Mundane Musings

 Until a month ago, one of our favourite rant, barring the Covid 19 ones, has been the muggy, sweaty, humid weather we have been facing in Chennai. It gave us a certain pleasure to wring the words out of our mouths and twist them into displeasure and scrunched up faces to make up for the rivulets of sweat running down our backs. When will there be rain? When will this terrible weather leave us? When will I be able to breathe through this thick fog that has taken residence in front of my nose? Some added a few colourful swear words to make up for the utter desolation.  The dull gray July skies Looks beautiful, but oh god it was so humid And now we have rains. Yes, it has been raining since Deepavali. As if regular monsoon wasn't enough to make up for the angst of the few months, the rain gods have showered this depression induced deluge down our throats to silence our ungrateful, wagging tongues. So yes, we are having a superlative weather - if you may call the cloudy sun-less ...

It's raining, it's pouring, The old man is snoring He went to bed  And bumped his head And couldn't get up in the morning In other words, it is raining in Chennai. It's raining in a place where the only weather conditions are mild summer, medium summer, melt your pants off summer, a blink and you miss rainy season with a whiff of winter. And now we have been assailed by four systems, with a fifth one getting ready to join the fourth. Whew! That's a lot of rain and people are complaining of everything and sundry. My blog was supposed to be as regular as our normal monsoon forecast but it has languished unnoticed for more than a year. Procrastinators like me have plenty of reasons for not completing a task and in this case though I'm tempted to blame it on the weather, I have to own up that I was actually waiting for the perfect moment. Ahem...and no, that's a genuine reason; not a procrastinator's excuse. But all these limiting thoughts asi...

It’s raining! Yippee it’s raining. I am prancing about, jumping with joy. Because it is raining. I could keep repeating this sentence for the whole of today and still not tire of it. It’s raining! Whoop! I love the rain. I never did for a long time in the past, but now I do. I love the rain. In Chennai, that too. For the uninitiated let me explain the previous sentence. When, if you look outside your window and see a large body of muddy water creeping up to the doorway of your house, bringing with it debris of all kinds – half eaten, faded film posters, twigs and leaves, excreta, sewage and insects then you’d agree that it is not at all nice when it rains in Chennai. When all you can see through the haze of the rain is a cluster of grimy buildings, painted in garish yellow or 'jaal' (eye-blinding) pink years ago, instead of lush greenery, then yes, it is Chennai we are talking of. If you are one of those unfortunates who is stranded mid-way from any de...

Hmmm so the rains are slowly tiptoeing in. Chennai has been facing intermittent light rains for the past few days. This post has been long pending. I somehow feel I have a connection with the rains. I generally write one blog atleast on the rains. This post is not a list of the top rain songs in Hindi. My friend had forwarded one such list called the GreatBong Rain Song List which was pretty interesting. If you guys are quite the 90s movie buff then the songs will sound familiar. Here is the link to that: http://greatbong.net/2011/07/09/the-greatbong-rain-song-list/#more-25570 But lets get back to my post. I am uploading just one video from the movie Manzil (1979) featuring Amitabh Bacchan and Moushmi Chatterjee. I love this song, for a number of reasons. 1. Moushmi and Amitabh...what a combination. She looks like a kid skipping along as she tries to match the tall man's stride. 2. Amitabh was an established hero by 1979 with Namak Halal, Zanjeer, Sholay etc under his bel...

Stealthy at first, blink and you miss, The initial clues it leaves behind So tiny so far in between And then it grows in number and strength Assaulting you when you least expect. Rain…the manna to the parched soil As it pounds away the dryness, Scattering slick mud everywhere, Giving nourishment to the thirsty soul Rain…its come…oh blessed rain The leaves become their verdant self Nodding happily as they wash themselves Off grime and dust laid upon their fragile self The summer so harsh had left behind Water gurgles down the drain Competing with the patter of the rain As it falls on the tin roofs and shades And runs to meet the water on the roads and lanes Together they flow washing away the filth Purging away the bleak hot days Bringing in the cool earthy scent Oh look! It’s raining. Come celebrate! Come wash away the pain and strain And swish and swirl into a clean clean world.