My Mumbai Saga - The First Monsoon

Rains are a blessing. Fresh, soothing and cleansing. That is what you think till you see monsoons in Mumbai. The heat drives you nuts through the summer, June starts, the monsoon sets in and people are overjoyed. Just like I was when it rained on my first day in Mumbai.
I was staying over at a friend’s place for the initial period. I step out into their balcony and it had just stopped raining. The air was alive and a sense of relief sat on all things living after the long harsh summer. It seemed like the trees were smiling. Gulmohar trees. If you are from Bangalore you have lived around Gulmohar and Ashoka tress all your life. They spell home wherever you see them. So 1000km away looking out of the balcony, I was home. I never realised, how necessary it was to draw parallels, in order to feel comfortable in a new place. Most of the times these resemblances are only in your head, but help you pull through a lot of things that might have otherwise been alien. I loved the rains for bringing new life into these trees and me. But that was just for a week. Then I really just wanted the rains to stop. Truly, everything and everyone in Mumbai work over time. Even rains. They do not cease and you slopping and sloshing to work, where you are freezing in the winds of the uncontrolled AC. Try, just try drying your clothes and you will know the importance of sunshine for all things living. There is water everywhere. It is a site of total chaos. However you travel you get wet. There is no escaping it. Only good thing, the trains ceased a few times and you didn’t have to go to work (well you worked over time to compensate, but some momentary pleasure?).
All that said people here have mastered the art of living with the downpour. Shoes and change of clothes in office, back up umbrellas, thin and dark coloured clothes and drying clothes under the fan. People always find a way. Enough for us to believe we will be able to live anywhere. Even Mars.
My first Mumbai Monsoon was thus. First time I was living with a friend. Lovely ladies, all four who, inhabited that apartment. I will tell you more about them soon. #myMumbaiSaga

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