The Right Attitude to Rain

I feel inexplicably elated today. I love the rain. And as I watched the raindrops pelt to the earth this afternoon, I felt a sudden surge of pure joy. One of those incredibly beautiful moments when you are just happy to be alive and are unaware of everything else. Coming from a tropical land as I do, one would think I was used to the monsoons. But I still love the smell of wet earth with the first drops of rain and I still wonder at the sheer beauty of the landscape transformed by rain. I love the way the sea rages in a storm, the waves crashing to the shore and I loving falling asleep to the lullaby of thunder. When I was in Delhi I loved getting wet in the rain on the terrace in my oh-so-beautiful house. Why is it that my heart feels twisted whenever I think of Delhi. My Delhi. I hope you know that I didn't want to leave.

For the rest of my life, when I think of rain, there will be two memories- one is from several years ago, when I stood at the window of my house and saw the trees and fields outside in the rain, illuminated by lightning. I remember closing my eyes and telling myself that this was a perfect moment- a moment when I was happy by myself. The other is from last year. I was walking through the market in Delhi in the rain and caught a glimpse of a girl with a curly mop of hair in a shop window. It took me a few seconds to recognise myself with the rainy-day hair. How well we know ourselves?

NP and I had a conversation last night about such moments. He thinks one needs to be with someone while experiencing such moments- so that you tie your experience down with a shared memory. I think you need to experience such moments alone- unaffected by any other presence. Just you living in that moment. Wholly. We both agreed that it was usually not possible to articulate such moments and that even memories can be treacherous.