The temptation to finish the book she was reading kept her up till 4 am. Sadly, she had to wake up at 7 am the next day to attend an important meeting. Sleep deprivation and lack of caffeine had her in one of her worst moods that morning. The sun that shone brightly did nothing to improve things. To add to it all, she managed to miss the bus which was infamous for its frequency - one bus every 45 minutes. Cursing her luck, she started on her half an hour walk to the meeting venue. She didn't have a good feeling about the meeting to come... it took too much to brighten a day that began bad.

Sweat dripping, eyes drooping, hungry and fatigued, she walked alone on the unknown road.. unsure of the venue. Though there were signboards everywhere, she felt lost like never before. The sudden pang of missing home hit her after a very long time. She yearned for some familiar roads, familiar sights... familiar sounds....

Still unsure if she was taking the right road, she turned right and started looking for a specific lanes. Looking at the tall buildings that lined the road and defined the skyline, she wondered how she could hate them, when she had just cursed the uncivilized "retreat" for its lack of buildings, traffic and people, less than a month back. With every step she took, her mood soured and she wished she could be home, just for some sense of familiarity.

Lost in her deep sense of self pity, she didn't notice the music from the player in one the houses on the street. She suddenly snapped back to senses when she realised that it was a familiar tune... a tune she had grown up with.. MS Subbulakshmi's divine voice sang ..
"Shree Vaisham pãyana uvacha:
Shruthvã dharmãna séshéna pãvananicha sarvashaha
Yudhishtara shanthanavam punarévãbya bashatha.."


She stopped walking and closed her eyes for a minute, letting the familiar words,tune and voice reach her. Reach, they did. She walked away admiring the tall buildings...she walked with a smile on her face .. wherever you go, there is already a part of India there.

It didn't take so much to brighten a dull day after all...!