand father who was sitting just a few feet away from us turned his head and smiled .I felt ashamed of being unable to prove my point.From that day onwards we used to play with that and the emergency alarm became the back ground music of our playtime.

But today when i was enjoying a coffee in my office space when the alarm rang and loud speakers announced over my head "due to some emergency all are requested to evacuate the building" , i was startled. After some seconds of confusion i could find myself running down stairs clutching my bag .Nobody was using the lift.I could hear others talking about 'bomb threat'.At that moment some pictures came into my mind.Today at our office entrance a group of people with 'Emergency Response Team' cap on their head were busy doing something.An ambulance which used to be at a corner was in the drive way.There may be a threat and they might have confirmed the presence of a bomb now only.What if it explodes now , before i come out of the building? I even pictured my funeral...and people who disperse after the mourning indulging in their daily routine.Ohh...even if i disappear from this earth nothing is gonna change , not even to my close relatives.They will live again with all the fortunes of the life.They may drop some tears in my memory once in a year...after some years ....they won't even think of me. An urge (out of sheer jealousy) came into my mind .I want to live.I started skipping two or three steps and the people with me were not in a hurry.I pitied them.Why are they not serious in this moment when there existence is being questioned?

As i reached the ground floor i could see water pumping in the height of the building.It was not the right time to wonder how many hp is that pump.Some one from the ERT was announcing through a megaphone to get into a safe assembly area. Then he said you should be faster in getting here when there is an emergency. I realised it was a fire drill . A fire drill without any prior information or i missed it. Is that why others were relaxed even while running? I felt like I'm cheated.But i did clap for the filmy entrance of ambulance and all those exercises. There was a funny SMS circulating about fire drills. Once all employees got out of the building they will make another announcement."As part of cost cutting we are laying off a lion portion of our employees.Only whose name will be called out need to enter the office.We regret.........". Any such initiatives.... No , no.......I don't know how my imagination weave out such weird things in the exact moment.Have to tame my mind ...........

Rain........................

It rained in Chennai last Friday , for the first time after my arrival. Thunder being the first outside noise to penetrate the walls of office , i realised its gonna rain . I was happy like a peacock.I don't know why rain makes me cheerful.Keeping an umbrella was the last thing to expect.I walked in the rain to my cab.I could see a biker sliding from the tiled path and felling off his bike. Then another ....But i felt it only as an action sequence in the newly released rain . I opened the window and drenched in rain till the driver became concerned about the seat cover. The roads were submerged in water. Power went off. The city seemed to be a scene from some horror movie when it lightened.

By the time i reached my room , rain was in its full swing. sparks came out of the electric sockets.I some how unplugged my friend's laptop. Darkness wrapped me around like a cloak of fear after every crack of lightening. I looked around to see the shadows of all the ghosts and demons i have ever heard of.Rain poured over my loneliness. I thought of the rain at home. Rain drops hitting green leaves , warning to sit on a wooden chair , cuddling sister , a hot black tea......even paper boats from a long back archive.I badly wanted to be at home at that moment. Next moment my phone blinked 'home calling' , I picked it up and told my father "I will be there next week".