Dear Summer
I wish I could tell you that I like you. But I don’t…
Dear Summer,
You are finally here and I wish I could tell you that I like you. But I don’t. I apologize for my bluntness. I blame my place of birth for it also. Living in a tropical country makes me want to skip summer and welcome autumn directly. I wait for those days impatiently when the dew starts to descend on the night bringing coolness to the Earth’s surface. How I wish spring or autumn superseded you!
The day when I feel you in my body in the form of sweat beads rolling from my forehead, I start to harbour a dislike towards you. I start the morning breathing the cool, fresh air outside but then the intensity of the sunlight slowly increases replacing the coolness with unbearable heat which gives my skin a sunburn if I stand out for too long. When the mercury dips a bit and the monsoons arrive bringing respite from the sultry weather, the animosity lessens to a certain degree but then the concomitant floods after the heavy rains set the mood in the negative again.
But taking a note from my life lessons, I tend not to focus on the bad things for long. I am acquainted with the fact that every creation of Nature has both goodness and evil in them. So, I try to see the good in you. To give you a chance to rise to your glory from a different perspective. And not surprisingly, you do provide respite from the swelter you emanate. You bring the monsoons with you and with its advent, the parched lands owing to the dry winter season start brimming with greenery, the whole landscape shines to its brightest colours after the dust and grime are washed away and the farmers could make their ends meet by planting rice in the paddy fields and look forward to a rich harvest. And though I am an adult, the intense desire of floating a paper boat in the puddles after a heavy shower seeps in thus rendering me a chance to relive my childhood memories and the petrichor always leaves me in a happy state of mind.
And so, I am grateful to you for that.
You give me a reason to come out from my multiple layers of clothes and don my shorts and let me feast on ice cream whenever I like.
And I can make amends with you for that.
I hope this letter doesn’t fan your flames. Please don’t take it as “throwing shades” and lower your cool factor by giving me a deep tan the next day. I don’t volunteer as a tribute for that.
Yours in a light banter,
Rumi
©Rumi_Snwl
