Monsoon dreaming

The rains in Durham over the past few days have made me crave for the Monsoons, which is strange because I hate rains. I hate what it comes with, atleast in my associations - Traffic Snarls, Power cuts, Gloom..you get the drift. I've never been able to see the rains like most people I know do - liberating, enchanting and hunger inducing.

But weirdly enough, when it started raining incessantly in Durham, in the last few days - it had me craving for that monsoon feeling. I can't define it but its the anticipation of the Monsoons, the effect it has, after a scorching summer. I always looked forward to the first day of the Monsoons. That day in the first week of June, when all of a sudden the earth would smell fantastic, the weather would turn balmy and within moments, the torrent and the awesome force of the Monsoon would pour down.

I don't like rain but I can look at it for hours and catch up with my thoughts. Thats why I like the Monsoons of Mangalore. Its the time to "ponder" during the rains as my grandma put it. She would sit in the courtyard, legs stretched and crossed, keep herself occupied with splitting peas and just watch the rains. Occasionally, she would let slip something like "I once saved a drowning man, when the river flooded."

The Monsoons in the coast are fierce. It would rain continuously for days without respite. The sea would become much fiercer and the people more vary but tranquil. I remember my family was always concerned about losing boats and friends during the season. Since our ancestral house was practically on the beach, my family would get pretty grim fearing the worst. But when it rained, there was nothing one could do but ponder.

Considering how busy I am, I miss that luxury of pondering and just thinking about things instead of being swept away by this tide called B-school, which requires you to act rather than ponder. I miss that.