Monsoon Melodies !

Monsoon Melodies
(08th June 2009, 521 words)


Monsoon and Mumbai are like ‘Vada Pav’- the kind of pair one can not fancy thinking otherwise. For Mumbaikars monsoon is a mosaic of promise and pleasure, pain and paranoia, flooding and frustration.

Come first week of June, we start anxiously scanning the horizon for the sight of the rain bearing clouds like the thirsty villagers of ‘Lagaan’. Will the rains come on time? Will the lakes fill up? Or will there be water and power cuts? These are the general set of questions that cloud our cerebral region. With the first lightning illuminating the horizon in fleeting flashes of brilliance and thunder rumbling across the sky bringing in their wake ‘pitter-patter’ raindrops, our hearts sing the tunes of monsoon melodies.

Come July, the attention shifts to the tide timings, monotonous and incorrect weather forecasts, post-facto BMC warnings, and the general welfare of the Central, Western and Harbour Railway lines. Flooding of Sion station, ‘overhead wire’ snapping near Thane, water-logging at ‘saath rastha’ undisputedly captures the prime time on news channels. You can see the office crowds sipping cups of tea and discussing about how much time it took them the previous day reaching home. The more cautious ones evaluate the possibilities of leaving ‘a bit’ early. Tide timings get into the diary of routine train timings and the more mature crowd gives a friendly advice of staying indoors during the days of exceptionally high tide and the flurry of messages from BMC and Mumbai Police implore the people not to resort to ‘avoidable travel’. Needless to say whether ‘going to office’ is an avoidable travel or not, becomes the topic of hot debates everywhere.

While the magic of ‘kothmeri Vadi’ and hot Samosas in spicy coriander chutney pulls crowds like us to the ‘Chafekars’ and the ‘Tiwaris’ of the world, the tingling of the wafting screens of rain and the lashing waves on the rocks, pull the youthful crowd in ‘beautiful pairs’ to the marine drive. They huddle together under the privacy of a billowing umbrella and lose themselves in the dream world. The week-ends promise a host of other opportunities. While a cosy and dry time at the home with the near and dear, biting on ‘Kanda bajji’ and watching the favourite ‘Realty shows’ on TV is good for some, the more adventurous take to the lush green slopes of the ‘Sahyadris’ for a challenging trek.

The crowds pine for the onset of monsoon, work through the pouring rains, wade through the waist deep waters, wait on for the delayed trains on rain battered platforms, panic at the rising tide, suffer through the agony of daily travel, bear the brunt of ailments, curse the BMC and the Govt for the clogged drains and the overflowing Mithi river.
While September may see the last of the dehydrated clouds slipping away beyond the horizon and the monsoon ‘maladies’ finally come to an end, the heart of the Mumbaikar still fondly ‘beats’ the Monsoon melody .“Purcha Varsha lavkar ya”. (Please come back faster). What a magic and what an enchantment!!

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