“Every time it rains the soil counts every drop to know exactly how many times to thank god’ ___Mehmud Murediiden.

The Indian summer scorches and sears the terra firma relentlessly for 3 months . The cry of the ‘CHATAK ‘or the pied cuckoo is the harbinger of  rain. The folklore from northern and central India says it brings on good luck!

The summer heat is on the retreat,  parched souls and the cracked ,parched earth are longingly waiting for the time of rebirth ,revival and rejuvenation !

The cry of the ‘chatak’  announces the monsoon.

The first showers as they touch the dry earth release the petrichor, the essence of the union of sky and earth!

When we look out at the horizon it seems as if there is a union of earth and sky. It is an ethereal illusion. Theirs is an eternal long distance relationship! When the heavens open the sky sends its love in the form of aqua drops.The parched earth just soaks in, gulps and guzzles in every drop, becomes moist ,mushy and glazed . It ‘s God’s  grace and providence falling on parched earth ,like a kiss of life planted on earth’s cheek. There is a revival and  life sprouts all around us,making the world verdant , lush and vibrant! Mother earth’s lap is filled with abundance .

The rivers well up flowing with gusto and one can hear the sound of resurgence.  Ponds ,lakes, puddles all fill up with  this nectar of life!

There is a sense of jubilation and celebration everywhere! The frogs,toads,cicadas and the crickets indulge and break into an impromptu concert ,very rightly called the ‘Disharmonica’!

The childhood  memories of the rainy season are quintessentially about an impromptu holiday at school  due to copious rains, ‘the rainy day.  Paper boats, puddles and getting drenched in the rain. Sometimes getting ginger  tea to sip as a preventive to a bad throat and cold due to dancing and prancing in the rain ! Felt quite grown up and important,(wonder why tea was  only for the adults, milk was supposed to be for the children!)

In our sub continent there is a cultural resurgence of sorts during the monsoon months  called the shravan mass. The ‘sawan maas’ or the fifth month of the hindu calendar is one of the most  auspicious periods of the hindu calendar . One of the largest pilgrimage festivals ,the ‘Shravani Mela’  is the marquee festival of Deogarh in Jharkhand. Delhi and the monsoons have a very celebratory connection.’Phulwalon ki sair’ or the ‘Sair-e-gulfaroshan’ was celebrated  in the rainy season for centuries. It has survived until the present day. It was a popular celebration of the monsoon and its emotions.Sayid Ahmad Khan called it the coming together of the spiritual  devotion and the erotic sentiments evoked by the rain. Fazl ud-din ,a distant cousin of Bahadur Shah  zafar described the traditional references of the festival as a portrayal of Shringar rasa ,the clouds ,the peacocks,and the koyals,the lush verdant hills and trees, the flowers in bloom,the mangoes from the ‘amrais’  and the juicy purple astringent ‘jamuns’ in so much abundance that they fell from the trees before people could pluck them. In days of yore this festival brought the royalty and the common people together in revelry.The emotional experience was felt  through the senses of sight, touch and taste and sound…the calling out of  shopkeepers to sell their wares,the ladies singing sawan geet, the musicians playing the ‘nafri trumpets, shahanais, and the drums.

To understand the monsoon feelings one has to ask ,who experienced it,at which time, in which place and through which cultural beliefs and practices.

Goa has  its own peculiarity ,concerning the rains and monsoon. It receives very heavy rainfall from the south west monsoons. Monsoons in Goa usher in a short supply of fish as fishermen  do not venture out to the sea. Roads would be flooded, transportation  would be limited  ,bringing about a paucity of food items coming in.

So before the onset of monsoon ,when the months are sunny, ladies get busy stocking up on various food items which would be dear in monsoon months. Drying mackerels and Bombils on the beaches, jackfruit seeds, salted prawns, kokum in the backyard of houses. Pickling mangoes, salting and curing the famous goan sausages, potting and canning every edible item  needed! This is ‘PURUMENTH’, the food stocking ritual which every

goan house observes. ‘PURUMENTHACHEM ‘a unique fair is organized in Panaji and Margao in conjunction with a church feast   attracting vendors from near and far. People who do not have time to prepare for purumenth at home, visit the Purumenthacam fest to procure the various purumenth foods.

