Sunday, February 11, 2018

Rains and Mumbai

It was during the summer of 2014,
When I first came to Mumbai during the rainy season anxious about what I had never foreseen,
Things have changed with time and seasons, but what still remains outstanding and unique here is the rainy season,

The first one then frankly gave me lot of worry and goose-bumps even before it started,
As an intern, I would always wished that the mornings be clear and sunny,
Or else puddles, flooded roads and windy rains on way to office, would make me end up looking too funny,
I was let off easily that time,
It was just a one month stint and may be they wanted me to back, thinking, my boy you are yet to see and experience it real-time;

And soon came the next time,
I was happily and excitedly back next year, without knowing what plan they had in mind,
I used to tread my difficult journey of the first job, by foot, in bus, by train, by foot and back, daily thinking nothing is really happening and thank God everyone is being kind,
Or was that the silence before the storm,
Just to make me feel little comfortable and warm,
And then one day on a greyish-dark morning of June,

It was time for some execution and fun, as the rains came out of their cocoon,
It rained and rained and so rained as if the meeting of the city and the rains was long pending like a soldier’s homecoming with people waiting all around on the way,
I watched, witnessed and heard the drama unfold and the roaring of the skies the entire day,
Felt surprised, confused and uncomfortable just like as you do when in childhood your class teacher made you sit between two girls on a bench of three,

Thinking that will open up for the shy boy in class a talkative-conversation’s spree,
The day was quite thrilling which included somehow making to office and then walking back through the puddles and the roads transformed in ponds,
Amidst all this, seeing people help each other selflessly was something very rare and was a never seen and heard before song,
As we relaxed on the fact that it got over,

Next year it was back like a land-rover,
We have had two so I felt this time we’ll be better off handling it, but it rained as if the clouds were trying to make up for the drought hit areas of the country,
On one such unfortunate day I got drenched, drenched to the extent that for the next two weeks I was terribly sick, mind and body was too sultry,

I started waking up every morning with the eternal desperation that the rainy season goes away soon,

Up came this year, as the rains are once again back with a zoom,
The relationship this time is surprisingly cordial; the rains have become more of a pleasure,
Everytime it rains, they give you leisure,
The thunder and roaring of the clouds is no more intimidating,

It is a welcoming change from the gloomy office and home surroundings,
And after that as it starts raining, the collective sound of the drops and their co-incidental gentle tap on the palms, feels like a much awaited healing touch,

I have been wondering for long now, what has really changed this time which has made these rains my car’s clutch,
As I look back, ponder and realize that since then till now, so many things have changed,
But what didn’t change are the rains in Mumbai,
The rains in Mumbai initially was a fearsome glitch,
And now they make you feel complete with their own style, drama and variation everytime,
With winds their partners in crime,
And you always want to remain with them properly hitched as often they act like a difficult-to handle-but-innocent-kid,

So despite of everything and all ups and downs, with people, friends, college and organizations,
The only one thing which remained as a constant companion and soul-comforter for these years are the rains in Mumbai and the accompanying stereo-nation,
Finally, I get my long pending answer, to feel all the more warm and comfortable,
In the now not-a-sinking-ship anymore but what I call as my cradle-of-rains-in-Mumbai as a permanent part of my workstation.

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