Rain rain don’t go away!

There’s something so satisfyingly special about watching the rain from indoors. Warm, cozy, safe, and with a big mug of steaming filter coffee, while the water drizzles or lashes haphazardly, humoring the wind, loitering around with it, playing with it as it drenches everything in its wake. The scent of the rain hitting the earth, oh! One can practically hear the plants perking up and getting ready for the treat!

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Rain drops are the perfect lullaby!

During my childhood, our house had tall windows with wide ledges where one could place a few cushions, lean back, watch the world go by or get lost in one’s own world with a book. I have sweet memories of yearning to go walk outside in the rain, wearing a raincoat and gumboots.

Oh, how badly I wanted those gum boots! I’d feel envious of all the other kids at school wearing them over their school shoes. I never got a pair… we lived too close to my school to warrant buying them and our family was not into indulging in unnecessary expense. We lived in a large house and our hearts were large, but our savings or income were quite lean. However, we did believe in buying good quality. For example, raincoats, so they would last the longest time. My clothes were always a size too large so they would continue to fit as I grew up.

I had a pink raincoat with a flower print that I still remember clearly. I would be so careful not to get it wet, which, come to think of it is a bit weird eh?

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Rain is good for the soul

When I was in the 7th grade, we moved cities and lived in a charming area where most houses had tiled roofs. The first rain there was so amusing! Various parts of the roof leaked and soon, we had containers of different sizes positioned in the appropriate areas on the floor to catch the water. You’d think we’d have it repaired right away, but since it was a rental, the house owner didn’t consider it very important. He simply smiled and said his own house was in the same condition!

Oddly enough, none of these things bothered us! We were just thrilled to see our little garden patch flourishing, with the creepers climbing over the roof from the backyard, all the way to dangle over the front of the house!

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Rain, rain, don’t go away!

Over the years, I developed a great relationship with rain. There was this Saturday when I was in the 8th grade. School closed at 1 pm and just as we were setting out, the rain gods were out in full force. Visibility was low. I waited till about 3 pm but hunger drove me homeward. It was a 20 minute walk. The idea of splish-splashing my way home was very appealing. I managed to find a large plastic cover in which I packed my school bag. It was one of those thick canvas bags and definitely not waterproof.

I also packed my shoes in the upper layer as I didn’t want those white shoes to become wet and dirty. Which meant I was all set to barefoot it home. That was a walk to remember. The torrential rain brought many critters out of their hiding places and I practically skipped home, just a little scared.

What was funny was the house we lived in at the time. We had moved in a month earlier and when the rains started, found that the house got flooded! Of course we moved pronto! But only after we enjoyed a few rounds of hot savory snacks!

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No rainbow without the rain!

In the late eighties, the “house” Mom and I lived in – really a room next to the garage of a bungalow – was the cheapest place we could find. We thought nothing of the way the ground sloped from the main gate to the entrance of our little room, until the rains started. And when it did, our room had more stagnant water than outside our front door! How did we tackle it? A friend of mine luckily dropped by and we actually built a little bund around the front door with a channel sloping away to another part of the compound. Oh we used mugs to drain the water first. Some of it self-drained via the drain under the sink in the far end of the room. We learned not to keep anything on the floor after that. If we did, it had to have water proof legs or sit on a stand.

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Dancing in the rain

Much, much later in life, I have warm memories of huddling with a friend outside a shuttered shop to stay dry from a sudden summer shower. Running to a shop 2 kilometers away because one of my favorite kids in the block wanted a pillow. Going for a movie with my Mom when there was a storm, because we felt like. Waiting two hours for a friend to turn up. Driving in the rain. Walking on the terrace with my son enjoying the drizzle.

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We have progressed to better apartments – but to this day, if there’s heavy rains, I still run and check all the windows to see if the water is pouring in!

And of course I love to eat ice cream in the rain. And sing.

Do you love the rains?

‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. The prompt is “The dripping roof”’