Thursday, July 23, 2015

rain soaked afternoons

I love the rain when i am indoors. Preferably at home with a pot of coffee and a good book. It is good to keep a notebook and pen close by because the pitter patter outside clears up the thoughts inside. Music is great with the rains. The telephone and tv distract. The only distractions i will allow myself today are rain soaked memories. Of walking home from school because we got half the day off. Taking two hours walking the 20 minute distance. A group of giggling girls and boys chasing earthworms. It was so much fun, watching the rains lashing the shore at bandstand. The bonds formed as we held hands and walked at 10 year olds are precious. The silly nick names and code words At home rainy days meant chai and pakodas. My adorable dadi made sure there were no restrictions for kids too on those days. Begum akhtar in the evenings...”aie barsaat to barsaat ne dil tod diya... I am so grateful for the childhood I had. Megh malhar playing in the rain and my father trying to explain raags. We never heard hindi film music as children...and am so grateful for that today. As we grew up in the Bombay of the 80s rains meant bhutta on bandstand and carter road. T shirts from Fus (i think that is what the brand was called) or imported stuff that one aunty used to sell at her home in linking road. Monsoons were the only time you could let your cottons breathe. College meant bunking classes and driving down to mudh island in the rains. The monsoons look much better at madh and manori! Endless cups of chai at the tapri and one lingering cup of coffee at The Resort. The romance seemed eternal and the friendships life long...well am glad we outgrew some of them Rains make me happy, sad, nostalgic....am i the only one? Of course when you move out of the family home you have to deal with not so romantic parts of the monsoons. Clothes that will not dry, that damp smell, leaking roofs and whether the love of your life will go down and get milk/cigarettes/bread After years of living away from Bombay and seeing just an apology of a shower, it feels good to come back to the real thing And to realise that the tv going off the blink does not bother me...i still just want a day off and a good book...the one i saved up for a rainy day --