Sawan or the rainy months or the chaumasa (as it is referred to in Gujarat),is synonymous with festivities,fasts and rituals related to Shiv Parvati. ‘Sawan ke somvar’ fasts are observed by married women and unmarried girls too.Hariyali Teej, also are celebrated.  The daughters are given a lot of gifts and goodies. A sweet meat very particular to this time of the year is the  ‘ghewar,’ This time of the year, Janmashthmi, Lord Krishana’s bday,  Ganesh Chaturthi, for the Elephant head deity, Ganesha .

Aesop once , poignantly opined ‘After the rain cometh the fair weather.’Some rain must fall on all lives ,sometimes or the other….eventually the rainbow appears.You want the vibrance of the rainbow and the elusive pot of gold at its end, then be prepared for a sporadic downpour on some days! The most beautiful facet of the tiny raindrop is that it has been endowed with the miracle to show plain white light in all its glory as a spectrum of seven constituent colors! They call it the dispersion of light in lofty scientific jargon,I call it a miraculous respite from the gray bleak days bereft of any sunshine !

Raindrops or a downpour can be quite irreverent and totally apathetic about a gentleman’s bald pate or a prettily coiffured head of a lady! Rain it must even if it spoils your picnic because the farmer needs it!

Untimely showers  on someone’s wedding is such a spoiler! Then they say the bride must have partaken food straight from the  cauldron! ….and of course the delectable barbecues,with delicious aroma wafting away……..are also wary of a little drizzle also!

A very unique dimension about rain was explained by ,Anxiety and Depression specialist KIMBERLY  HERSHENSON explains, , ‘Rain produces a sound akin to white noise. The brain gets a tonic signal from white noise that decreases the need for sensory input , thus calming us down ‘ Rain is described as an example of sound which has enough variables in frequency to engage the subconscious but not enough to distract or disturb. Such noise can positively impact sleep and memory.

When Guilford good our pilot stood,
An' did our hellim thraw, man,
Ae night, at tea, began a plea,
Within America, man:
Then up they gat the maskin-pat,
And in the sea did jaw, man;
An' did nae less, in full Congress,
Than quite refuse our law, man.
                
Then thro' the lakes Montgomery takes,
I wat he was na slaw, man;
Down Lowrie's Burn he took a turn,
And Carleton did ca', man:
But yet, whatreck, he, at Quebec,
Montgomery - like did fa', man,
Wi' sword in hand, before his band,
Amang his en'mies a', man.

Poor Tammy Gage within a cage
Was kept at Boston-ha', man;
Till Willie Howe took o'er the knowe
For Philadelphia, man;
Wi' sword an' gun he thought a sin
Guid Christian bluid to draw, man;
But at New York, wi' knife an' fork,
Sir Loin he hacked sma', man.

Burgoyne gaed up, like spur an' whip,
Till Fraser brave did fa', man;
Then lost his way, ae misty day,
In Saratoga shaw, man.
Cornwallis fought as lang's he dought,
An' did the Buckskins claw, man;
But Clinton's glaive frae rust to save
He hung it to the wa', man.

Then Montague, an' Guilford too,
Began to fear, a fa', man;
And Sackville doure, wha stood the stoure,
The German chief to thraw, man:
For Paddy Burke, like ony Turk,
Nae mercy had at a', man;
An' Charlie Fox threw by the box,
An' lows'd his tinkler jaw, man.

Then Rockingham took up the game;
Till Death did on him ca', man;
When Shelburne meek held up his cheek,
Conform to gospel law, man:
Saint Stephen's boys, wi' jarring noise,
They did his measures thraw, man,
For North an' Fox united stocks,
An' bore him to the wa', man.

Then Clubs an' Hearts were Charlie's cartes,
He swept the stakes awa', man,
Till the Diamond's Ace, of Indian race,
Led him a sair faux pas, man:
The Saxon lads, wi' loud placads,
On Chatham's boy did ca', man;
An' Scotland drew her pipe an' blew,
"Up, Willie, waur them a', man!"

Behind the throne then Granville's gone,
A secret word or twa, man;
While slee Dundas arous'd the class
Be-north the Roman wa', man:
An' Chatham's wraith, in heav'nly graith,
(Inspired Bardies saw, man)
Wi' kindling eyes, cry'd, 'Willie, rise!
Would I hae fear'd them a', man!'

But, word an' blow, North, Fox, and Co.
Gowff'd Willie like a ba', man,
Till Suthron raise, an' coost their claise
Behind him in a raw, man:
An' Caledon threw by the drone,
An' did her whittle draw, man;
An' swoor fu' rude, thro' dirt an' blood,
To mak it guid in law, man.