Every year, every child I know here prays for heavy rains. And, on most years, the rain Gods answer the collective prayers!
About 40-50% of the school kids here have to cross streams & travel through forests & plantations, to reach school. The chances of blocked roads due to fallen trees and flash floods in streams are very high during the peak monsoon. Fearing stranded children, the Block Education Office declares 2-3 days' holidays to schools whenever there is a non-stop, heavy downpour for 3-4 days....now you know why our children pray!
Quite magically, the intensity of the rain decreases from Day 1 of the holidays ... God letting us know on whose side He is !
As it is, in these parts, monsoon is non-stop, steady rain for 100+ days. Some of my friends, in their 80s, tell me that the monsoon now is nothing compared to the monsoon of their youth! They mean that back then, the rains were heavier and lasted for about 150 days!
The rains may not be the same, but, the woes brought about by them don't seem to have changed at all. The woes that I'm about to list are the same woes that my elderly friends complain about.... Getting up in the morning, managing the kid, who frequently has the 'I - don't - feel - like - going - to - school - today - :'( ' mood, extremely erratic power supply, clothes that seem to be perpetually wet, molt and a musty odour that clings to upholstery, blankets & clothes, slush, puddles & slippery pathways, chills, ills,.....
Then, there are the various bugs, slugs, frogs, insects, snakes & other fellow creatures who seek shelter in your home. And then, there are family members - who lock themselves up and refuse to have anything to do with chasing these unwanted guests - this last woe seems to be exclusively mine :(
Of course, all these woes seem negligible when we see/ hear about the water shortage woes faced by people elsewhere, sometimes, as early as Jan - Feb.
Thank rains! For not allowing us to know the meaning of the term 'water shortage'!
Touch wood!!!
About 40-50% of the school kids here have to cross streams & travel through forests & plantations, to reach school. The chances of blocked roads due to fallen trees and flash floods in streams are very high during the peak monsoon. Fearing stranded children, the Block Education Office declares 2-3 days' holidays to schools whenever there is a non-stop, heavy downpour for 3-4 days....now you know why our children pray!
Quite magically, the intensity of the rain decreases from Day 1 of the holidays ... God letting us know on whose side He is !
As it is, in these parts, monsoon is non-stop, steady rain for 100+ days. Some of my friends, in their 80s, tell me that the monsoon now is nothing compared to the monsoon of their youth! They mean that back then, the rains were heavier and lasted for about 150 days!
The rains may not be the same, but, the woes brought about by them don't seem to have changed at all. The woes that I'm about to list are the same woes that my elderly friends complain about.... Getting up in the morning, managing the kid, who frequently has the 'I - don't - feel - like - going - to - school - today - :'( ' mood, extremely erratic power supply, clothes that seem to be perpetually wet, molt and a musty odour that clings to upholstery, blankets & clothes, slush, puddles & slippery pathways, chills, ills,.....
Then, there are the various bugs, slugs, frogs, insects, snakes & other fellow creatures who seek shelter in your home. And then, there are family members - who lock themselves up and refuse to have anything to do with chasing these unwanted guests - this last woe seems to be exclusively mine :(
Of course, all these woes seem negligible when we see/ hear about the water shortage woes faced by people elsewhere, sometimes, as early as Jan - Feb.
Thank rains! For not allowing us to know the meaning of the term 'water shortage'!
Touch wood!!!
Thanks Nanda Kishor :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for being my regular reader too :)