In favour of the rain
Let’s be clear: we’re not thinking London here. We’re talking parched Indian earth that’s hot and cracked, flaking off dust that coats everything from the leaves to the curtains, waiting to be quenched.
There’s so much art, poetry, and song around the rain that you can’t deny the monsoon is our country’s definitive season. Even a Hindustani classical music novice has heard of raag Megh Malhar that is supposed to have the power to summon the dark clouds. In art, lovers pine in miniature paintings, mirroring the turbulence of the weather. Is there music to summon the sun? Or art that stirs you the same way, except for the yellow sun our kids painted in class II, and we smiled and said, ‘Very pretty’?
We just don’t long for the sun in quite the same way we long for the rain.
Tropical thunderstorms are a thing of awe and beauty, and while I admit they do cause havoc with floods, these are mostly manmade. The sun, on the other hand, with its incessant beating down, causes drought, sun stroke, skin cancer – do I need to go on? It forces us to use air-conditioning which then leads to high electricity bills, poor air circulation, and more chores around the gadget leading to household clashes about whose responsibility servicing the thing is.
The rain, on the other hand, brings us together, with chai and pakoras , gets us in a good mood, and turns us into better human beings. Rain: check.
Sunalini Mathew hopes to play in the rain in her second childhood, because her first is too far gone
Let the sun shine
There are few things worse than getting caught in a downpour when you are wearing your new pair of mojris. You decided to wear them anyway, hoping that the clouds might just pass. But Murphy’s Law was made just for rain. Another time you decide to wear a sari to work, it happens again, and God bless you if you had chosen public conveyance that day.
Frivolities aside, having always lived in Kerala with its two months of non-stop rainfall, has driven the romance out of rain. While my fellow debator and other pluviophiles find joy and delight in it, most times, beauty fades away before practicality.
Imagine walking into a house that constantly smells of damp clothes. Imagine not being able to go on an evening walk and watch the sunset. Imagine being holed up at home watching the grey monotony of rain? Though in these pandemic times, that is exactly what we are doing, at least the sun makes everything brighter.
It may not have inspired Classical music, but the sun sure gives you Vitamin D. Agreed, everyone loves a sudden cloudburst in summer, but it has to remain a short spell and not go on like a certain TV channel mourning a VIP.
The rain has almost become synonymous with floods in most parts of the country and a nagging worry for a number of people. We need rain, as it sustains life; but there really is nothing more joyful than waking up to blue skies. And yes, pakoras taste as good in sunshine if you pair it with a cool mint lemonade.
Anasuya Menon is a lone warrior, who braves the flood of rain-inspired melodrama on social media
In this column, we pit two icons against each other
