Friday, August 25, 2006

Rains in Bangalore has been very scanty this monsoon. The city.... even though lying at an altitude hardly recieved any rains at all. Mother was complaining that the period of Shravana(according to the hindu calender) is the month of rains..... and the month of festivals.

Varamahalaksmi.... Gowri... Ganesha festivals are usually celebrated during this season. Gowri, Ganesha falls on this weekend.... following the trail led by the other declared holidays. Unfortunately.... all declared holidays fall on sundays(atleast most of them)..... which is very dissappointing. We lose out on these few days of peace.

The monsoon in India is one of it's kind...... meaning to say that no other country recieves rains as India does. The regular pattern... the period for which it lasts.... and the wind routes are pretty precise...if i could sat that. Geographical reasons are many.... The fact that India is stratagically located also is important.

Rains..... the sight of water falling from up above is such a pleasant sight. Above all... the experience of soaking oneself.... is simply magical. It is a rule that i get wet in the first monsoon showers.

Childhood was spent in reaching home wet.... with mother yelling..... running to the terrace....with cousins..... to forget the umbrella purposely... in order to get wet.... playing in puddles... splashing water everywhere...... catching clouds...

Crossing roads is always difficult..... with me at the end of the footpath.... avoiding speeding vehicles..... and the trajectories of dirty water. Standing in the crowded bus-stop....and later deciding that the drizzle is perfect for one to get wet. Waking up in the middle of the night to shut the windows....

Running to escape the sudden downpour.... to eat spicy fried food..... bondas', bhajjis'... pakoras' with a hot glass of milk.......

Some moments which i've enjoyed...

Being stared at.... while walking slowly.... while other scamper to find a shelter.

Skipping on the road.... with kids......who thought it was fun to jump across a puddle. Mind you... it is not enjoyable.... to jump the entire way.

Convincing folks at home..... that towelling the head is not neccassary. Miraculously.... i do not catch a cold.... on getting drenched. With god's grace!!

Polishing an ice-cream sundae..... while it's pouring outside. The other day... a couple of friends met at M.G. Road.... we took shelter at Lakeview.....what better than to savour an ice-cream!!

To see rain-drops pattering on a glass roof.... looks like tiny bits of crystal.....emitting brilliance.

The smell of fresh rain on soil..... Actinomycetes emitting geosmin.....awesome!! Actinomycetes is cultured in the Micro lab..... with me opening the petriplate ever so slightly to get intoxicated.

Getting lost amongst the clouds.....

Magnificent.

3 comments:

Shiv said...

Ahhh..rain..
Brought back all those rainy days memories..

I read somewhere that the smell of rain is called Petrichor?I had read it is caused due to microbes,but didnt know u sniff once in awhile in ur lab :)

mouna said...

the microbe is Actinomycetes.... and the chemical that smells so good is geosmin...

we culture this in the lab.... and the lecturers were very happy... as this particular organism is difficult to grow.... they opened the plate right in front of me.... which resulted in me opening it many times!!!

What a fragrance!!

Anonymous said...

The rain patterns in India have become quite unpredictable these days

Bellary road is a swimming pool in these rains...as I return from college...I used to ride carefully, lest I drenched my clothes and myself, until some speeding lorry gave me a shower...after that it was a fun ride...splashing water, soaked from head to toe, but still looking cute !!