Rains-Nostalgic Memories!!!

Today I got to know that Monsoons have knocked the door of Mumbai. It was quite expected because they usually hit Mumbai in the first week of June. At least, my experience of last 3 years, when I was in Mumbai says so!

I love rains and especially the monsoons of Mumbai! They are to die for! Though they are associated with floods and water logging hither thither in Mumbai, Monsoons are still charming there!

I was poring through some old documents of mine and got an article which I wrote when the monsoons knocked the doors of Mumbai last year. I would share that with you all.Here I go-

I was sitting with my friend and roomie, chit-chatting on various issues when I suddenly saw the weather changing outside. Cool breeze started to blow and I got a feel that Monsoons would knock the door of Mumbai today itself. I was right. It started raining just after 5 minutes. The aroma generated from first showers on mud was enchanting and cannot be simply described in words.

Monsoons have been one of my favorite seasons since my childhood days. They still are but sometimes I feel this professional life has snatched away a kid inside me. Because it is been 4 days of continuous rains and I did not get out to take the heavenly showers even once! And when I asked myself why, I could not get any answer. Anyway sometimes some questions have no answers.

As a kid I used to enjoy the rains very much. I still remember my primary school days at Khandwa where we anxiously used to wait for the season’s first rainfall. The importance of rains here is much because this place receives very scanty rainfall. When the first showers of the rain arrived all the kids of the colony used to get out and enjoy the same singing and dancing. Football was our favorite game. And playing football in mud was a heavenly pleasure.

Liking for Monsoons had some other reasons also. Going to school, crossing puddles of water and boasting that how sincere we are that we have come to study in spite of such terrible weather!! Buying raincoats of our liking and comparing it with other friends. We used to say that God has converted everything in to Bournvita by looking at the muddy water.And who can forget the yummy pakodas that my mom used to make!

I enjoyed rains at Khandwa for about 6 years till I was in 6th standard. After that my father got transferred to Mandleshwar and call it a coincidence that we shifted during Monsoons only, 22nd July to be precise. I am still very good at remembering dates!

There was a gloomy feeling that I was leaving all my buddies behind but at the same time I had an excitement of making new friends at a new place. Mandleshwar also had a history of scanty rainfalls. It would rain occasionally and then the rains would take a recluse before coming again. I made many new friends at Mandleshwar and enjoyed the rains in the same passion as I used to at Khandwa.

Unlike Khandwa, Mandleshwar had a lot of open grounds. In the monsoons, the earth seemed to have been covered up with a green carpet. Well the enjoyment of monsoon was a terrific experience here. Playing football getting drenched is one of the feelings that I would always enjoy.

Our school at Mandleshwar was about 5 kms from our colony and there used to be a bridge in between. That bridge used to get full during monsoons and we used to have unofficial OFF. That was so majestic, getting an off from school unexpectedly!

Monsoons have their added advantage. You can doze off cozily under the smugness of the quilt forgetting about the world!

I enjoyed Monsoons at Mandleshwar for about 4 years. After that I moved to Jabalpur for my higher secondary school. Enjoying Rains in Jabalpur was limited as I had no friends of my age group in my colony. It was limited to dancing alone on our terrace in the rains with my cousin brother and sister.

Then came the college, at Indore. We were free birds now. Enjoying rains when in college is the most memorable. In college I used to share a room with my buddy and we had a great camaraderie between us. We had almost similar likings. Moreover both of us liked rains, was the biggest advantage. We used to roam around the city on my bike admiring nature and of course, beautiful girls! At college also we had a group and used to mass bunk the college to enjoy the rains. Enjoying in a group is always a pleasure. Stopping at a tapri to have “bhutta” along with cutting tea was the most enjoyable moment of riding on bike!

In college as they say you are the king. So whenever it used to rain we used to take our wished leave and enjoy getting wet. After that we used to try our hands in cooking pakodas, testing our culinary skills. Can I forget listening to oldie songs like “Barsaat me tumse mile hum” or “Zindgi bhar na bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat”

After college I had tryst with the monsoons at Pollachi. Pollachi, the Paris of Tamilnadu as it is called is the city where I got my initial and foundation training after getting selected as a Software Engineer in Hexaware Technologies. Pollachi has given me so many wonderful memories that will remain etched in my memory forever. They cannot be erased even if I get Alzheimer’s disease!Here it did not rain much but occasionally showers pouring in unexpectedly .It seemed like God wanted us to enjoy the heavenly nectar even if we were trying to avoid.

When I joined in Mumbai, in August, I was very excited to have the taste of Monsoon there, though the peak of the monsoons had gone by. However I have been lucky enough to enjoy it for three years now! Getting drenched at Marine Drive, witnessing the high rising waves of the sea is perhaps the most beautiful thing one can do in Mumbai Monsoons.

Those were some moments, if given a choice I would love to relive again.

These are only few of the million happy moments that I have penned down. I cannot write down completely in words the how I have grown up enjoying rains! :-)

Rain Rain come again!!!

God Bless!

Cheers!

Adi