MONSOON MUSINGS - 3

My next stint of work after Mumbai was in Ghaziabad, near Delhi. In Ghaziabad like in Mumbai, more than the beauty of the rain, we had experienced the hardships it posed. And the hardships were multiplied manyfold.

From home, I used to drive down to the company. On the way, there was a railway gate which was closed almost 80% of the time. So anyone who drove down to the company had to park the car near the gate and cross the gate on foot and continue walking to the factory. It was about half a kilometer and in rain, it was real pain! That too after driving through a streetful of water where the dirty water sometimes gets into the car!

But one thing about the first monsoon showers anywhere, especially Mumbai, Delhi etc is the immense relief you get after the scorching heat takes its toll.

As I started working in Indonesia, in Surabaya and later in Batam – one thing that struck me immediately was the tropical monsoon there.

Accompanied by lightning and thunder, the monsoon in Java and Bali (another beautiful island in Indonesia which I visited several times), has a little bit of resemblance to monsoon in Kerala – painting the whole scenery in a variety of colours, predominantly green. The black clouds, the beautiful patterns made by the lightning and the roaring thunder give an ethereal beauty to the whole scenery.

Walking in a Bali village, especially in monsoon, gives the feeling that you are walking in Kerala and you will have an inner feeling that one of your cousins will suddenly appear from the opposite house.

In Kerala there are two monsoons, southwest and northeast, with a gap of a couple of months in between. But in Java, Kalimanthan etc it is almost these two monsoons are combined with no gap so that it rains continuously for about 6-7 months.

In Batam and the nearby small islands like Rempang, Galang, Belakang Padang etc gives you a taste of tropical monsoon in islands. It is a very special treat in Batam to watch the rain from the majestic Barelang Bridge!

From an office in Batam where worked for some time, on the days which were not very cloudy, I could look out through the window and see the Singapore buildings. I have seen on a rainy day, between the office and Singapore, raining in three different locations with gaps without rain in between. That is an amazing sight!

Many a time during monsoon, I have seen beautiful rainbows. In fact there is an island in Indonesia called Belitung which is called a rainbow island!