Rain.

 

This evening, it was raining here in Chennai,  which reminded me of the monsoon season back in my hometown, Vadakara. Here’s a piece of something that I wrote last year, of one such rainy morning,  which I felt too silly to share back then. But now, I miss that rain and how it made me feel. And most importantly,  I am at a loss for words to express how nostalgic I feel right now, so I had to rely on something that I wrote back when I had the time and heart to play with words.


“It has been raining since I woke up today. It was the kind of rain that did not disturb anything in its way. The clouds were thick, leaving only a shimmer of a gap to let the sunlight feel the wetness in the ground. Raindrops fell on the leaves, making them wobble their heads as if dancing to the rhythm of the rain. Small diamond-shaped water droplets clung to the edge of the leaves, only to fall for the next droplet to take their place on the edge.  The air on my way to the temple pond was filled with a distinct smell of wetness, an aroma filled with memories of childhood.  It was pretty early in the morning, so the sound of the birds chirping could be heard, although it was muffled by the sound of raindrops hitting my umbrella.

The pond is a lot bigger than the one I went to when I was a kid. In that small pond, I learned how to swim. Though they are different in size, when I was standing there today, I felt a similar level of ecstasy that I felt when I was that kid learning how to swim. The anticipation I had when I saw the green water wobbling from every drop of rain was the same as I felt back then. The increase in heartbeat, eyes opening wide, and the restlessness of a kid who wants to enjoy every core moment of his childhood. I had all of those feelings that I thought I had only in my memories. I undressed quickly, leaving only my shorts, as if not to waste a second, and ran towards the pond. Mouth open with a crazy smile, eyes wide open to see every moment, I jumped, spreading my arms and legs with sheer joy.  I was mid-air, waiting for the water to engulf me, like I wanted to be buried inside, to be covered with silence and cold water. And it did cover me. The bubbles that formed from the impact of my fall caressed my body as they went upwards. It was every bit as joyful as I felt it when I was a kid. I am a frequent visitor to this big pond, but something in the air today felt heavy with a nostalgic joy. When I was running towards that pond, I was once again that small boy. The anticipation, the restlessness, the sheer joy, the silence inside the water, the tickling sensation of bubbles touching me- everything felt like I was experiencing for the first time. It was not nostalgia, but for a moment, I became that kid. Experiencing it all for the first time. I swam in the pond for an hour, and the rain was just as how when I woke up. As it was existing and doing its job, and I was just another organism who was enjoying its touch."