ENJOY THE RAINY SEASON

 FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:

  

 

ENJOY THE RAINY SEASON

  

Isn’t it intriguing and mind-boggling that water is a blend of Hydrogen and Oxygen? Everything is made up of atoms. An atom is the smallest particle of an element like Oxygen or Hydrogen. Atoms join together to form molecules. Likewise, a water molecule has three atoms viz. two Hydrogen (H) and one Oxygen (O) atom. Water is thus referred to as ‘H20’ and a single drop contains millions of water molecules.

 

Having known what water is, let us delve into the mundane aspects of water. Needless to say, water is the sine-qua-non, be-all, and end-all for all living beings including humans, and rains are the main source of water which we get in what everyone knows as the rain/water cycle.

 

The rainy season is not a disturbance to your routines but a value addition enabling you to live comfortably during the rest of the year as we get plenty of water from the rainfalls. However, you need to harvest and save it.

 

Rain is both a beauty and a bounty of nature. Welcome it. If you don’t enjoy it, you will be missing the marvelous bus for the rest of the year. It’s not a hindrance but only wondrous.

 

Rainy days are characteristically different from other days and they mean different things to different people of different ages on different occasions for different reasons and sensitive minds can see their souls relaxing with a heart-warming effect. Children enjoy the season differently and have different sensitivities towards rain. For them, rain serves different purposes and they indulge in different naughty activities during this season.

 

Who can afford to miss the petrichor, the usual earthly smell generated by the first rain after a dry spell? The scenario everywhere would be exhilarating with the scent of the drenched earth and the mesmerizing sounds of the splashing and gushing of water all around! On rainy days, the aroma and taste of hot drinks like coffee and tea would redouble as one sipped it either at home, workplace, or elsewhere. Monsoon is a refreshing change from the otherwise heat and dust of the other dry seasons. Getting wet is one of the pastimes showered by the grace of the monsoon if one is passionate about it.

 

The rains present a scenic beauty, a visual treat, to children and adults alike - a cynosure of all eyes. For many, watching the rain from a distance remaining in comfort away from the spot enjoying a hot snack and drink is pleasurable. For some, drenching in the downpour is a pleasant experience.

 

For a child, exploring the texture of water would be interesting. While bathing, the child would enjoy thudding, splashing, dropping, and plopping the water and keenly watch the movements and sounds of the water.

 

At home, watching the precipitations through the window would transport a discerning mind to a pinnacle of elation and ecstasy.

Some specifically like long walks while it is raining, cuddling up with a book - preferably a novel - at home, and getting immersed in another world as the rains caressed and fondled the earth drenching and sinking anything and everything elsewhere at a distance - an optical banquet indeed!

 

The discriminating and perceptive minds can make merry in letting the silver drops fall on him/her, thus soaking in the moment of excitement on rainy days. What an exhilarating experience that would be!

Office-going would be a daily uphill task if your workplace happens to be at a distance. Unless you have your own means, one has to fall back upon public transport like train, bus, auto, and, of course, stretching your legs for the fag-end connectivity as the daily norm. Two-wheel users and four-wheeler travelers may also get their quota of woes. With widespread rains battering, raincoats and umbrellas come to our rescue, but they will not completely protect you from being drenched or your things becoming wet at least partially. But still, it’s a better bet and companion. However, the possibility of one slipping, sliding, skidding, and/or falling cannot be altogether ruled out. So, one has to tread his/her way carefully and cautiously.

  

At times, we may forget to take our umbrella back home from the workplace because at the time of leaving, there would be no rain. In the same way, we may not take along with us an umbrella while leaving home to the workplace in the absence of rain at that time. But when the skies suddenly open up in the evening, we may feel the pinch of not having brought the umbrella along. It is therefore advisable to always have an umbrella with us all day while being away from home during the entire monsoon season.

 

Loaning your umbrella would be a foolish thing at times. It is not the cost of the umbrella that matters but when it’s not returned, we will feel the handicap. One of my relatives who came to my house took an umbrella from me because it started heavily raining while leaving. Even after many days, the umbrella was not returned to me. After the monsoon season was over, one fine morning, he came to my house and returned the umbrella. My joy found no bounds at his nice gesture, and I thought “It’s a lost paradise regained.” But alas, after he left, I found the umbrella in a torn unusable condition shattering and tattering the good reputation I had for him.

 

Getting hit, poked, or pierced by an umbrella held by another cannot be ruled inside a bus or train, and you will get a big 'sorry’ from the culprit in return. Oh, for what!

 

Sometimes, one can experience dripping irrigation even inside a bus from the roof as it would have suffered cracks or small holes due to wear and tear and the state of disrepair.

 

When I was daily commuting in a van to my workplace more than 10 KM away, during rainy days, it would take a longer time to reach the destination due to the van getting held up for a long time at traffic signals and in traffic jams/snarls. It would be a ‘hell personified experience’ if a breakdown also takes place midway.

The rainy season is not an unmixed blessing. It has some negative aspects too. Generally, the season tends to make one lax, lackadaisical, and slothful given the ubiquitous dampness. In cities and towns, there may be puddles and ponds of stagnant water besides potholes and slush/sludge with resultant hassles. Clogging in stormwater pipes and drainage and sewage lines and mixing of water from one with another, etc. may result in the spilling of dirty water onto the roads and streets posing even health hazards. At times, even the drinking water lines will also get contaminated due to intermixing. These nuisances are, however, preventable if proper maintenance of the systems is carried out from time to time. The rampant mosquito-breeding will be another problem.

 

In this mobile era, one has to necessarily protect his/her cell phone; lest the costly communication device goes faulty, some even irreversibly, if water gets into it with rains all over. Suitable sizes of zip-lock polythene bags will be useful to safeguard our mobile phones.

 

 

There are no hard and fast rules. Everyone can enjoy the rain in their own ways. The obvious and self-perceived hassles notwithstanding, rains are a boon from Mother Nature and must only be welcomed; won’t we?

 

Yes, when you get a rainy day, play in the puddles. If you harvest the rain today, you will reap the gain and grain tomorrow. Inversely, if you don’t save the rain today, you will feel the pinch of pain tomorrow. Today’s rain is life-essential water tomorrow.

 

Rain is not just drops of water continuously pouring down from the clouds above but the love of the sky declared on the earth. Needless to say, they never meet each other but still never miss to bless us with the bliss.

 

Raise your voice, not noise. It’s the rain that grows vegetation, not the thunder and lightning.

 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had this to say, “The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.”

    

(R.SAMPATH)

22/11/2023