Rain cleared all the dust and more clear than ever i see a new world
There are very few locations in the world that can claim to have a season for rainfall. India has a monsoon season of its own. Four months of incessant, unscheduled or even scarce rain over diverse lands. It has been touching the lives of people in different ways. Some experiences maybe sad, humorous or even ironic to begin with. For instance the floods in Mumbai in 2005 that cut off the whole city from rest of the world for hours. The destruction and impact on lives of commuters and residents of the city was strong enough to leave long-lasting scars and loss of life and money. There are good things out of the bad events and many people came out to help each other. The survival stories are definitely soul-stirring.
Where do I take you with all this information? Well I have some incident of my own that is related to this season of the rainfall. As a child I loved the rains, even now it amazes me in ways I cannot describe. The incessant downpour from the heavens above can be related to childish pranks, getting soaked in the waters, leaking ceilings and getting in touch with mother nature. I loved to make paper boats as a kid and enjoy the rains. Mumbai rainfall meant no train services, overflowing drainage and clogged water everywhere and definitely holiday in school. On one unfortunate night a loud thud woke my parents and we found out the compound wall separating a large ground from our residence had fallen down due to the water pressure on other side. It was fun for us kids. We used to climb the wall to go on the other side for plucking wildflowers and treasure hunts. Now we just walked to the other side.
As a family of four we always played in the rains. I remember dad asking with a naughty smile, want to get wet in the rain? We never said no to that, especially if it meant hot masala chai and some spicy snacks made by mom and no studying for a while. It is a beautiful memory etched in my mind. I just didn’t like the dark skies which was dull when I was sitting by myself and observing the rains, when in company of others the outside weather didn’t bother me so much.
Floods most certainly had me in a home bound situation when I was living in hostel. The phones were dead and no mess food for days only got me irritated. I had walked for hours in knee-deep waters to reach a bus stop that finally took me to the outskirts of my town. That was one long day.
The irony of monsoon struck me when I went to live with my sister. I wanted us to bond after we were forced to stay away for school and other reasons. We rented a 1 bedroom apartment which was advertised in the news paper. India is well-known for corruption and trickery. We didn’t suspect anything as the good in us makes us believe all are good too. All excited we moved our luggage and even went out shopping for some basic household items. I was way to happy to finally connect with my sister and make up for the childhood fights to notice anything out-of-place.
We slept there for one night and all was good until the next day. Dark skies surrounded the city and we were enjoying the rain as our family ritual. However it was different this time. The soaking didn’t stop at the terrace. Water kept dripping off the ceiling and the walls from various places all night. We were not worried initially, but after morning investigation of the house we found the whole apartment was soaking up water like a sponge. Immediately we tried to contact the person who rented us the place.
It was weird how he ignored our concern and simply said he will get it fixed after some time. We were worried, as the place cost a lot of money and this inconvenience was just not tolerable. Asking the neighbors we found out about the owner of the place. How people can trick you is just unimaginable. A guy rented the house from someone else and then re-rented us without permission. He already knew it was not good enough to live in. All the suspicions came true when we went to talk to the owners.
They simply mocked us and pulled their hands off the deal. Said they didn’t know anything about the re-renting and we have to talk to the person we dealt with. After two sleepless nights, luckily my dear school friend came to our rescue and let us live in her home. A sad sight it was when at 12:00 am we were moving all the bags to her place. Of all the lessons I have learnt till date this was God’s strictest way to teach me how trusting others can have a price.
After few phone calls and help from my paternal uncle who was in the police department we finally got our money back. With some search for next few days we moved to another place. This time we did full inquiry and then moved in. Sadly me and my sister kept fighting and till date do grill each other, I wonder when the lesson in sibling bonding will be enlightened upon my ignorant spirit. However I am more careful with people now and keep clear of any sites that appear fishy.
Lightening and thunder does not frighten me nor do I hate getting soaked, there is not much about the rain that you want to hate. Only an attachable umbrella with belt can be preferred to the hand-held ones we use right now, rain coats are not suited to my taste for sure.
Waiting for the pitter-patter and water drops trickling through my window soon for more revelations to open my eyes.
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