Unlike friend Anumita, who has made a habit of losing cellphones, my bad habit is losing umbrellas.

I have a very bad relationship with parapluies.

I have simply lost count of the numbers I have lost over the years. They are like the ball pens (where the hell do they go anyway?!).

In the six years I spent in Mumbai, I must have easily lost 3-4 every monsoon. In fact, in my last year in the city, I stubbornly decided not to buy yet another umbrella. So, there I was in the pouring rain, getting drenched to the bone. A small consolation was that when it pours, the umbrella can do precious little to protect. And so, I refused to buy an umbrella.

Even if I did, look at the odds : I’d leave it in the rickshaw, the local train, the office. Hell, I’ve even lost umbrellas which have slipped from my fingers (and I didn’t even notice). How absent minded can one get?

But giving this a little more thought, I have gathered that it’s probably not a case of absent mindedness. It’s a case of some bad karma I have with this very useful but crafty rain shielding device.

I actually love umbrellas. They’re colourful and add a dash of colour in the bleary rain drenched landscape. They come in different shapes and sizes. And different forms. And you can fold them in a dozen different ways. And of course, their usefulness cannot be underestimated.

For example, during a recent trip to Honnemardu, I noticed one of the team members, carrying this huge umbrella. I wondered to myself, “We’re going to get wet in the water anyway, why would we want an umbrella?” But I did realise it’s usefulness much later when we were dying for some dry skin and dry clothes in between the wet spells and Kripa’s nice big umbrella came into really good use. (Kripa, I am taking all my evil thoughts back 🙂

Anyway, I finally relented and got myself a cute red and white striped umbrella the other day in Madikeri while on the way to attend this wedding. Of course, it hasn’t gotten opened yet.

I am now waiting for an auspicious moment that the heavens will open up and I will get a chance to use my cute little red parapluie.

But where the hells are the rains in Bangalore, I say?