Rainy Memories

I was having a miserable day the other day, travelling in a rickety bus from home to college, sweating like a pig...U know the whole thing bout how horses pespire, men sweat n women glow? That, my dear ladies n gentleman, is utter crap..unless i've got horse genes in me.It like a bloody dam exploded on top of my head..it's not a pretty sight i tell u..and not just on the top of my head...on the weirdest, unmentionable places too...its all trickle trickle trickle..

So anyway..I'm sitting there, miserable over having gone to all the trouble to take 2 hour bath to be back to my stinking self in just 10 mins..and suddenly..Heaven smiles at me..The piercing sun rays sorta withdraws abruptly like a girl who remembers she has'nt waxed her legs n draws em underneath her long skirt..There is a clap of thunder and then bliss...just pure bliss.. ok i admit, I'm a rain-a-holic...can't help it...some of the bestestest memories in my life have been made when the skies were crying...

I remember bein 5 or 6 years old and me and my sisters running outside the house as soon as the rains start, pausing at the door only a second to take in the heavenly smell of fresh wet ground...My mum and dad had pulled up chairs to sit at the doorway n watch us play...My dad never really forbade us from playing in the rain..

I dunno why i remember this..I sorta remember it in black n white..like an old photo from an album..its a good photo..

Whenever our cousins get together for the hols during the rainy season..we have atleast one rain dance session..So all the kids ranging from age 20-24 to 5-6 would be dancing around for all we're worth, drenched to the core until the mothers put an end to it...

An uncle once told me if i try hard enough, i can walk between the rain drops n not get wet at all...I spend half my childhood tryin to achieve that..ok ok so maybe I still do.. :-)

I experienced a hail storm for the first time in 4rth grade..But I was petrified...I missed pretty much the whole thing as I was crouched under the sofa until it ended. Thought pieces of the sky where falling down.

Another black n white photo moment is when in the 6th or 7th grade and me n my sister were trying to go to sleep in our room.We had this balcony with a huuge glass door.It starts raining and the thunder claps were loud and damn scary..I remember hugging my sister tight, telling her that the world is gonna end and we're all gonna die.Mom n Dad suddenly enters the room and gets into our bed(not sure why, maybe they were scared too)..suddenly it did'nt feel like the world was gonna end...suddenly the fierce lightning looked mesmirizing.We fell asleep together, watching the dancing lights..

10th grade- lunch break.We go out to the playground n see the kindergarten kids obediently standing underneath the foyer watching the rain.We're like "what the..." and barge outside and jump into every possible puddle.The lil kids laugh at first and then slowly one by one, they follow our lead.Their moms would probably have killed us if they had known we were responsibly for any cold/cough/fever their lil tyke manages to catch, but we were'nt about let them waste their childhood standing underneath the foyer.

I remember that my 12th board exams began on a rainy day...My classmates n I were on a bus going to the exam centre...One girl looks out of the window and says -" Hmm it's raining..Did u know that if you look up at the sky when its raining and say a prayer,whatever u pray for will happen?"

All of us where in the midst of tension and revision, so we just scoffed at her theory..But as soon as we stepped out of the bus, I saw pretty much all the girls, faces directed skyward, eyes shut firmly in concentration, hands clasped together, praying for all they're worth...including me.. :-)

I remember sitting on the rooftop of my grandma's house on a rainy day, crying over a fight with a friend and at the same time, pretending to read a book.

I remember seeing, for the first time (i'm not an avid watcher of Animal Planet) two dogs...um...gettin it on... on a rainy day. And calling them shameless creatures.. "I mean seriously, get a room!"

1st year of college...The rain is falling rite in through the huge window.. the veranda in our hostel room is flooded...As in the floors were getting wet but we treat it like a national disaster..."My books are gettin soaked! Save my books!" " Forget her books, get the food outta there!!" We spend all afternoon saving our precious possessions.

2nd year in college...Its nite time..Its raining pretty bad.My roommates and I fill our coffee mugs with ice cold sickly sweet ice tea and sneak into the forbidden terrace.Sitting in the pouring rain, we chat and drink our tea as if we're totally oblivious to the storm around us.One of us start dancing and pretty soon we're all dancing.One of us suddenly lies down flat on the floor.We follow.If u have'nt tried this, I'm tellin u pleaaaase do..Its like one of the most amazing feelings ever...can't even start to explain it..

I remember making a pact with a friend.We promised to think of each other whenever it rains.We'd give each other missed calls whenever it rained.Which was kinda silly cos sometimes it rained like 6 billion times a day....The friend is long gone..so is the friendship..the pact is also forgotten..but..

I met a special someone on a rainy day.

I realise that the special someone is not so special after all on another rainy day.

One day,I decide to move on. And its raining again.

I remember doing our journalism internship during the rainy month...running to various locations to collect stories all in the rain..walking through the highway, vehicles roaring past us, all the time the rain just kept beating down on us..Made it seem all the more filmy!

This is probably my favoritest memory of rain - the eve of my eldest sister's wedding. Its raining bad.Me n my middle sister watch the rain for a while then look at each other, grin and run outside.The place is covered with relatives and guests. Dejected, we go back into the house.

"The terrace!!" and then we run upstairs.The bride-to-be is sitting on her bed looking at her mehendi. She watches as we run into the terrace. I pop a cd in the cd player and pretty soon we're dancing our ass off. My eldest sister is watchin us with longing eyes.We're like "Don't u dare! Its ur wedding tomo..you can't afford to get sick!But we can...nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah!"

She holds back for one more sec and then "To hell with it!I'm coming too!" And joins us. So that was it. The three of us..dancing about like idiots..knowing that tomorrow things'll change..responsibilties will come up..we'll turn into wifes and mothers.I dunno if my sisters remember this incident as well as i do.For me, it was this bitter-sweet experience..

Ok i know this post is not like the rest.And it mite even seem boring to some of yall..I wrote this one for me..I don't wanna wake up one day and not remember all this.If i do, I can always read this and go "ohh yeaaaah...i remember now..."

There are many many more incidents like this..some that i cannot put up here..without askin the other people involved in the episode..

So thats my story bout the rain.I've danced in the rain,laughed in the rain, cried in the rain, sang my heart out in the rain, made a billion memories in the rain..