Mumbai Monsoons..!

I had written this lil verse 3 years ago on a rainy day...blogging was nascent then so just thought of publishing it now to set the mood right for a beautiful monsoon. The ideas and thoughts were just embryonic then as compared to now...but the SPIRIT remains the same!

The rain comes down in torrential showers,
The steely clouds kiss the mountaintops
A brisk wind blows gustily to freshen up the air,
As I set out for another damp damp day.

Those earthy puddles of dirty water,
Splashing out, then refilling by the rain,
The restless gray sea rushes to meet the land
And splashes saline sprinklers on one and all…

That delightful vada-pav stand at the roadside,
Quickly devoured with cups of hot cuttings,
Another refill, the stomach is yearning,
As the masses wait forever for the slow traffic to budge

A brief respite… and people hurry out,
The trees however spill dollops of water,
They act as the rain gods in absentia…
As I skip through puddles dripping and shivering

The children are so happy, another holiday!
The office-goers lament and trudge on with their day,
The rain gods smile benignly,
As I rue about my makeover from a kid to an adult

Come what may…knee deep waters or wind fallen trees
None can obstruct people’s errands and routine
And so truly the spirit of Mumbai never fails
Life moves on…sandstorms or rains!

Summers - In the summer time, when the weather is fine!

When I was a child, around 15-20 days of my summer holidays used to be spent at my maternal grandparents house at Mahesana - a small town which is couple of hours drive from Gujarat's commercial capital of Ahmedabad. It had become in my definition my native place. This time, when mom mentioned the visit again to meet my nani ' Baa' as I fondly call her - I jumped at the idea!

That is when I began reminiscing about my childhood days....
The days were characterized by melodious kirtans sung by Baa, plucking variety of flowers from our backyard garden(juhi, mogra, champa, chameli,gulaab, gulbaas, etc.), devouring fatty meals and lots of mithai, playing cricket with my cousins ( all 4 boys and me the only neglected girl who used to do fielding in some rare corner or was sent to get the ball from some neighbour's home!), playing hide-n-seek and actually getting lost in the enormous 3 floor pushtaini haveli (that my grandparents later sold off), watering the plants in the garden and using the hose on each other in the evenings, eating raw mango & kalakhatta golaas, lying on mattresses at night in the dhaaba (terrace in Gujarati) and reciting tables from 13-30 in front of nanaji and watching larger than life dreams about the future through glistening eyes by watching the starry sky and arguing about non-existent planets and invisible UFO's until the soft breeze drifts us all to sleep....

What a phase this was! Abundance of innocence, no hassles, hang-ups, money issues, friendships, fights, hardships, deadlines, egos, relationships, falling in love, falling out of love --- nothing~
All that one would do is eat, sleep, play and enjoy life. No wonder childhood always beckons most of us throughout our lives!

Its funny how in this small town half a bucket of water for bath seems perfectly fine and drinking water from the matka or a fan in working condition is a welcome delight even in the scorching heat!

People are so unusually caring that such kind of behaviour can actually stifle a person's privacy if in a metro city. For instance, I went to buy a pesticide for some gardening tasks for our backyard. An eccentric old shop-owner frowned at me when I asked for it and asked suscipiciously - 'What do you want it for?' I was like...'Gardening..(duh)' He goes ' Ok then take it for gardening beta...dont you dare drink it or think of committing suicide or I will follow you home and tell your family!!!' I really did not know whether to feel angry or touched. The homes are small but the hearts are big in these little towns :) Touche!

I believe it set the tone right for me to explore my childhood and connect to my roots so wonderfully and effortlessly!