Destructive Distillation

There cannot be a better time for this post. I shall have the support of the crowds including the usual detractors to my stance over rain and cloudy days after the battering our lives took due to the incessant rainfall over the weekend. I have talked a lot about the rain in my previous posts like The Solar Eclipse and Awake or Asleep . Monsoons are very disempowering and impose a totalitarian rule on all civilisation. However the protagonist of my tale is the champion of all life and the fountain of spirit. (Forgive the enemy’s aqueous metaphor.) He brings joy into the world and we weave our lives around his schedule. We get a little uncomfortable when he is near and miss his warmth when he is far away. He is like the parent or guardian who we love and have taken for granted. Undeservingly huge number of songs has been written about rains and cloudy days and the romance that ensues. Far few have been on the great star of our system, the Sun.

After a cat nap near the end of a dull afternoon, now rejuvenated, I decided it is time to watch a movie. My stomach said it needed a refill after the lunch’s batch had moved on and I decided to make a quick trip to the general stores nearby. I saw that the day had brightened and a faint smile crept onto my face. I didn’t get what I wanted at the store and decided to head back home. And then the clouds parted and the Sun appeared. I was there on the road to welcome him with a broad smile and my heart filled with immense glee. They were the first rays of direct sunlight one had seen for nearly a hundred hours. I congratulated myself for having made a wise move to venture out of my cave and prowl the streets for some insignificant reason. I was rewarded with the sightings of my favourite superstar. Compared to this, my excitement if suddenly a celluloid or sports superstar decided to pay a visit to my street would be mild. I basked in the sunshine and my skin felt alive with warmth it brought. I remembered that I had left my cell phone at home and someone would call me and I wouldn’t be there to pick up. A modern life instinct told me I had to go back and be with it. “No! “I said to myself,” I need to stay here and enjoy the arrival of my hero.” I decided to lengthen my trip by going on to the next store, further away to relish the exclusive company. On the way there I automatically began writing this post in my mind.

The Sun had fought a week long battle against the evil empire of the sullen, dark, heavy and showering clouds and finally won. The victory was evident as graphically as it can be. The Sun had come up and settled on his throne. The dark clouds were falling down into the horizon. It was as if the Sun had torn them apart with his bare hands and was humiliating them by stamping them down onto the ground for torturing his beloved subjects in recent past. I could see His Majesty’s cabinet and guard in the form of bright white clouds and the merry birds follow him and take out a procession to celebrate his victory. The sky had sprung to life donning a beautiful blue and so had all the creations around me. They came out of their homes and began to show their gratitude to the Emperor. He too was happy and glowed warmly in a modest way not too concerned about the victory in this battle. He had seen far too many battles of this kind. However he has been known to get carried away by his power sometimes and be harsh on his subjects by showing his anger or by denying them of his audience. But however moody he might be, his warmth is what sustains and breeds life.

All you romantics, who yearn for a dull cloudy day to be lost in your inconsequential and soon forgotten dreams, take a break! Life is sometimes is about the doing and right now, as direct, uncontrived and plain as the Sun itself. Go out and enjoy the melody of sunshine!