When I see the cast monsoon sky, I somehow feel very uplifted. The shimmering rain, the fierce thunder- Nature in its utmost glory and passion; soaking the earth for life to sprout and yet powerful enough to devastate civilizations. I remember coming from office drenched in rain, streets flooded everywhere. My raincoat protected me, but the umbrella flew away in the rain. It reminded me of my college days when we as students survived on frugal amount saved and sent to us by our families. With great saving and effort, I had bought an umbrella for Rs 1500, my prized possession. It had a whistle in it, and a fluffy teddy bear attached to its stick; rather unique, but it was unanimously voted by my friends at the Delhi University as “supremely cute.”It was bluish in color with Winnie the pooh print, all over it. I walked with it like a princess and in the delhi monsoon. My beautiful umbrella added its unique hue to the already colorful rain-drenched street, littered and patched with innumerable colors of rain coat, wind cheaters and umbrellas. It protected and shielded me from wind and rain for three monsoons (my entire graduation years), yet in the fourth monsoon it flew away with the wind. I actually cried for the umbrella! I vividly remember dreaming many days later that I found it and am stuttering on my college garden with it. But dream, they say is dream! Somehow every monsoon reminds me of that lost possession. I also remember a colorful paper boat that I made myself in my craft class when I was in school. And I floated it in the monsoon rain. All of us have some memories attached to the monsoon. And if we reflect back on them we find that those are memories of things of very small material value. Most of us, the Indians, are reminded of the tea and the “pakora” or “bhutta” in rain. Somehow the rain seems to be a great leveler. It drenches and drips everyone, it makes its way across all gaps and fissures. It binds us all to Nature, it shows to us the nature in its most pristine form. Like the much awaited, who is always welcomed , like the old adage which says the best things in life are always free, Indian monsoon comes pouring and crackling every year submerging us in beauty, memories and nostalgia!
