11.10 am

Work is heavy. And hectic as always. Which is good. But news of the death of people due to COVID or of critical situation due to the infection is just a text or phone call away. I have friends in COVID ICU. Family members in regular ICU. Family friends just back from hospital and in excruciating pain. And every day there’s someone else on that list.

13.15 pm

Am struggling right now. Struggling to walk, struggling to sit, struggling to work, struggling to keep my thoughts from driving me insane, struggling to focus … struggling.

Just that.

4.40 pm

The sound of thunder. The smell of wet earth. The sight of red soil, green trees and a sprawling city. The feel of the strong breeze as the rain softly patters on the asphalt road. The taste of hot Maggi noodles. All in this one moment.

If I hadn’t gotten out of bed this morning, I would have missed this moment.

4.55 pm

Sounds I can hear at the moment:

Thunder

Koel cooing

Birds Chirping

JCB at work

A bird whistling

Mynah talking

Parrots jabbering

Sound of wind in the trees

Sound of rain falling

5.07 pm

That’s almost 30 minutes of listening to and watching a drizzle work itself up into a decent rain. No other thoughts. Just listening to and smelling and feeling in these series of moments.

That’s as close as I can get to peace in troubled times. Or at any time for that matter.

5.24 pm

Today’s learning.

Predicting when lightning might occur is a matter of patience if one desires to click a photograph.

Sitting idly and looking a thunderstorm is a great way to watch lightning as it happens.

I have seen three powerful bolts of lightning so far. It’s a beauty beyond compare.