Monsoon Memories

With a loud bang, my room’s door closed. I woke up to find that it was just 3:30 at night. It was still dark outside. But there was something different in the air. There was a soothing effect in the wind that was blowing in through the open window that had smashed the door. There was that lovely odor in the air. I knew that odor. The odor when fresh rain falls on the heated dry earth. I love that odor. Drawing my curtains apart, I glanced out of the window. Yes, it was raining. Finally, it was raining. Thank God, it was raining. The weather had suddenly turned pleasant and cold and I wanted to enjoy it fully. So I stood at the window for few minutes. And my thoughts backtracked to all the monsoons that I have faced in Mumbai during last three years.

Each year, when it rains for first time, you feel elated. It is always a refreshing feeling when you see water coming down the sky and dissipating all the heat from the earth. This feeling prevails for next few days or weeks. To enjoy this ecstasy, you look for reasons to get wet somehow, or you plan trips to nearby hill stations. This is what we did one of the past three years. It was Saturday. My parents were out of station and after partying all night long with two of my friends (Vikram & Gurpreet), we were just hanging out at my place when suddenly it started thundering and pouring. All of our hangovers were gone in the instant. As the car was at our disposal, one of us suggested a trip to Lonavala. Hurrah! All things were decided in next half-an-hour. We also called up Vishal in Pune and asked him to directly join us there. That place is electrifying during monsoons and we took full advantage of it. Sitting on top of a hill, surrounded by clouds and sipping whiskey was one amazing experience. It turned out to be an excellent weekend.

But as I have said earlier, the monsoon ecstasy only lasts for initial few days. But often reaching office all wet and late by half-an-hour murders that ecstasy. Then by the middle of first month, you start to experience all the monsoon nightmares with water clogged roads, larger than life potholes and stink all around. I remember the 26th July deluge when unknowingly I got stuck while coming back from office. The half-an-hour distance was converted into awful 8 hours. I was thankful that I didn’t get drowned in any open gutter while I was traversing my distance on foot in waist-deep water. Also, I was thankful next day to find my bike as it is at the spot where I had left it previous day. That is another monsoon experience I will recall again and again.

Last year’s monsoon was the best. It rained but not that much to make you stuck inside your home. Also, during that period I had Lothika with me. So it was more fun to enjoy the rains with her. The first day it rained, I was on my way to her place. I got completely drenched on my bike but managed to reach the destination. Then, there was the day when we decided to make a trip to Lonavala (yes, the same place again) on bike but had to cancel it when the whole sky came pouring down. We had one successful trip, though. That was to Matheran with Gurpreet and Deepti. Matheran is always a treat to eyes during the rains. Although, it was a one-day trip we had quite a good time hiking around in the hill station.

It was 4:00 in the clock now. I went back to sleep, feeling good about onset of monsoon and thinking how to enjoy it next day.

But as my alarm went off at 6:00, I could feel that it was not same as it was few hours ago. It was bright and sunny and hot. The monsoon was not there yet. It is going to make us wait for few days more before I again revisit the memories of last three year’s monsoon.