Dance in the rain…
A couple of Saturdays back Amma and I sat in our bright living room early in the morn sipping tea and talking of my dad. As we immersed ourselves in the memories and sighed with a lifetime of unfulfilled wishes in our mind we were broken out of our reverie by Saathi who came bounding down. Unusually cheery he came to sit with us with his usual glass of milk.
As we continued switching over to more general topics we landed on our favorite Saturday morning discussion. Lunch. As I mentally ran over the stuff I had in the fridge there was nothing appealing. Out of the blue it hit me that there was a new Saravana Bhavan that had opened in New Jersey about two hours drive away. My face glowed with enthusiasm and I pitched my idea knowing how far fetched it would be to drag Amma on a 200 mile plus ride just to have lunch. Saathi looked unsure. He looked at me and at my mom and then the indecisive face changed. He looked resolute as he said there was no point in driving all the way out to NJ just to eat. It was 9:30 AM. We could have done it. But we did not.
That one moment changed a lot of things. As I went about the rest of the day my mind kept going back to what could have been. The world of possibilities. Yes. We would have burnt fuel. We would have probably not stopped with just eating and ended up shopping for a whole lot of stuff we did not need in the first place. But we also lost the joy of giving in to the moment. Of taking the road not traveled. Of living in the moment.
We will probably make the trip to Saravana Bhavan another weekend when we have it all planned out. Nothing will be different except for the tiny voice in me that repeats “Dance in the rain, smell the wayside flowers, stop to watch the sunrise/sunset, revel in the magic of the moment.”
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Lakshmi Iyer 
I love this post. Yes – too often we ignore spontaneousness ideas, rather doing the norm or pursuing a well-thought-out plan. I am so guilty of this all the time!!! Although we probably cannot live on spontaniety all of the time – giving into it every once in a while is bound to bring us suprises. Thank you for bringing this up as the weekend closes……
Thats a nice place; we hv been there quite a few times; maybe I will hv a chance meeting with the ever so famous “lakshmusings”
On a related note, we did that once – a bunch of us drove 6 hrs for dinner :D…
@Spillay: I know its not possible to be spontaneous all the time. But is hoping for it once in a blue moon too much? 🙂
@JustSomeone: Am sure we will meet one day or another at Anamikas 🙂 Famous? You gotta be kidding 🙂
on the flip side..you increased your carbon footprint and saved the planet..
so no worries..cheer up!..
shy
Good one… Pictured the feelings well.
Now I’m glad, I had SaravanaBhavan in Toronto few min’s walk away from my place. Every saturday all guys go there for brunch.
As Shy says, you have increased your carbon footprint 🙂 but I also agree with you that you have to sometimes just act, not think. Just that me personally, I have to learn where to not just act but think :D…have done way too many things where I have just acted…called friends and asked if they were free just to drive all the way and sit & just chill, or (thankfully I always took the train) go to the city to eat at SB 😀 spending the rest of the time walking there.
Reading your post made me want to put my shoes on and get out of the house..it’s a lovely day here, April is normally very hot here, but this year unexpected rains damaged the crop and added early blooms to most flowering trees on the roadside. Gulmohar, Jacaranda, Amaltaas…your post made me notice all this. Maybe it was the title, maybe it was the idea of giving in to a delightful impulse. Thank You:)
Giving in to the moment – 🙂 a post I relate to entirely!
@Shy: That sure is something to feel good about 🙂
@Apar: 🙂 Am sure MDS offers much more avenues to be impulsive
@IndianHomemaker: Welcome! I hope you did enjoy your walk.
@SmallTalk: One of these days I hope to post on something I actually gave in to and did on the spur of the moment.
Very well written, Laksh, as usual. 🙂 Going by the dancing in the rain logic, I think me and husband are always soaked in rain. hehe Nothing is ever planned on the weekends or weekdays for that matter except the mundane work-chores. Don’t know if we’d ever be able to live a planned out life. Oh btw, i am off to egypt tomorrow!! :)) Can’t wait. Thanks for a great post. 🙂
I did it just that today..well almost.
We have showers of blessings from above, this morning adn warming to +4 deg. I had to go to the bank. it’s across the street from my work and i decided not to take even my coat.
walked( almost danced) to the bak, feeling the rain drops on my skin adn fresh air smeeling heavely.. and humming ‘Unwritten by – Natasha Bedingfield’. here it is for you, Laksh!
happy weeekend!
shy
Hi Laksh
I have done this kind of thing a lot in the past. Your post came right on time.Thanks for the pointer to Saravana Bhavan. I was contemplating on dragging B along to one such place..far from here.
I am fully with you and I try to do it always – impulsive is the way to go.
The handicap here is that I need B to drive..cant imagine doing the long distance driving part, but everything else is there – the josh and the masti of impulsive decisions!
Anamika
I totally relate to it Laksh. Before my son was born, we used to go out just like that, without thinking about anything. But now everything has to be planned in detail and a lot of baggage to carry also.
Very well written Laks. For some reason this post reminded me of this song in the movie Geetanjali..Wish I could also dance in the rain 🙂
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2577554363679430416&q=Jallantha+Kavvintha++video&total=3&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1
Oh yeah!! MAA is definitely a place I can be impulsive…but as I said…older & gettin wiser 😉 so not many impulses…but when they do strike, I don’t let it pass. Guess old habits die hard! What say? 😀 Anyways…does not matter where I am, I have acted on impulses all the time…time I learnt to stop and think! 😀
@Roop: Have a great trip! Look forward to your trip report on your blog 🙂
@Shy: Nice song! really liked it. Thanks!
@Anamika: Hope to see you stop by my place on an impulse one of these days!
@Madhu: LOL 🙂
@Lakshmi: Thanks for the link. The tamil version was Idhayathai thirudadhe and a super duper hit back then.
@Apar: Never thought thinking before acting would be a problem 🙂
@Natasha: Thank you!