Petrichor Of Anecdotes From My Life
A Short Story Competition I Won
‘Monsoons’, the word always brooks visions of fresh showers, misty air, lush green fields and forests, wet landscapes emanating fertility, and the quenching of parched summer earth. A season of rejuvenation and smiles with the much-awaited transcending earthly scent of petrichor.
The season had no relevance to me as a child except for the hilarious dance with abandon, splashing in the cool rains, and colony friends. Though mom never failed to holler intermittently to come inside, she did not stop me from getting drenched in those refreshing natural sprinklers.
On the scary side, leeches were a menace during rains in Assam. I remember after one such rain dance, mom found a leech on my back while getting changed into dry clothes. It had sucked my blood till it got bloated to the size of a snail. Imagine?
If you have never experienced leeches, remember never to try plucking them out, it causes a deep wound and is very painful. Just add a pinch of salt, and instantly it loosens the vacuum-suckers-hold and falls.
Usually, during our teens or pre-university days, the best smiles appear when we rebel against something prohibited. Right? Same case here. I was given an umbrella with instructions to get a rickshaw (the human-pedalled tricycled ones) if it started pouring heavily. Did I follow the code of conduct? Nope!
But, I always geared well to prevent any collateral damage. My books and other academic paraphernalia were always packed in a thick plastic bag within the school bag, along with the umbrella, without my mom’s knowledge.
Me and my friends (who preferred walking the 3kms to school rather than hustling in a city bus), enjoyed the rain walk very much. I must add, despite the surety of being reprimanded right at the threshold of home each time.
College days were no different but rarely got chances to enjoy it, because of the jam-packed schedule of B.Sc academics. Yet, one scene flashes through the kaleidoscope of memories, when we girls of the colony converged one rainy day, on the terrace of a friend whose parents were away for some reason.
We enjoyed the splashing after a long time that evening. Unfortunately, neither did we have mobiles in those days nor the luxury of using the family reel camera, to capture those cherished happy moments.
I remember, after the rain bath we all came down for a hot shower with lots of teasing and rampaging the wardrobe of the friend, and then enjoyed some self-made ganjan wali chai and pakodas.
Some reminiscences of solitude also accompany these wisps of memories. Wishes or naive dreams to have a special companion to share some monsoon-drenched special moments. So, when the time came to get married, these desires preened themselves, innocently anticipating them to become reality.
But then, crude practicality struck its chords and jolted me out of the dreamy stupor. The memories of monsoons in that phase of life, hardly evoke any smiles now. All the monsoons got drowned in the unfruitful attempts to fulfil the overbearing and relentlessly inhibiting family demands.
This was the phase that gradually made me glean that, some people are not fortunate enough to expect anyone else to bother about one’s dreams. The saddest part in life is not when you are alone, but when you are made to feel lost and lonely by all the so-called dear ones around you.
One day I broke away from the shackles of that humiliating and mentally torturous phase and only then, could I behold the rainbow once again. I could also capture the clouds flying past a faraway mountain or record a monsoon-cleansed farm while travelling.
On the flip side, the rain is not as divine as four decades ago. Now they pour down, loaded with the silts of our urban smoky wastes, reacting into an acidic deluge burning away our natural immunity or the fertility of the lands.
I don’t know if I will be able to splash in the rain again. Not that anyone can stop me now if I want to, but I have to accept the crude fact that the body has lost its capacity to enjoy the cascading sky. I suffer from severe sinusitis and my nerves or muscles cramp if I stay too long in water even during household chores. In short, my brittle bones have already started groaning and rattling.
But now, I enjoy watching the downpour with some soulful music and a cuppa of caffeine. My legacy is carried on by my daughter, as she too gets drenched most of the time while the umbrella sulks in her bag.
So, dear readers if you are still healthy and young at heart or have kids who can still enjoy the blessed rain, then don’t miss or let them miss out on a chance to know the bliss of a nature bath. Create some petrichor of memories for the times when you will search for reasons and vibes to smile.
I don’t know why, but I hear this One Direction song echoing in my consciousness right now. I also remember the first time we friends had heard Shubha Mudgal’s Abke Saawan.
Since then, the song has never failed to evoke the instinct to dance in the rain with abandon, Again! I hope the readers have enjoyed my monsoon anecdotes, so why not enjoy these songs too? So, till the next time, tap into the musical links and have a memorable and boosting monsoon 2022. Sayonara!
Watch and enjoy the rain — Ab ke saawan
Enjoy One Direction
Note: Written in British English. I won this competition conducted by Digital Writopreneurs Academy, for a cash prize in July 2022.
Hope you all enjoyed the story. Would be glad to get your feedback. Share your moments in the rain as well. I know I have been away for a long time, but I am sure you are still there to read my stories again.
Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) Ravyne Hawke Marcus aka Gregory Maidman Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles ILLUMINATION Meri Krueger ✏️Pencil + Ashes (Ash) Sehjot Ahuja Loren Kantor Upreet Khanna Amit Tiwari | Digital Writopreneur Kelly Walter Cher Hin Chong
