The sky was ominously overcast, foreboding very heavy rains. The clock struck 4 and i left home for my guitar class looking forward to an hour of musical ecstasy...I had taken my umbrella of course and had pulled my jeans up a good 5 inches(How i hate mud on them!!),but when you live in a Mumbai suburb, all such attempts to forestall the onslaught of rainwater, mud and grime miserably fail. Yesterday was no different. The streets, it seemed had turned into a marathon hurdles race with pedestrians struggling to jump past the mammoth potholes filled to the brim with rain water. The Municipal authorities had managed to dupe gullible citizens yet another year...And then it came...lashing rains, as if it wasn't going to stop ever, flailing even the most towering coconut tree viciously as if it was dying to show who the real boss was("Boss kaun tha maloom hai kya?Boss kaun hai maaloom hai kya?(Jhankar beats :D )).Caught between speeding cars on one side and numerous baby pools on the other, I almost slipped as I made an arduous effort to avoid being run down. I saw scores of people standing jobless below derelict roofs turned into makeshift shelters and in the refuge of nearby shops, how inane of them to not carry an umbrella in such difficult times I thought. Also could be seen, those who chose not to cower below the already crowded shelters, even though they didn't have an umbrella to cover their heads. They obviously had some pressing matter at hand, not bothering about the rains. Also without umbrellas were those who couldn't afford to stay in a proper house...Rain is a leveller, I thought, beleaguering the prince and the pauper with equal ruthlessness. Rain also creates 'divide', much like Marx and Engels had insightfully observed..."The haves(umbrella)" and "The haves-not(umbrella)"... :-| A speed demon going past suddenly halted my train of thought, sloshing murky water over me, as I made a clumsy effort to avoid getting drenched. A fleeting sadistic idea made me want to pull the driver out and make him stand where I had been standing while I drove past him 'Need For Speed' style, soaking him in muddy water !!
How I hate such macerated situations , I thought despite being a true blue Cancerian, a water element.(well not a true blue Cancerian, but quite substantially so).Aren't Water elements supposed to enjoy rains??(But then, generalising is not always the right thing to do).Even on an 'Age of Empires' 'Death match', I prefer a land map to say something like 'Oceans' or 'Archipelago'(some Age of Empires fans while commiserate with me as training hundreds of elite galleons and fast fire ships can be quite a pain, more so if you are taking heavy fire on land(provided they don't consider AOE2 to be too antiquated for their tastes :D))(Pardon me for this digressing comment, but I just love playing AOE2).What surprises me to no end is how most of my friends can't stop raving about the 'superbly pleasant' weather. I largely agree with them when I get to sit with a cup of coffee in the refuge of my home staring at the serenity from my window and listening to the dulcet pitter-patter as the earthy fragrance of wet soil titillates my olfactory senses.
Monsoon has been glorified in Indian art and culture, more importantly, in Indian classical music, and is deeply rooted in the Indian psyche and ethos. It has been a veritable source of inspiration for all arts. Raga Miyan ki Malhar can enrapture even the most despondent soul.Remember "Bole re papihara" from the vintage movie "Guddi"?...(such timeless songs will endure for eternity,such absolute works of genius).Or perhaps "Badal ghumad badh aaye"(Kavita Krishnamurthy) from the more recent "Saaz" ?...Both these gems have risen from "Miyan ki malhar" ...It is believed that Indian classical music is so potent that Miyan ki Malhar when sung by a learned master could actually summon rainclouds (much like 'Storm',I surmise :D How petty of me compare Classical music with X-men !! :( ...pardon me again)well, it appears I have digressed again...Indian classical music is so all-pervading and overwhelming...I intend to pen down my ideas about Indian music in another post...To sum it up, I love the rains when I am seated comfortably on my couch listening to music, also when I go out and it drizzles lightly, but when I have to go out up against lashing rains, I don't exactly love the rains...
No comments:
Post a Comment