Childhood Memories

One of the sweetest memories of my childhood that come to my mind is the rainy days during my school days. My native place is Kerala (a state in south India) which is one of the most beautiful places on earth – no wonder people call it God’s own country, where it will rain for 6 months continuously. Our summer vacations will end on May 31 and the next day –June 1 – two great things will happen – (1) my school will reopen after the holidays and (2) the monsoon season will start.

Back to School

Everyone will be excited to go to school with new books and new schoolbags wearing new uniforms. I still remember standing before the mirror two to three times checking my uniform. By the time I will be finally ready, it will be raining heavily, and I will be watching the rain like a poet sitting near a brook thinking “rain is so nice”. Soon my mom will be shouting “what are you doing there watching rain? Did you take your Tiffin?” Immediately I will be transported from the poetic world to the material world. I will begin to mentally prepare myself for my journey to school much like a prisoner who is going to face the firing squad. It will be raining heavily, and I will ask my mom “should I go today?” Immediately she will reply – “Why? What are you going to do if you are not going to school, study well and get a good job? Even those who did well in their exams are finding it difficult to survive. God Knows what is going to happen in your case” These words of wisdom will immediately motivate me to go to school.

I will start my journey and after 5 minutes my new uniform will be completely spoiled and I will be feeling really cold and depressed. Moreover, there is something I will be more worried about – results. Today, I will get the results of exams. In every probability, I will fail in 1 or 2 subjects and my teacher will be scolding me right and left as if I am the only person in the universe who has failed in exams. Anyway, I will decide to continue my journey, hoping that someday something good will happen to me (even though in all probability that day will come only after my soul departs from my body). By the time I reach my school I will be fully wet. After completing the usual procedures of getting the exam results and courteously receiving nice scolding from almost every teacher, I will finally reach home, like a batsman who has scored golden ducks in consecutive test matches in cricket.

Back to Home – Time for Some Snacks

When I reach home, I will be fully exhausted and just wanting to lie down somewhere. My mom will be waiting in the portico. Seeing me she will come out running in rain and she will immediately wipe my head with her sari with a motherly scolding (which I am missing so much nowadays) – “when are you going to learn to hold an umbrella properly?” Like a true gentleman I will keep quiet because I am really hungry. My mother must have prepared for me tea and some snacks – vada, banana fry, payasam etc. She will insist that I should eat all the snacks before going out (which I found somewhat cruel at that time but nowadays I sadly realize that nobody is there to force me to eat).

Waiting for the rain to stop

After eating I will be waiting for my friend who will come after half an hour and together, we will be going to an open field to play. I will be praying to God “please stop the rain. I want to play today”. After some time, the rain will stop, and I will thank God for listening to my prayers. My friend will come, and we will be running to the field to play. In total, there will be 5 or 6 persons and we will start the proceedings to play cricket – when everything is set, rain will come again. We will be waiting patiently in a small shed near the field for the rain to stop. One of my friends who is very much fond of eating will be enjoying an ice cream in that cold weather. Sometimes I wonder whether his birthplace is Antarctica. Whatever it is, he is my best friend and I have always been a great supporter of him when he says that Beckham is the best football player in the world (even though my personal favourite is Zidane), because whenever I am hungry, he will buy something for me, especially chocolates. After waiting for half an hour, much to our chagrin we will realize that the rain is not going to stop. So, we will decide to play in the rain. But there will be objections; one of my friends will say that his mother will scold him for spoiling his clothes. Another will say that he will get cough if he plays in rain. Then finally I will stand up, like a US president addressing his troops in an American military base and will declare – “whatever happens I am going to play in rain” and I will enter the ground in rain. Soon I will be joined by all my friends except the “cloth guy and cough guy” who will be left alone watching us, and in the end, unable to bear the temptation anymore, they will join us. We will be splashing water everywhere, throwing mud at each other and in the end, all will be looking like rugby players rather than cricketers. After some time, we will start our journey to our respective homes. My dad is already there reading newspaper after coming from office and my mom will be in kitchen. Seeing me my dad will say “Wow!! My son is looking really great today”. Hearing this, my mom will come out to start the usual scolding “Oh! God what have you done? How will I clean your dress now? I am having so much work and on top of that you are giving me more tension”. Immediately my dad will give his input regarding the matter “don’t worry honey, let him play. After all in his age he should play.” Hearing this mom will say “ok if that is the case, why don’t you wash his shirt today for a change? It will be an exercise for you to burn your calories”. At that instant, my dad will be taking his paper again and will continue reading. I will not waste any time either. I will take a bath and will study for one hour. After that as usual I will be hungry and will start asking “mom, dinner is ready?” While eating I will be sneezing once or twice and my mom will start “see this is what happens when you play in rain. Tomorrow you will be having cold and will not be going to school”. My dad will be there to support me in this tough situation “its okay dear. Do you know what Bob Marley said about rain – you should feel the rain. Some people will just get wet”. My mom will be ready with her reply “if that is the case why don’t you go to office tomorrow walking without taking your car. Your dream of feeling the rain will come true, and less carbon emissions as well”. My dad will immediately resume eating like someone hit by a thunderbolt.

