Rumbling love

Rains continue to amaze me. The mighty rains are the lifeblood of our existence. Yet, how easily they manage to balance out the imbalance that man creates. One heavy bout and an entire village is lost. No wonder so many civilizations and species are now extinct. I believe that these beautiful, innocent looking droplets from the skies had a very important part to play in the way the world as we know it today came into being.

I hail from Kerala – a part of the country that is known to most people s being the land of paddy fields, back waters, coconut trees and yes – continuous torrential rains. One of the invariable results of the weather there is the delay in school reopening dates. Schools this year were slated to open on 1st June. Rains that were forecast for 30th may landed in full force a week earlier. Parts of the landscape started submerging and normal life went berserk. Amidst such floods, state governments postponed the reopening from 1st to 5th June. No sooner is the announcement made than the rains disappear. It’s steaming hot in Kerala again and there are not grey let alone black rain clouds even on the horizon. Kerala breathes a collective sigh of relief. Kids are pumped up for the new academic year – new books, new bags, shining shoos, flashy umbrellas – they have all the gear ready. Come June 5th and parents and kids step out of their houses – all excited and nervous and they are greeted by guess who??? The heaviest downpour of the week!!! 8.30 sharp and rains have kept their appointment with the kids. 9.30 – all the kids are in their classrooms, all wet and soaked – and the rains say goodbye for now. Its 4.30 – school bells resound in the corridors. Kids rush out as if freed from a prison after a life sentence and who is ready to take them home. Not mom, not dad, but dear old rains – that too with renewed vigour. It was as if the rains were never gone. People wade through the rising water levels and finally swim home. Once all are safely at home the rains sign off for the day. Just like that.

This behavior of the rains can be interpreted in many ways. As a scientific weather phenomenon, rains are season’s occurrences to sustain life on earth. As a pessimist you may view the rains as a nuisance that just lands on head (literally), very much like uninvited relatives, make life chaotic for you when they are around and then withdraw when they please with a promise to visit next time.

You want my take on the issue – a rain is like the love of a parent. They are eager to accompany us on the 1st day of a new venture; they are impatient and anxious till the loved ones are back. Their love can be embarrassing, can lead us into soups, can be smothering – but all said and done their love is just too much for us to do without, just like the rains.