There is something wonderful about rain - the way it cools down not only the parched earth, but also frayed tempers.
Specially for city dwellers like me, it is closest you come to Nature in all her splendor. You tend to forget during the long dry spells that you are still a product of Nature and She does indeed dictate life on earth. You are happy travelling in air-conditioned cars & buses, going to air-conditions shops & malls, offices and increasingly these days - homes. So much so that even the heat of Chennai becomes bearable and you push Nature further back in to some inaccessible recess of your consciousness.
It takes a good lashing of rain to remind you of Her. It is only when you first smell the sweat scent and then hear the rain descending from the heavy clouds, drowning out your usual city noises, that you really pause and look out the window. You see for the first time the beauty of the trees outside, how they enjoy being washed of all the dust, how truly lush green they are.
Rain does something else to you also - it tends to bring out the humane side in you - you are more likely to break into a smile at a passer-by - both of you know that you are making the same futile effort to protect yourself against the rain. Strangers at shelter-less bus stops come together under an umbrella, all the class and caste divides being washed away in the torrent.
You see children stubbornly ignoring their mothers' desperate pleas to not play in the rain, dogs with drenched coats are allowed to stand in under canopies they would not dare to venture into otherwise, pot holes become puddles for children and adults alike to splash through, hot bajjis and pkoras become far tastier, television becomes tasteless compared to the rumbling sound and light show nature has put on, making way for sessions of teasing the young fellow who gets scared at thunder and stories about how roads had become rivers and that your dad got home from office one night long ago was a minor miracle.
Of course, it is a priceless sight when you wake up after a night of rain and sense the strange peace around you in the raindrops glistening on leaf tips, streets that look cleaner than ever and air that feels fresher than ever.
Rain truly is a shower of blessing straight from the heavens.
Specially for city dwellers like me, it is closest you come to Nature in all her splendor. You tend to forget during the long dry spells that you are still a product of Nature and She does indeed dictate life on earth. You are happy travelling in air-conditioned cars & buses, going to air-conditions shops & malls, offices and increasingly these days - homes. So much so that even the heat of Chennai becomes bearable and you push Nature further back in to some inaccessible recess of your consciousness.
It takes a good lashing of rain to remind you of Her. It is only when you first smell the sweat scent and then hear the rain descending from the heavy clouds, drowning out your usual city noises, that you really pause and look out the window. You see for the first time the beauty of the trees outside, how they enjoy being washed of all the dust, how truly lush green they are.
Rain does something else to you also - it tends to bring out the humane side in you - you are more likely to break into a smile at a passer-by - both of you know that you are making the same futile effort to protect yourself against the rain. Strangers at shelter-less bus stops come together under an umbrella, all the class and caste divides being washed away in the torrent.
You see children stubbornly ignoring their mothers' desperate pleas to not play in the rain, dogs with drenched coats are allowed to stand in under canopies they would not dare to venture into otherwise, pot holes become puddles for children and adults alike to splash through, hot bajjis and pkoras become far tastier, television becomes tasteless compared to the rumbling sound and light show nature has put on, making way for sessions of teasing the young fellow who gets scared at thunder and stories about how roads had become rivers and that your dad got home from office one night long ago was a minor miracle.
Of course, it is a priceless sight when you wake up after a night of rain and sense the strange peace around you in the raindrops glistening on leaf tips, streets that look cleaner than ever and air that feels fresher than ever.
Rain truly is a shower of blessing straight from the heavens.
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