There’s something magical about Indian monsoons that make me happy. I love the way everything around you changes after rains. Different hues of green (color of prosperity) soothe your eyes drawing you at peace. First rains are like God’s way of cleaning up the mess that His summers have created. The beautiful fragrance of hot, wet soil beats the best perfume by the Diors and Chanels of the world. It seems like a mother’s consolation after scolding (the summers I mean) her child. Mother nature does take care of us even though we fail miserably to reciprocate.
The romantic in me wishes to drift away on a long drive to some beautiful, scenic, and quiet place along with my wife. I think bike rides are better than cars as you can feel the rains embrace you as you move on. It’s that feeling of surrendering to nature that one might experience during a free fall from a flight (Ok..it might not be that exhilarating though). The cold from the rains is balanced evenly by the person behind your bike (depends on individual preferences…:P ). Hill stations, beaches any location is awesome enough to go and relax during monsoons. The fog settling down on the mountains, the mist lowering down on the sea makes me miss my ability to write beautiful, romantic poems (I write all sad ones..:-( )
The foodie in me craves for hot wada-pav ( Indian for burger, only far better), bhajis (not aware if anything similar is known world-wide), and steaming hot tea!! The idea of stopping by the road, having hot corn cobs (with extra masala..:-) ), trying to wade away the drops to keep your cob tasty, makes me hungry. Or just sit back at home, in your balcony watching the rains with a hot cup of coffee/tea or even better, my all-time favorite “boost”….:)… Hot vadas, bhajis etc prepeared instantly during such time taste the best (even if you manage to cook them without electricity – that’s a common thing across India; electricity goes off if it rains heavily)!
The child in me feels like going out in the lashing rains and play in the puddles on the road, splash water at people passing by, or simply jumping in and out of them. If you have someone with you, it gets even better, splash water on each other (yeah, I’ve been quite competitive since childhood.. :P ). As a child, I, along with my friends, used to play in a nearby stream during monsoons. We used to have our boats, which used to be simple leaves, and follow them through all way along the stream to the point where we had made our “port”. Oh…I miss those days so much…given an option I wouldn’t mind doing that today as well.
The professional in me, on the contrary, feels like it’s time to relax (even if I feel very fresh), sit back and work from home ….let the world move at its own pace…it’s the best to move at a pace that’s going on around you…its cold, dark, and lazy outside…doesn’t matter even if you feel fresh. Wonder how it would be now to go back to bed with my cozy blanket and read a nice novel!!!
The cynic in me plays low during monsoons. But yes, there is mud all around, you can’t walk peacefully on the road, you have to watch others more than you concentrate on your driving and blah blah…Just a matter of few days..after that its gonna be dry again for most part of the year…it’s just fine . You get wet on your way to the office (that’s exactly when it will rain – on your way to the office and back home), need to carry extra set of clothes along with your heavy laptop bags, extra pair of footwear etc…but then you stay fresh all day long! Infections, diseases, epidemics are on their all time high; no issues, as far as you keep your surroundings (and yourself) clean. Just adopt a few precautionary measures and you are all set to enjoy the beauty of Indian monsoons!
The romantic in me wishes to drift away on a long drive to some beautiful, scenic, and quiet place along with my wife. I think bike rides are better than cars as you can feel the rains embrace you as you move on. It’s that feeling of surrendering to nature that one might experience during a free fall from a flight (Ok..it might not be that exhilarating though). The cold from the rains is balanced evenly by the person behind your bike (depends on individual preferences…:P ). Hill stations, beaches any location is awesome enough to go and relax during monsoons. The fog settling down on the mountains, the mist lowering down on the sea makes me miss my ability to write beautiful, romantic poems (I write all sad ones..:-( )
The foodie in me craves for hot wada-pav ( Indian for burger, only far better), bhajis (not aware if anything similar is known world-wide), and steaming hot tea!! The idea of stopping by the road, having hot corn cobs (with extra masala..:-) ), trying to wade away the drops to keep your cob tasty, makes me hungry. Or just sit back at home, in your balcony watching the rains with a hot cup of coffee/tea or even better, my all-time favorite “boost”….:)… Hot vadas, bhajis etc prepeared instantly during such time taste the best (even if you manage to cook them without electricity – that’s a common thing across India; electricity goes off if it rains heavily)!
The child in me feels like going out in the lashing rains and play in the puddles on the road, splash water at people passing by, or simply jumping in and out of them. If you have someone with you, it gets even better, splash water on each other (yeah, I’ve been quite competitive since childhood.. :P ). As a child, I, along with my friends, used to play in a nearby stream during monsoons. We used to have our boats, which used to be simple leaves, and follow them through all way along the stream to the point where we had made our “port”. Oh…I miss those days so much…given an option I wouldn’t mind doing that today as well.
The professional in me, on the contrary, feels like it’s time to relax (even if I feel very fresh), sit back and work from home ….let the world move at its own pace…it’s the best to move at a pace that’s going on around you…its cold, dark, and lazy outside…doesn’t matter even if you feel fresh. Wonder how it would be now to go back to bed with my cozy blanket and read a nice novel!!!
The cynic in me plays low during monsoons. But yes, there is mud all around, you can’t walk peacefully on the road, you have to watch others more than you concentrate on your driving and blah blah…Just a matter of few days..after that its gonna be dry again for most part of the year…it’s just fine . You get wet on your way to the office (that’s exactly when it will rain – on your way to the office and back home), need to carry extra set of clothes along with your heavy laptop bags, extra pair of footwear etc…but then you stay fresh all day long! Infections, diseases, epidemics are on their all time high; no issues, as far as you keep your surroundings (and yourself) clean. Just adopt a few precautionary measures and you are all set to enjoy the beauty of Indian monsoons!
Man! I loved it. I feel similar ways, bike rides in rain, boats, coffee, all of those.
ReplyDeleteAwesome piece dude. This is as good as a romantic poem. :)
hahahha...thanks sowmya..atlast i could write something romantic....;-)
ReplyDeleteinteresting the way you describe how many inner lives we lead in one lifetime.
ReplyDelete@Anand
ReplyDeleteThank you :)