Thursday, May 31, 2007

Plop

I perished in the heat all day at home today. To cap it all, the electricity went off for an hour. The keyboard stuck to my fingers as I worked. I stuck to the chair as I sat. My feet stuck to the floor as I walked. The curtains stuck to me as I tried getting some fresh air out the window. My face had this glow---not the healthy is-it-love, type but the let's-fry-some-parathas-here type.

Then, in the evening, slowly and steadily, it built up. There was a murmur of thunder. A flash of lightning. A whiff of that wet smell. A shy breeze. And then, without any notice, it began to rain. A million, billion , trillion hosepipes from the sky-blue tarpaulin we walk under let go. And when I say let go, they really let go. Stripes of rain zig-zagged down and hit the roads. One could almost hear the sizzling sound as H2O met baking tar. It rained, and rained, and rained. I leaned out of the window. But the grills that keep thieves out kept me in, and the water flowed on, tantalisingly out of reach. I could see it, hear it, smell it. But to touch, no no, that was a teaser.

There are puddles on the street. A bunch of excited, once-grimy kids are splashing in them. The cars that usually roar by are squelching past. The rusty, black window grills are shining at me. Lightning flashes insolently on the horizon, putting my 100 watt bulbs to shame. The stripes are still coming down. And this is just the beginning.

11 comments:

Diligent Candy said...

Oooh time for some piping pakoras, garam chai or coffee and a good movie on the tele...wish I could be there!

It rained here today, but was the gloomy sort...not like this...not so exciting...

Thinking Cramps said...

:) yeah, rain in your part of the world is more the quiet, unassuming sorts. the one we get here is the diva, dekho, main aa gayi!

iz said...

Lovely post. Made me miss Bombay's monsoon. Did I mention you've been blogrolled?

Bong Mom said...

Ahhh that sounds so refreshing

A very cool cat said...

Lucky you! Delhi just went through the hottest days of the season this last weekend, so you can imagine just how jealous I am. Any chance you could send those clouds scudding our way?

Thinking Cramps said...

Sandeepa: Yes it was. But today has been a dry day again :(

Cool Cat: If you insist: 'phooooo, phoooo, phooooo'. There, now they're flying Delhi-wards!

G said...

it rained all day on sunday here, and it reminded me of your post! i want pakodas, hot chai and a vacation.

Thinking Cramps said...

G: :) You have at least one of those coming up! And as for the first two, someone else should make them for us, na? That's the real fun. Although, it hasn't rained that much since then. But I am sure that is just a sign of more to come!

Nanditha Prabhu said...

it rained heavily here and i was inspired to blog on that too! :-)

Rishabh Kaul said...

The feeling of the rain falling on the balcony walls gives the most intoxicating smell!

I like reading you blog

Thinking Cramps said...

nanditha..am going to go across and read your blog now.

rishabh: thanks for dropping by. do come back! and i agree, the smell of rain is something else!!