Welcoming sweet & steady monsoon showers
In between winter and summer, spring and autumn comes the sweet, steady and sneaky shower of monsoon, a cool veil over scorching days, heralding the greatest show of nature on earth.
The cracked earth bereft of any green sucks down the deluge. Mother earth goes berserk. After about of rain, every leaf has a water drop suspended on it about to head for ground. Every flower has a dressing of drops too, every petal is shivering and sparkling as pores smolder through downpour. Seeds scattered or buried like grains of sand or pebbles in the ground suddenly come to life and shoot skywards. Bugs, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers and centipedes emerge in billions, feasting on the fresh salads on display.
As a child I loved to sleep with my window open, raining nights were the best of all. I would open the window, put my head on pillow, close my eyes and feel the cool breeze on my face and listen to trees sway and creak.
Umbrellas, gumboots and raincoats were taken out and worn to keep ourselves and school bags dry. We became hunchbacks, with school satchel strapped to our back and the raincoat falling over it, yet a tiny part always got wet, no matter what armour we had to protect ourselves. The class room smelt of rubber shoes and toe jam. On our way back home, we used to float small paper boats in rainwater stream. Whistling in rain with slush boots was every child’s first crush. Reaching homes, we put on dry clothes, savoured sizzling snacks and sipped tea listening to the pitter-patter of rain falling on windows.
Till today I love rains as heart turns Malabar and the spirit Arabian. Every dark cloud becomes a courier from classical past, filled with nostalgia and makes me laugh. The language of rain babble suggests blissful beauty.
Rain has its music and miracles too, serenading golden bullfrogs in water-filled ditches taking part in a musical orgy. As the rain dances, birds sing too — the gleaming pearly drops giving hope and happiness. Fireflies wink and waft through the trees. Though raindrops are not synchronised, yet music of monsoon is a soothing balm and reason for relief and revelry.
Many monsoons have passed since the poet Kalidasa wrote the verses of Meghdootam. Tansen created the stupendous Raag Malhar. Meerabai is said to have invoked rains by singing various forms of Malhar. Since then music continues to celebrate romance with rain.
Hundreds of songs have been written on rain, replete with the imagery of peacock and ‘papiha’ and young women sending messages to their husbands via dark clouds asking them to return home. Bollywood and ‘baarish’ weave the spell of love and romance in classic ‘Bole re papihara’ from ‘Guddi’ to fun and frolic matching the monsoon moods in ‘Aaj rapat jaye’ in ‘Namak Halaal’. Rain in films and literature has been metaphor for love, lure, liveliness and life.
Rain is a farmer’s friend and brings food to table. One needs to have heart of a farmer to remain grateful for watery days. Every drop of rain that falls imbibes into the bosom of the earth quality of beautiful fertility and bright future .May be raindrops are the bravest things created by God because they are never afraid of falling. They fall gently, shower our spirit and water our soul.
So just walk into the rain, feel its scent, raise your face towards clouds floating in fluffy flotillas, partake gossamer glister soaking the thunder with whispers. Happy monsoon magic!
I LOVE RAINS AS HEART TURNS MALABAR AND THE SPIRIT ARABIAN. EVERY DARK CLOUD BECOMES A COURIER FROM CLASSICAL PAST