Monsoon is Here, I Swear

Last evening, R and I were lounging in the living room when the curtains fluttered like crazy. The koel went almost berserk. The winds whistled; the trees across the street rustled. Could it really be happening? Could it, after weeks of insane April heat, really be raining?

I ran to the balcony. The sight that awaited me made my spirits dance.

The sky was overcast with dark clouds—not the sunny-weather ones, but the black ones that portend rain. Little kids, squealing for all they were worth, were running about in the courtyard. Birds—all but the koel—were returning home for supper. I extended my arms and walked out from under the sun-shade.

It started to rain. A few random drops, steadily growing in urgency, already making the air fragrant, already dissipating the heat. I could sense my woes getting drenched, too scared to resurface. My angst over the impossibly early summer disappeared without protest. The night ahead would be pleasantly cool, I knew, and a gentle breeze would lull us to sleep.

This morning, it is distinctly cooler.

“No, it isn’t,” claimed R.

I showed him three different temperature reports and forced him to agree.

“But monsoon is far, far away,” he persisted. “It is only the beginning of summer. And weren’t you the one frowning about the rains only last year?”

I had to grant him that. In 2018, it had rained and rained in Pune until all my clothes had started to smell up the place. The air would be perpetually dank, unpleasantly damp. Commuting sapped from you the desire to live. Forget pakoras or colourful umbrellas, I had languished over all things morose and melancholic. Dirty windows. Infested food-grains. Mud-splattered windshields.

But that had been another year. Presently, even though the sky is clear and sunny, I sit here conjuring up visions of rainfall. Perhaps, come evening, the rain clouds will come calling again. Once more, the colours will change to indigo and violet, and the heavens will open.

The rain will fall steadily, and my heart will forget everything but the music of the moment.

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I am taking up the April #AtoZChallenge 2019 and will post every day of the month, except Sundays. I look forward to your company!

Click to read my other posts for the A to Z Challenge 2019.

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