Boy in Rain with plastic cover
(Note: Image does not illustrate or has any resemblance with characters depicted in the story)
Photo credit: jade from morguefile.com
“Nay, I know Sir John will go, though he was sure it would rain Cats and Dogs.”
-. Yes off late it has been raining ‘cats and dogs’, and the above dialogue from the satirical poem, “A Description of a City Shower” by Jonathan Swift is very much apt for the ongoing Monsoon Season.
There were times, when the rains were synonymous with productivity and fertility, but now, especially in the ever-rising and so called developing cities, it has just brought the poor sanitary conditions and shortage of basic amenities for the city-dwellers, to spot-light.
When it rains, it pours along with it the filth and debris, the hurricane of diseases.
There were times, when special prayers were made to entice the Rain-Gods for a generous bounty of rain , to overcome the long doom of droughts.
Rains were considered as a rebirth , for many beings, a cleansing agent which removed all the dust and impurities piled-up for months. Like the short story “Rain” by W.Somerset Maugham, where rain acts as a cleansing agent – that purifies the atmosphere after some mishap.
This water of life, also acted as an outlet to the human emotions, a renewal of energy, to look forward to sowing, harvesting and looking forward for a satisfactory life.
Rains of childhood are still resplendent with nostalgia, in my mind and heart. As kids running out, under the open skies, away from restrictions, all drenched and further looking forward for a hot cup of ginger-tea and onion-pakoras was thrilling.
We knew , as the skies became overcast, the reservoirs of rain water hovered all above, only to be split- opened by the thunderbolts. Thunderbolt, said to be the favoured weapon of the Greek God Zeus, which he used for renewal or forgiveness. And for us as children , it became a source of enchanting bedtime stories.
Rains have always acted as a leveller, at times as good and at times as evil, with its set of contradictions, at times it has acted as a life-saver for many, and wreaked havoc for many others. They have always acted as an indicator, that remember, no matter how high we go, we have to come down too, life like rains is all about moving and not stagnation, a cycle which keeps spinning with its pros and cons. It is a never ending circle.
During Vedic Period, in our country, the rains were considered to be a gift from the Gods, as they descended from the skies to impregnate the dry, arid and parched earth.
It was the journey of water from above, to the land in the form of showers and subsequently taking form of rivulets, rivers to join the oceans.
Poets have even compared the rain-drops, to ‘tears falling from the heavens’, from the clouds, as they filled till the brim, and the out-pour took place in the form of rains, as the clouds could no longer contain them .
The aroma, of the freshly falling raindrops is intoxicating for the human beings, animals and birds hide under the shady trees, and the branches of the trees dangle under the weight of these rain drops.
It was said, that when the famous singer Tansen sang in the Court of Mughal Monarch Akbar, the raag Megh Malhar, there was a downpour, bringing the long awaited rains, and breaking the spell of drought.
Rains have always acted as a equaliser, they do not differentiate between a ‘Prince’ or a ‘ Pauper’. Thus equally distributing itself amongst all.
But off late, they have become a source of apathy and gloom. The torrential rains have literally rendered the ‘cats and dogs’ homeless, along with the humans, well at least the rains are still unbiased. But, the overflowing gutters, drains have filled up the potholes on the roads, only to convert them, into beaches, later on. As the incessant rains slashed across the city, it gave way to the mud puddles, only to leave, after creating a slush all over.
The huge traffic-jams on the so called roads, appeared more like vehicles floating on the gushing streams of muddy waters. Poor commuters stranded midway, as if, it was the no man’s land. What ever came in way , was thrown kilometres away by the furious waters, itself looking for an outlet . Soon the rain became a metaphor of crisis and melancholy. The complex nature of human beings, their greed and malice has resulted in depleting of our Natural Resources. When the rains descended from the heavens above, to bless us , we could not accommodate its generous nature in our overcrowded alleys, lanes and by lanes. And so there was an outburst, resulting in loss and destruction. Like the “Noah and His Ark”, where Gods anger gives rise to massive rains and then to catastrophic floods, but for us, to build our Ark like Noah is only possible when we register the problem of soon.
So that Rains instead of becoming the agent of destruction, revert to its original form, and that is, the restorative nature, of a giver , as well of a caretaker.
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