Rain

"Kaale Varshatu Parjanya, Prathweem Sasya shalineem!"
(Let the earth be green with timely rains!)

I just love the rains! I have heard it was raining heavily the day I was born. My grandfather used to chide me saying, "You are an incarnation of Lord Varuna. It was raining so much that we could see you only when you were 2 days old." I was born at my maternal home just two km from my home, but the heavy rains prevented my family from seeing me for two whole days!

My love for the rains is next only to my love for life* ( *conditions applied). Most of my childhood was spent enjoying the rains and the funny memories. Hot tea with crispy pakodas specially prepared for rainy days, spicy curries prepared from seasonal shelled mushrooms with boiled rice and the sensational puri & chhola prepared by my mother were some of the rainy season specials I miss badly now! Literary greats like Chekov , Manoj Das & Mark Twain too added to the ambience. My love for literature has always been intertwined with my love for the rains.

I enjoyed riding my bicycle in the rains too! I used to enjoy my short visits to my village those days .The smell of soil after the first downpour, the sound of the rain falling over the tiled roofs and fishing in those tiny ponds that came alive during the monsoon seem so unreal today.

When I moved to Warangal to pursue my engineering, the rain song went out of my life. I tried my best to rush to my hometown during the rainy season, but that was not always possible. Now I have settled down in Hyderabad, a concrete jungle and a complete mess during rains.Hmm..I miss those days.

Many of the important incidents in my life were greeted by rains. It rained when I was born; rather I was born when it rained. It rained in Warangal the day I went there for my admission to College. I proposed a girl first time in my life..and it was raining. Even my first day to office was a rainy day. The joke then was, "Panda..u really need warming up!"

When I met my girl, I told her my idea of romance was to walk in the rains sharing the umbrella. Though we never enjoyed even one of the several of those would-be romantic walks . I still love the rains and would love to do all those wonderful things over and again. But unfortunately, the rain gods have become unkind to this part of our planet.

Come rain or shine; forever in love with U!