RAINs....

 Rain..  the season of blessings, abundance and cleansing..

It’s the phase of change around us. The hot and dry spell of summer gives way to this cool and green cover. I am always amazed at the various different shades of green that emerges from the foliage around during monsoon season. Yellowish green, light green, whitish green, dark green, bottle green, parrot green.. et al. Some leaves are at their nascent stage and in shades of pink or red too. But each of them out there, ready to express themselves and tell the world their story. Hills, and forests come alive with a combination of green and brown interspersed with droplets of water reflecting the two worlds of growth and stability. There is a vibe of freshness all pervasive.

Springs, streams and rivers all emerge, with their own habitats and associations around them. Like each of us needs a vent out, I think, this is the season where nature vents out. It’s expression in action. Birds mate, breed and nest either just before the rains, or during it. The abundance of food during this period, is probably a practical reason for the timing of these life processes. Croaking of the frogs again for mating, is a perfect natural percussion witnessed during this period. This is a season of sustainability for the rest of the year. With waterfalls coming out of nowhere, ground water getting replenished and now.. dams getting full😊 ..

Today we know ourselves, not through the topography around us, but the city we live in. Each city has a different style of rainfall too. The Mumbai rains, different from the Pune rains, different from the Kokan rains and totally different from the rains in Seattle. And I think there’s the energy of the city and its people, which also contributes to the intensity of the downpour.  

It’s a reflective season, where you can go over all that has happened or is happening within you. Why else would nature have ‘water’ as a mode of expressing this season? The droplets, where you can see yourself and if you miss it….walk to a closest river, where all the droplets come together and form an entity… to see a reflection of yourself!

Rains for me is loaded with comfort and emotions…  

A surprise visit by a friend at my office, leading to my first car drive in the rain… beautiful. An after-dinner walk sharing one umbrella, embracing a lot of emotions … romantic. A silent walk away from home, driving to no-where, tears matching the frequency of rain drops … anger. Seeing my daughter dance to the rhythm of the down pour without any inhibitions… joy. Sipping my chai in the balcony, watching the rain cleanse everything around… peace. Watching the level of constricted river rising due to incessant rains, almost touching the height of our society wall… fear!

This continues to be my most favourite enactment of Mother Nature, completing another year around this earth. I collect seeds through the year and disperse them off back to her during this season.

My little way of saying ‘thank you’…