Ever since I saw Raj Kapoor and Nargis in the song ‘Pyar hua Ikraar hua’ my idea of monsoon romance was sealed- A single umbrella with me hanging onto a love that could have very well been my Siamese Twin. But that was a long time ago.
As time passed by along with all of my romantic illusions, I was forced to reconcile to the scientific definition of rains-‘Water condensed from atmospheric vapor, falling in drops’, if unprepared, drenches you whether you like it or not (my addition).
So here I was today, a prisoner of my own doings, trapped in a 1200 square feet house, all alone and lonely. The noisy pitter-patter of the rain was not enough to keep me company and with love nowhere in sight to share this broody moment, the decision was almost instantaneous. I decided to romance myself.
Armed with nothing but a plastic in my pocket, I set out in my fancy Reeboks for a long walk on the clouds- minus my Keanu Reeves.
The clouds had burst alright. Everyone was scurrying around looking for some kind of shelter. I, on the other hand marched along like a giggly kid on the back roads of an overcrowded neighborhood. The idea was to romance and not run from it; and romance I did.
Within minutes I was drenched. Most of the water though, came from the speeding cars that were having a hay day with me. Luckily their sadism ended at my hips. I opened my mouth and saved my Bisleri money. It was magical tasting the pureness of the rain against the wetness of your own lips. For once the smell of the gutter and the garbage dumpers didn’t matter. They had made peace with the air, and my nose.
As I trudged along dodging some wickedly curious glances, I mutely welcomed a fellow mad woman who was as soaked in ecstasy as me. Initially, it was just a knowing smile when our eyes met and followed each other, perhaps thinking- ‘I know what you did this monsoon’ but on the way back as I bumped into her, she let out a loud guffaw and unanimously said the word ‘Refreshing’. We sounded more like a Liril ad and I guess, looked like one too. But who cared.
My journey continued as I saw three dogs huddled together to discuss the night’s dinner; a family of centipedes rushing to a home which seemed so far away or perhaps anywhere. On a bark laden with the memories of many monsoons, a mother pigeon lovingly blanketed her baby with her own body and somewhere far on the banks of (what I now thought as) the river, a group of storks strutted along the river bank. Their feast had just begun.
Mother Nature knows best. She never fails to mesmerize or surprise and today too she surprised me. I was witness to an arranged marriage of sorts; the sewer and the canal, the soil and the water. Hope surged within as I watched them embrace with wanton urgency, long lost souls embarking on an unknown journey together. Looking at them rejoice it was difficult not to believe, marriages are indeed made in heaven.
My walk was coming to an end but the experience had just begun. I had seen myself oscillating between the brash and brazen girl that left her apartment, disillusioned by love and a girl now soaked in the shyness and realization of her own wet soul.
There was solace in feeling the clouds pour down on you. It’s like someone has slapped you in the face with a gust of life and forced you to live. So I lived.
My Keanu Reeves may never be my Raj Kapoor and he might just be lost in his own clouds. But as long as the clouds burst, I will continue being the eternal romantic.
And so did the guy who breezed by on a cycle singing ‘Ik Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si…
