Skyfall

No, this post is not about the latest James Bond flick. Truth be told, I have never seen a movie starring Bond, James Bond. And I would be lying if I declared that I am not ashamed of that since I happen to devour all genres of movies as hungrily as I wolf down a delicious chicken steak. Maybe the man is playing hard to get and I need to earn my golden ticket to view his impressive frame on the big screen. Random musings aside, the movie title has inspired me to pen down what I will soon pen down. So it's my way of acknowledging that a larger than life billboard led to my philosophical thoughts.

If you ask me to name the most beautiful thing in the world, I would silently (and dramatically) point to the heavens above. Relax, I am not getting all religious on you, I just want you to take a good, hard look at the sky. The dynamic, temperamental,explosion of colors,picture of serenity - the sky. On a hot and sunny day, the sky is no less in-your-face than a teenager in a yellow jumpsuit who's set to dazzle your senses with her vibrancy (whether you like it or not). On a rainy day, the sky is glum and moody and if you stare at her hard enough, she'll bore a hole in you with her grey scowl and silver lightning. In other words, she'd act like a wife after the husband has really infuriated her. And when the husband has made up for his mistake, she'll adorn herself with an exotic rainbow just to remind him how lucky he really is. On a spring day, the  sky is soft, translucent, giggly, playful and every little thing about the universe amuses her to no end - in other words, she's Aishwarya Rai at a serious press conference. On a late autumn day, the sky is turning off her endless power supply, one switch at a time, to tuck into the shortening winter days and curl up by five pm with her favorite book, while the world slowly gets used to dark, foggy, opaque evenings.

Seasonal changes aside, take a look at the sky on one, single day. Any day of the week. Fresh out of a morning shower, she'll glow like a new bride and by nighttime, she's at her bejeweled best - with a crescent moon tucked into her hair bun and the silver, starry keyring swaying on her slender waist. But without a doubt, the sky is at its most beautiful at dusk, forming the canvas for the setting sun to work its eccentric magic. Strokes of orange, red, grey, pink - every color imaginable is splashed across the evening horizon's shirt. Try this exercise - count the number of colors and the shades of the same color that you see on an evening sky. If you don't run out of fingers and toes quick enough, James Bond will give up martini. And women. And fancy cars. And death/logic defying stunts. Hmm maybe there's a reason why I haven't been able to make myself watch one of his movies yet.

I looked up at the sky yesterday when I was leaving office. She was as exquisite as the pale forehead of my grandmother, an orange bindi dotting the center and grey, wispy. cloudy curls framing it. I felt blessed. And you will too. Just take a good look whenever you can and let your imagination run wild. And maybe then you won't roll your eyes and complain that it's merely been 'yet another ordinary day'.