Rains

Its summer here in the part of the US where I live. Yet, there have been many evenings and nights when it suddenly starts to rain. And when it rains in summer, the earth gives out a heavenly smell which I simply love. Yesterday was one such night. I was chatting online with my friend (who also lives here) and told her how wonderful the rains felt. And she replied…’Yes, It’s amazing how rains can evoke so many emotions’ …True….I was watching the Hindi movie ‘Kites’ yesterday and in it Hrithik Roshan says…..’Whenever I lose someone close to me, it rains’. I was about to log off from my computer last night when my friend from Kerala, India posted the song from the Hindi movie ‘Jab we met’…'Aaoge jab tum o saajna ,anganaa phool khilenge…..barsegaa saawan jhoom jhoom ke…..do dil aise milenge’ (Translated….When you come, my love, the flowers will bloom in the courtyard…. The rain will come pouring down…. that is how two hearts will meet). She had posted the song because it was raining there in Kerala, India and rains evoked a lot of memories for her. In her own words….'Rain takes someone, gifts someone and leaves a lot of memories’. So here we were, in opposite ends of the world, looking out and enjoying the rains at the very same time. Quite wonderful!

I woke up this morning to an overcast sky and it looks like it may rain again. And somehow, the weather reminded me of the Hindi movie ‘Raincoat’ that I had seen years back……a story about 2 lovers (played by Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai) separated due to circumstances and who meet again years later. She is a depressed and on the brink of poverty married housewife who pretends to be happy and prosperous in front of her ex-boyfriend. He is going through serious financial trouble but in front of her pretends that life is going great for him. They are both still very much in love with each other and during the course of the movie when they discover (without each other’s knowledge) the reality of their lives…they help each other out….again without each other’s knowledge. He keeps money (which he himself had borrowed) under her bed with a letter asking her to use it to pay the rent on her home. She keeps a pair of her gold bangles in his raincoat’s pocket with a letter asking him to sell it off and repay the money he had borrowed. By the time each realize what the other had done, they are already very far from each other again. A superb story of love, emotions, passion and attachment between lovers who continue to love and care for each other with simplicity and purity despite their circumstances and the fact that they can never be part of each other’s lives. ….a story set against the background of ‘Rains’.

For me too, rains evoke memories and emotions. I remember walking to school in the rains wearing my raincoat and rainy boots splashing in the water…feeling so carefree. I remember standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus to go to college in the heavy rains, struggling to hold on to my umbrella so it doesn’t fly away. I remember being in college one day when it rained so much that all modes of transportation were unavailable, deciding to walk home, realizing that having an umbrella was of no use, closing the umbrella and just walking home in the rains. I remember waking up many a rainy mornings in Mumbai and wondering if the trains were running so I could get to work. I remember taking the bus home from work and passing by Marine Drive in Mumbai which is a spectacular sight when it rains. I remember that it rained the day I got married. I remember it rained again the day I left Mumbai to come to the US for the first time. I remember the happiness and squeals of delight when my son experienced his first rains. I remember driving in the rains for the first time. I remember sitting in the porch at the resort in Athirapally in Kerala, India and watching as the rain poured down making the greenery around seem even greener. Yes, rains evoke so many emotions and memories…..and today I have added this blog post to it.

Signing off in a mood for some piping hot ‘chai’ and ‘bhajiyas’ and this quote by Langston Hughes

‘Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.’