At night I will be in my bed and my mom will come and ask, “are you okay?” I will say “yes, I am good”. Then she will give me a kiss in my forehead. Afterwards she will switch off the light and then wish me goodnight. It will be raining heavily and I will be looking out of the window, enjoying the sound of the rain and will slowly go to sleep.

Rain as an Enigma

After growing up I have sometimes felt that rain is kind of an enigma, because it will rain when you least want it to rain.

It will rain when you are ready to go for an interview. You will be wearing your best dress, coat and all that stuff and the moment you step out of your house, it will start raining. You will think – “ok, it will be over in 5 to 10 minutes”. You will be anxious and will be checking the time once in every two minutes hoping that the sky will be clear soon. However, after 10 minutes it will be raining cats and dogs. You will not be able to do anything but to look upwards and say “Oh! God, you defeated me here also”.

On the other hand, it will not rain when you want it to rain. Suppose one fine morning you happen to meet one of your classmates, who is doing well after successfully completing his studies and is working in a multinational firm earning in 5 figures. You are sitting in a coffee shop, and he comes in his new Mercedes Benz. You are seeing him through the window glass, you recognise him immediately, but you try to avoid him because you are still searching for a job. You will be sitting there, looking downwards at your coffee and he comes in, immediately recognises you and comes to you saying “Oh! Dude what a pleasant surprise? Where have you been? Are you on Facebook?”. Your immediate thought will be “forget about Facebook. I have not yet been able to grasp the trigonometry which was there in the mathematics book”. However, you will hide those feelings, and will say hi to him and ask him “what are you doing now?”

Now, the Pandora’s Box is opened and you will be enlightened by your classmate regarding his new job, his salary and the other emoluments which his company has provided him so kindly because of his qualifications. In order to rub salt to the wound, he will go extra mile and will provide a full picture of his fiancée’s job and her salary. Finally, as the last nail in the coffin he will enumerate his future plans as well. By this time, you will be almost dead. In order to accomplish the murder, he will ask you “What are you doing now?” You will tell him that you are still looking for a job, to which he will reply – “okay dude, I have got a meeting to attend” and will slowly escape like a cat fish. You are left alone; more worried than before because of the precious knowledge imparted by your friend and your coffee is cold as well. Now you really want it to rain – but it will not rain. You will walk out of the cafe to find that it is so sunny that it may not rain for 2 to 3 years. Again you will look up to the sky and ask yourself “Oh! God, why did you leave me in this hot pan?”

Why do we enjoy rain?

The good thing is that we all enjoy rain. I am working in Middle East, settled temporarily in a country where it rains only 1 or 2 days in a year. During those days, we will stand outside ‘’feeling’’ the rain. Children will be playing in the rain and will be fully wet. We will forget all our problems as we will be transported to an utopian world where all are happy. Now, while typing, I am looking outside and I realize that it is very sunny with temperature reaching around 50 degrees. However I hope against hope that it will rain soon because I want to be in that Utopian world far away from all my problems.