Blame it on the Weatherman !

Do you know the first question that anyone asks when you suggest
- a weekend trip ?
- having a barbeque outdoors ?
- going out for a run or a game of table tennis ?

or to make it simpler do you know the first question that I get when I call home or one of my colleagues in another office - what is the WEATHER like ?

I am always shocked at how big a role weather plays in running my life....!! When I was back home, in South India, weather was a non-entity. At best or rather at worst, it would rain and getting wet in the rain was one of the fun things to do and so no one worried about it. I still vividly remember how all of us waddled through knee-deep water with our raincoats to reach ‘Devi-paradise’ to see ‘Vaijainthi IPS’ - this was 15 years ago. It was one of the most heavy downpours South India had ever seen and even that did not make us alter our plans…..when you come from such a city and suddenly start living in a city where even going out for a walk is done only after querying weather.com, it is only a little short of bewildering !

Along the same lines, I used to think that talking about the weather is probably the worst form of small talk there is but now I do it everyday.

Weather deciding your routine is directly proportional to how much it fluctuates. In my home town, temperatures are always between 25 and 38 deg C with maybe a couple of exceptionally ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ days. But when the weather fluctuates between -20 and +40 deg C, you know you are doomed to check weather.com as often as you check emails. If you don’t, one or more of the following will happen (or has already happened to you)
- you are wearing a turtle-neck pullover and sweating like crazy (this is fun especially if you happen to be at work)
- you are wearing sandals and walking in the snow (times when you think about the laws of physics !)
- Inspite of your fighting spirit, you just lost your very-recently-purchased umbrella to the wind (and not to mention the torrential downpour that follows – Murphy’s Law!)

I actually really admire moms (or dads), who take their kids out to the park or for a walk, with their rucksacks packed with everything needed for any kind of weather, sometimes in addition to the swim or ski equipment they carry !! I try to follow this too….it should be pretty clear what happens since I said ‘try’

When you travel a lot, chances are you should be prepared not only to combat a jet-lag but also a ‘weather-lag’!

……and inspite of all this how can one not enjoy the the first snow, the fall colors, the spring blooms and if enjoying all this beauty means dealing with layers of clothing and other man-made contraptions to fight the weather, then so be it ! And there is this sense of accomplishment when you go running inspite of the rain, come home drenched and look outside thinking ‘if that was a fight between me and the weather, I won :D’