Perfectly 'Imperfect'...

Yesterday was horrible.
A real dark day with rains like never before. Though I enjoy the lightening nad the thunder, yesterday made me gloomy.
Maybe from the inside.

Oh! I take back my 'horrible' usage for yesterday. I would like to quote it as an "Imperfectly Perfect" day!


After a lazy Sunday morning, I finally pulled myself to feet and went to see my aunt (I really don't know why... maybe because she had called me up and had tempted me about her fantastic pudding!). And hunting her house amongst the concrete jungle in the most crowded and populated areas was a task. And direction-giving is an art. That implies for improper directions as well!
I was given instructions on the telephone as this,
'Come straight upto Deccan, then take the road towards Kothrud, keep going straight untill you come to the third circle. the circle must be big one ok? Ignore the small ones (and how was I supposed to know what is 'small' in her context? As I found every damn circlr at the crossing to be sized nearly equal!) And then take a right...oh no! A left. Yes, indeed a LEFT...'
The circle I calculated to be the third and the bigger one, had no lane going to the left!!! Finally after innumerable phonecalls and asking every pedestrain there, I finally came to the 'circle' which was indeed a fountain with square compond around it. But the next task awaited me!
'Then go straight and leave two lanes to the right. Take the third one. Then you'll see a blue coloured building. That is where I used to live initially(then why the information now??? ).Don't go there(obviously!). Keep going straight. Then you will see a green grocer. On the... ya! Right hand side. Take a turn from there. Then you will see a huge Municipal Building. There are four lanes opposite to it. Take the second...'
Thankfully as per the instructions, I reached till the 'blue' building, which was more of a green. And then, I started to hunt for the green grocer! I was almost 12 noon and raining heavily and I was asking people, "Where is the 'bhajiwala'(grocer) who sits here?"... And the reply that I got shocked me! "He does'nt have  a permanant place. He takes his cart anywhere anytime. Its only in the morning that he stands somewhere near some of the lanes somewhere in this area, as I know of. And there are lots of markets if you wish! See, the opposite road links to the market area itself!" 
OH MY GOD!!! What a direction can that be! 
Then I called my aunt frantically, almost planning to leave the search and go home. Pudding can wait! And she coolly said,"oh! Sad! I thought he will pick our lane today to sell his veges! Anyway, ask for a yellow bunglow. Turn from there." 
A yellow bunglow!!! Is that it???? How on earth am I going to find that???!!!

But fortunately, the place where I had stationed myself was the compound of a 'yellow' bunglow itself. And I decided to try my luck... it worked too! Well, for a short period ofcourse! Then I came to the Municipal Corp. Building, counted for the lanes, and took the second.
"Then, come straight down... and to the left will be written on  a red board,'Doud Regency'. Don't enter there(Then why???). Take the next lane to it. which goes to the right. There will be a white bunglow. That's mine."
...but the lane I entered had no 'down'!! It was a steep uphill kind of thing... But still I kept on going. And I did not see any 'Daud Regency' board...
I was really at the very end of my wits, but decided to give it a shot one last time. Finally I called her up.
" Do you see pink arched there at the start of the lane?"
"No."
"Then you're in the wrong lane!!!... I told you to take the second!"
"that's what I did."
"A second from the right! Third from the left!"
(and now, was she waiting for an angel to tell me this? Or for a dream to come and I to gain insight that she's counting from the right!!!)
There was no use arguing.
I hung up and took the second lane from the RIGHT wuth dingy pink arches.
And after a  frantic search for the 'Doud Regency' Board, found a tiny Wooden piece saying "Cloud Residency". And that was what she meant.

The pudding was not up to the mark as she always makes. That indeed added up to my frustration. I was dripping wet, and was made to sit on a wobbly plastic chair so that I do not wet her newly purshased sofa which adorned her living room, more like a shelf than a seating.
After some brief moments and the fact that her pet was not there(had been sent to har relatives as she hated it), I decided to leave.
My way home was not as frustrating as the later, but the lack of information about the names of the roads and circles put me in a soup.
It was 5pm something when I reached home, hungry to the very core. The 'Path-finding' had not done any good, not even a wholesome breakfast or meal!


I thought, the pains of the day end here, but I was wrong.
In the evening, it stopped raining, and I decided to shop a bit. After visits to some malls and shops, I finally found one which had things of my taste.
After a bit bargaining, little troblemaking to the shopkeepers, I finally selected a set of garments. Enquiring about the guarrantees, warranties, I decided to make a purchase.
I asked the price. And it was a bit more taht what I had with me. So, I asked them to keep the garments on hold and I ran home to pick up my credit card.
I gave my credit card. After swiping, it said " transaction invalid"!!!!!! I asked the cashier to swipe again.Same thing!
I was in a dilemma. I had fallen in love with those garments, which I had bargained for and was getting them at a real cheap price. Then I asked the cashier to give me the reciept and I stepped out of the stop, to make a withdrawal. I hunted for the ATM card in my handbag, and was happy to see it in there. Afterall, luck was finally on my side... But no! And it started raining heavily!
I opened my umbrella... well, I must say, I tried opening it. And when I forced onto it, I just got open metallic skeleton and the torn waterproof cloth hanging below. The umbrella was useless! I decided to get wet anyway, and plodded forth in the search of an ATM!!
It was dark, the street lights and teh vehicle light shimmering through the wild rain, made me disorient at times. Finally, after walking in waterladen jeans for half an hour, I found a ATM. But as I got close to it, I learnt that it was 'closed'. Then I tried the next, which was ten minutes away from the first. It did not detect my card. Then the third. It said" invalid card operation".
I was pissed off! Then as a final try, I tried teh fourth one. It was open, it detected my card, did not say its 'invalid'... Yeppee! I was so close on getting my garments!
But, no.
Badluck strikes again!!!
As soon as I punched the amount to be withdrawn, the ATM screen went blank!
(Maybe seeing the amount! hehe)...
I waited for sometime... But then had to call the person in charge there.
After examination, he said."Sorry maa'm! That's out of order.It crashed down"
Sheeesh! I looked at my watch. The hands showed 10.45pm. And now there was no way that I could get back to the shop before it closed. I was already 10 kilometers away from there. And battling the traffic in just 15minutes was next to impossible.

Sulking, dripping wet from head to toe, tired, with paining limbs, empty vallet, I returned home. Thankfully I had the key and the door opened.
After getting dry, I munched a handful of chips and just fell asleep. Exhaustion was on its hilt.
But still a tiny regret gripped me... I did not get the clothes today! 
Maybe I'll hit the shop again and get them! :p

All in all, the day was hectic, with various shades:
Least precision, dutifullness,reluctance, deliberation, wants and needs...
Ah! too many!
But the imperfect day taught me a great deal of perfect things!