MaLe Baruva Haagide

It rained whole night last night…

Today morning, the whole world looks washed and clean
All the tree leaves aren’t brown any more, they are green
It’s still cloudy in the morning and the air is chilly
I wanna stretch my hands out and shout out silly!!!
It's the same road, its the same drive, with polluting autos all around
But still… the air is crisp and the weather is pleasant
And I feel fresh … feel like flying away in the happiness abound

I know I know, it’s not the greatest of poems, but at least I got rhyming words… somewhat!!! :-) But this is how the rains make me feel, everytime. This year, it has taken a longer time for the weather to become all rainy, but yeeeeeaaaaaaa its here now… and I love it.

But why is it that most of us love the monsoon so much, in spite of the fact that it brings harrowing experience for so many, each and every year… I read this article in RD some time back, a foreign tourist who frequents India a lot, found it peculiar that people like the monsoon so much even though normal life gets more or less paralyzed in most places. So she chases the monsoon, from the tip of Kerala where it hits first, till the Juhu beach in Mumbai, talking to people, seeing first hand what changes the monsoon brings in the normal lives… she also asks people, why is it that you like the monsoon. Kerala folks say – it depicts the new beginning, time to get to work for all farmers, because it means another year of good crops… time for grown ups to be kids (Karwar), time to play foot ball in the rain (in Goa). Even in Mumbai, people go to the Juhu beach, to see the clouds form, and catch the first few drizzles.

I guess rains for us, means celebration… how ever small it might be…

So I got thinking, what’s it for me? Why is it that even a small drizzle brings a big smile to my face? May be it is because the rains bring a welcome respite from months of hot sun… May be it’s because of the mild “mannina vasane or mitti ki khushboo” in pouring rains. May be because I get to be like a kid again, getting drenched in rain… May be it's the thought of driving out in a small drizzle, with the wind gently brushing across me. And the fact that I like cold weather more than the warm weather is probably the greatest contributor. What ever be the reason, I love rains.

So no ‘rain rain go away’ here, its only ‘baa maLeye baa’