Thursday, June 2, 2011

The Divine Rain

If you have read some of my earlier posts from the past years you will know how much I love rain. Rains officially marked their grand arrival in Mumbai today on June 02,2011. It was around seven in the evening when the sky resembled a golden tapestry due to the setting sun and the rain clouds gliding over the Plateau. We humans try so hard to replicate such conditions inside simulated computer environments or on canvas but the canvas of nature always has a way to humble us with its timeless and unmatched beauty.

While some may find prolonged rains as troublesome due to the traffic snarls they cause or perhaps due to mud puddles, I have always found them as a blessing. The rains are the nature’s way of relief for the scorched and thirsty Earth. India usually has a very hot summer and there are even water shortages in some places. The arrival of rains or the monsoon is thus similar to the arrival of an epic hero. It heals the miseries, takes away sadness and gives people new hope.

Rain reduces temperatures and well to put it straight it is really cool.
The first rain is always special to me since the scent of the freshly wet soil after the first rain is beautiful. And this fragrance is only created by natural rain water and soil. It cannot be created by throwing water over dry soil.

As I was saying before, the clouds were in motion, the sky golden and suddenly the wind became cool. After years of living in India and facing her Monsoons I could tell without a doubt that it is going to rain and quite heavily too. India may not have fancy infrastructure or may look bad in Western mainstream media but I love India just the same. There are several things like this which can only be experienced in India. This event is like a Divine touch of Heaven. A true glimpse and experience of what heaven could be, even if it is very brief.

Eagles and Kites were circling the sky which is yet another age old sign of coming rain. And true to the signs rain came in with a grand roll of beautiful Thunder. As I write this post – It is raining heavily outside. The first rain, I can feel the calm breeze coming in from the window bringing it with the priceless gift which is the scent of the rain wet soil.