You remember watching those romantic scenes or songs in several Bollywood movies in rain? The heroine looks sensuous and the hero most desirable. The setting and mood takes you to the other world. You are happy, almost immersed in the scene...
"What the hell? Close that window. The rain has just changed the direction. Leave that one closed for now. Hurry up or that rain will make our bed wet."
Did the reality hit you? I hate Bollywood movies for this. The colorful funky colleges, love at first sight, and the romantic rain sequences. All fake.
Come back to the real middle class flat dweller's life and here is how the rainy season looks like:
- The rain does not fall down straight. The serious spell of rain is accompanied with wind and makes it fall in any direction but straight down. For people like us, who took pride in owning the corner flat, it's the payback time. We keep on running around to close and open the windows as per the rain's direction.
- When we were small children, we used to enjoy the smell of the rain. Now, the rainy season does not bring that earthy smell but whatever smell it brings, it sure immerse itself into everything. The cloths, the food, the books, the bed-sheet, the cupboard, the child, parents, husband, myself - everyone and everything carries the same smell - of dampness.
- For a mother of a 6 yo, the only part of the flat that provides some privacy and "me time" is the washroom. Take your phone or take your book or just nothing but closing the washroom door's latch brings that relief. Come rain and the wooden doors swell up. They just refuse to close. Now, I am forced to use the washroom for its original use. No more that peaceful corner cos the door does not close.
- The ginger tea... Wow. Is it? When the monsoon gets in the full swing, 90% of the family members start coughing. Now the ginger is not used to make tea to accompany the pakodas but to make the kaadha for the coughing members.
- You sure feel sleepy or you want to spend some cozy time in your bedroom. Nah ah. Your bed, the chairs and any available space that you can see has your cloths spread out. The cloths washed today takes a free trip of the entire house throughout the day and finally is ready for you to wear after 4 days. If you are in hurry to wear them, iron them up.
- How much time you spent to decide the color and texture of your walls? Thoughtfully handpicked wall decorations... Well, the continuous rain has left a sweet love bite on your walls. You see that? That wet damp patch.
Hollywood movies are one step ahead. Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Titanic and so on. How much water they might have wasted to shoot them? Anyway. In those Hollywood movies, their phones continue to work even when they have been getting wet. My bloody phone starts misbehaving even when I pick it up with 3 wet fingers! Their cars, phones, guns, heroines - everything works. Here, just seeing the clouds, our Tata Sky and electricity goes off.
And the most irritating moment award goes to - when the sky goes pitch dark and it starts with a drizzle. You start feeling happy. You dash out to take the cloths stand inside to save your almost dried up cloths from getting wet again. It rains for.... full 3 minutes and then the clouds fly away and the sun smiles back at you. Almost mockingly.
No power, coughing family members, damp flat full of wet cloths and closed windows and doors. That's what the real monsoon looks like. I am not
even talking about the flood hit areas.
"Rim jhim gire saawan"
"Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si"
"Jo haal dil ka"
....
....
like, seriously?
