MONSOON MUSINGS - 5

This is in continuation of the blogs I had been writing last year on Monsoons.

Monsoons come and go every year. Some year when it comes late, we can hear comments like, ‘hey, this year it is going to be very difficult’ or ‘the whole earth seems to be going dry’ etc. some intelligent ones or at least who could be pretending to be intelligent would make a remark – ‘see, climate change is really happening...’

If it rains very heavily, then also many of us complain. ‘How many days it is going to continue like this’.... etc.

But every year, the rains come. Many places will get flooded. Lives will be lost. The hills will see cloudbursts. But we move on....

In the outskirts of Mumbai, in one of those industrial estates, I was staying in a hotel where they have a terrace restaurant. In the evenings one could go there, sit and sip a drink slowly and have a nice leisurely dinner. The restaurant had live music, mostly Ghazals with a vocalist, a harmonium and Tabla as the orchestra. It is so enjoyable that sometimes one drink may become two.

That day almost throughout the day it was raining and in the evening, there were very less customers in the restaurant. The musicians also gave it a miss since they could reach there on time.  

And suddenly it started pouring – what is that expression? Pouring cats and dogs! And probably all the animals I could think of!

Two – three friends staying in the neighbouring rooms in the hotel also joined my table and one of them suggested, ‘this rain really calls for drinks and hot pakodas. What do you say?’

Naturally, we were all in agreement and another one of them said, ‘I wish the musicians were here. We could have had mood music in the background!

‘The rain on the tin roof up there is creating its own music with the help of strong winds blowing through small gaps in windows. Why do you need a different music?’ I said.....