Wish it would rain

Wish it would rain, oh, no altruistic reasons there - like it gotta rain if the lakes have to fill up and such, rather just cos I miss a lot of things I associate with the rains.

- The smell of freshly drenched earth,
- The sight of people w/o umbrellas scurrying for cover,
- The interminable traffic jams, frayed nerves, bikes and cars stuck in potholes, everyone agreeing that the BMC, MMRDA, the state and central governments are populated by cheats who should be soundly thrashed,
- Jogging barefoot in the early morning drizzle,
- Sipping hot tea from a roadside vendor while waiting for some form of transportation to reach me home (what with the ubiquitous ricks doing a Houdini act during the rains),
- Trying to find shelter under a tree and exchanging sheepish smiles & inane pleasantries with complete strangers u'll never meet again - u mean u too stepped out w/o an umbrella, yeah didn't look like its gonna rain, the met dept can never be trusted, its global warming i tell u - before walking our separate ways,
- Trying but failing to shake off that weird deja vu feeling of sights and smells all too familiar,
- Kids in uniform dancing with gay abandon in the rain when schools call it a day unable to cope with the rising water,
- Adults looking wistfully at them and wishing they could follow suit but surrendering to decorum,
- Watching kids caked with mud play football - scoring a goal seems a secondary goal, the main aim is to wrestle in the slush for possession of the prized ball,
- Glimpsing a raindrop the size of a pearl nestled in the palm of a leaf,
- The sight of a carpet of red crushed gulmohar flowers,
- Wondering where all the butterflies disappear when it rains,
- Sitting by the window sipping hot filter coffee or rasam with my hand stretched out to catch the wet raindrops before they fall to the ground and merge with the emerging rivulets,
- Travelling from here to Pune just to catch the amazing view from the top,
- The feeling that the trees just got greener and the air cleaner, the dust and fumes beaten down by the pelting rain,
- Watching the angry waves at Marine Drive crash against the rocks, the howling wind threatening to blow you away (and never succeeding :)
- Hopping onto a double decker bus & making a beeline to the top deck - two round trips from VT station to Nariman Point and back just so u can stare at the choppy sea some more,
- Stepping out of home on a Monday morning and finding that the road has disappeared under two feet of water thanks to the torrential rains overnight,
- Explaining to the BT guys that Bombay has not yet gone under as the media keep reiterating, and yes the team is safe,
- Explaining to Mom that the flooded Milan subway is not THE symbol of Bombay, no matter what NDTV and Aaj Tak say, Chandivali is nowhere near Kandivili and yeah her precious daughter is safe,
- An unplanned holiday spent curled up lazily on the sofa planning to read a book or watch a vintage movie and finding its tomorrow already,
- Standing on the terrace in the pouring rain - eyes shut tight trying hard to shut out memories, at the same time savouring them, and finding that the raindrops streaming down your face are suddenly salty,
- Looking at couples sharing an umbrella and much more and wishing things would work out fine for them (presumptuous yeah I know),
- Peering out the bus window into the pitch dark black outside on the way back home and being assailed by the not-so unwelcome feeling that I am all alone in this world.

But what I love most is to just stand facing the sky with my hands spread out and get totally totally drenched in the pouring rain, that minute you are one with the elements, not a care in the world (till u wake up the next morning with every single bone creaking in protest, a burning fever and having to drink an awful looking green concoction, the sight of which makes u feel even more sick :)

As a child, I held this naive belief that rains were meant to cleanse everything it touched, grandma would say - its nature's way of washing away the bad, the belief stayed I think.

I wish it would rain. The world could do with some cleansing.