Yeti Quest

I haven’t really had much to rant about in the past few weeks, which is strange. It’s almost creepy. It’s as if I’ve lost my superpower. It’s like superman without his red underwear. Creepy, innit? Another creepy thing about the last week is the sudden profusion of mosquitoes that have quietly infested our hostel-rooms. I think it’s somehow related to the sudden onset of the retreating monsoons here in Vellore. It’s creepy how the retreating monsoons in this part of the country happen to coincide with the (proper?) monsoons back in Calcutta. Hell, I don’t even know if these are the retreating monsoons, but the banal response you can draw out of anyone willing to listen to your question, “ Rain? In Vellore? How is that possible?” is “Hmm..Retreating monsoons.”

The inexplicable glee I used to suddenly experience when a bright, sunny day turned into a violent, pummeling storm, the first rains of the Kalbaisakhi, has surreptitiously been replaced an inexplicable glum, sodden longing over the past year and a half. I know it’s crazy but I’ve always held steadfast to the theory that there are little elves inhabiting the pits of our stomachs that control our daily moods. Why else would one suddenly become aware of a bursting bladder, or feel the urge to lay a solid punch on the face of he next person who goes “Hmm…Retreating monsoons.”? It’s creepy. I wonder if I’ve reached a point in my life when everything around me creeps me out. Yesterday, it occurred to me that there must be at least a hundred mosquitoes buzzing around in my room. Seriously, I open the cupboard, and five mosquitoes fly out lazily, I look under the desk, another ten buzz right in my face, a polite suggestion to get the fuck out and leave them alone. I open my water bottle and one mosquito, particularly unsteady on its wings, flies out with the kind of phlegmatic demeanor my grandfather usually adopts while making his way to the bathroom in the morning .Actually it’s not that surprising as I had only recently emptied the vodka from that bottle. But I swatted it dead anyway. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a mosquito with a hangover!

I find it creepy when a bunch of 20 year old guys find it apt to have a booze-bash while playing Shania Twain and Linkin Park in tandem. I find it creepy that I had the mental ineptitude to name my blog ‘etherealsouls’. I find it creepy that I like ‘thelimeandthecoconut’ better than ‘etherealsouls’ at the moment. I find it creepy that I find saying creepy so many times very liberating. I shall now abscond to the Himalayas to lead a life of peaceful solitude and tame the Yeti. Strangely, I don’t find it creepy.