The Tsunami and Neo

Not many people can say that they have come face to face with a tsunami and live to tell the tale. However, I am one of them. Yes, it’s true. I have gone through a tsunami and believe you me it was one of those moments in my life that I will never forget. The tsunami that I had faced was the one that took place in Mumbai in the year 2007. Don’t get confused my intellectual friend. The tsunami did take place. However, the only reason most people do not know about it is because of the lack of media coverage. That’s where I come in. For me every story, be it big or small, is news worthy! While there were no casualties recorded, there was one person who was badly injured out of embarrassment. Her name: Priyanka Joshi.THE DAY I MET THE BOMBAY….NO….MUMBAI TSUNAMI It was a beautiful day. It had just stopped raining and my college had just gotten over. ‘Adios dear educational monument of doom! I shall meet you tomorrow to kill some more brain cells!’I look at the bus stop. ‘Sigh ... buck up Priyanka. This is your only choice for the next 2 years.’ I cross the road while at the same time avoid the bullet like pan spit coming out of the auto walla’s mouth. Damn it! A little bit of it has fallen on my leg. I engrave the rickshaw’s number in my head. ‘We shall meet again my friend… we shall meet again!’I reach the stop and take out the only source that brought me salvation, my iPod. I close my eyes and try to avoid looking at the two dogs humping each other, the couple who will be doing the same at night, the beggars who are pointing at me and laughing and the toothpick shaped illiterate women who are doing the same. I open my eyes and suddenly notice a huge puddle right next to me. Hmmm… I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before. Puch… three men simultaneously spit in the puddle. I look at the white, bubbly, foamy specs of spit swirling around the puddle. The shapes are almost psychedelic. I fall into a trance. After what seemed like hours of daydreaming, I come back to earth and suddenly realize that a bus is approaching me…. fast. However, the trance had stopped my ability to think. I could not contemplate what would happen next. The bus screeched to a halt but not before it passed over the puddle. Suddenly time started moving like a hot summer day, painfully slow. The puddle transformed into a tidal wave and started approaching me. I could see everything in slow motion. I had entered the matrix. The tsunami was coming down on me. I could see the spit, the animal urine, the insects and the dirt mixed in the wave. How I wished I could be Neo for that moment so that I could fly away.However, unlike Neo I was not the One. The tsunami hit me hard. I was drenched from top to bottom. I could feel the mud on my head, the spit sliding off my ear lobes and the immense heat of embarrassment seeping out of my cheeks.I slap myself. It’s not a dream. I open my eyes. The two dogs mid hump were staring at me, the couple mid kiss was staring at me, the beggars mid laugh were staring at me and the toothpicks mid vomiting their food were staring at me. What do I do?! What do I do?! I look at the sky. Maybe just maybe Neo might fly down and take me away. The sunlight suddenly hit my eyes I look away and I get the message. The message sent by Neo. The message was that ‘Priyanka I’m sorry I can’t be here to save you but I have sent something that looks like me.’The ‘something’ was right there in front of me. An auto rickshaw. It was black like Neo’s clothes. It had a driver wearing black shades, like Neo. It had a green MATRIX (sim card) sticker on the glass. ‘Neo! You love me! You really love me!’Without a second thought, I jumped into the Neo/Auto and sped my way home. With a single tear in my eye and a little wad of spit on my ear lobe I reach home with my faith in love and Neo reconciled.