Summer is ending

Summer is ending 

 As the rest of the country continues to reel under the heatwave, Mumbai city prepares to transition from summer to its most precious season of the monsoon. 

 Dark clouds pass through the sky, providing a shield against sunlight. This makes my morning walks more pleasurable. Air continues to be cleaner in Mumbai with the sea breeze moving away dust and grime. 

 Among all the seasons of Mumbai, I like rains. They wash away our sins; present us sparkling green of treetops of St Anne’s church, and give new life to the ocean that lay placid during summer. 

 The end of summer brings down my restlessness too. The expected arrival of rains puts me at ease as I await my 70th birthday in a few days from now. Where does one go past 70? Nowhere but go on living, I would say. Isn't that the purpose of life? To go on living and living well? That is what I plan to do. 

 Maybe I would stop perfecting my life. Essayist Charles Chu wrote that all of us should move away from the concept that we can create a perfect life. Let us not get so busy planning a perfect life that we forget to live up to what we have. 

Recognition long dormant in my mind is out in open. This is that life I can not control life. Life is always more out of my control than I would like to be, as Charles Chu explained in his Essay I read. 

 I want to remember that happiness is predicated on being aware that I am happy. 

 I am thinking of travel plans for the rest of 2021. This gives me a big kick. I enjoy travel planning more than actual travel. 

 I do not know why I am keen to do more travel. I traveled 20 days a month for 40 years, some really hazardous ones. I shudder to recall a night spent in Kota, Rajasthan police station lock-up when police took me as a Punjab terrorist because of my bearded look. 

 A car journey from Dhanbad to Gomia in Bihar scared me to death when a band of dacoits stopped us only to be released when I told them I worked for a government company. 

 All the midnight taxi rides in Khartoum, Caracas, and Bogota were thrilling but crazy adventures. I am glad I have survived to tell these tales. 

 As for now, I am looking at a huge invasion of black clouds from my widow and busy looking for an option for my birthday lunch with my wife, my brother, and his wife. 

 Vista at Taj Land's End appears to be as good as any.

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