Saawan mein... Lyricists who write those romantic songs about couples in the rain have never truly encountered the troubles faced during a deluge - similar to the ones faced by Mumbai in July '05 and Chennai and Bangalore in the end of October '05.

Yours truly had the misfortune of being a victim when someone upstairs decided to kick the bucket, not remembering that it was full of water and more importantly - forgetting that drainage in Chennai is close to non-existent. On Thursday, 27th October, the designated day on which my close friend Rajesh B (Bee) had decided to tie the knot with Ranjeetha, the heavens opened up.

The earlier night, my Hyundai decided to give notice of its age and was therefore unavailable on the 27th. I had stayed overnight at my friends place and the journey (!) the next morning to my place was epic. We managed to con a auto-rickshaw wallah who agreed to transport us to my place in Nungamabakkam. Several flooded roads, stalled autos (we even push-started the auto in the rain) and muttered abuses later we managed to traverse the 6 km stretch in close to 1.5 hours. All this while, the rain continued unabated.

Now, the fight had just begun, later, we managed to make it to Bee's wedding hall to find kitchen utensils floating in the basement, which was the lunch area. Thankfully, the wedding hall itself was untouched and after some smart maneuvering the lunch, also, was salvaged on a higher floor. The wedding itself was uneventful. However, in the afternoon, against the good advice of friends I decided to go to office... and returned 30 minutes later drenched to the skin.

Several wet trips to Bee's nearby flat and his, mercifully, dry reception later... I managed to reach home in the night to a warm bed, though sleep itself was scant as I had to drop worried people to the airport through the night.

The next time I hear a romantic, rainy song on TV, I will... change the channel!!!!  ¶ 5:48 PM