This is exactly what many of you must be feeling this week, isn’t it? Since the turn of the year there have been number of occasions when the rain has arrived unexpected and uninvited. Many people were saying that it won’t rain enough this year. Some were predicting a delayed monsoon starting no sooner than in July. But as always, the monsoon has proved everyone wrong, and it has arrived all guns blazing!

It is still only the last week of June and already the Local Railway has successfully collapsed twice! The disaster management is as always disastrous! Many areas have suffered flooding and the traffic has been badly affected too. When it comes to all this, the monsoon is really the culprit! People get stuck at places for hours, even days sometimes, lose important documents and belongings due to floods, get drowned and what not! And there is one common dialogue everywhere, “saala ye baarish ko bhi Ab hi aana tha?” Or “is barish ne to puri waat laga di!!” You might add a couple of swear words if you were a guy talking to his friends.

I have never blamed the rain! In fact I am in love with this season! And as the saying goes, ‘Every dog has its day!’ It was taught in school days that the monsoon arrives during the months of June to September! And so it does every year! It’s we who don’t prepare ourselves accordingly. More than us the government which seldom learns.

If all public services were to stay in ideal working conditions, who wouldn’t love the monsoons! It is the most beautiful season of the year! I still cherish the smell of the earth and all the childhood memories attached to it. Playing in the muddy field and getting dirty was the best way to enjoy the monsoon. And you got free showers on the way back home. I realised this as I was on my way back home from office the other day. I realised that we used to love the rains back in those days because we were as carefree as the rain itself. Now we can’t afford such attitude. Maybe that’s a consequence of being an adult.

But let’s just back up a little and imagine what would happen if we had no worries. No tension of getting up early, and reaching the office on time and that too through the mess that gets created in this monsoon. Just imagine, I wake up and I see that the rain hasn’t stopped all night. It is as if Lord Indra forgot to give the stop command. I get worried and switch the TV on to check if there are updates regarding local trains or road traffics. I find no news so I check my whatsapp, NDTV, TOI and all other new updates on the phone just to be sure. I see nothing but lousy good morning messages on whatsapp. I check the live train timetable and see that all trains are running on time. I’m relieved and to an extent surprised, so I go and make myself a tea with extra ginger. I fetch the newspaper from the front door. I sit by the window with the newspaper in one hand and my adrak wali chai in other, the constant sound of rain filling the silence; almost creating a trance. I have my breakfast, get ready and leave for office in a couple of hours. The rain has never stopped even a bit. I reach the station to see all trains running on time in spite of the heavy rain. I get down at my stop and reach office before time! Isn’t that just another day at the office?

It’s sad when I realise that the above paragraph is not going to be a reality at least this year. We have 3/4 monsoon left before us. I just wish that we don’t have to face another round of breakdowns and delays and floods. This city feels magical during these rainy days, so I wish that people get more time to witness the beauty of Mumbai during the monsoons. I wish people can enjoy the garama garam kanda bhaji or Makke ka Bhutta on the beach, while getting drenched in the rain. And I wish that we all have a wonderful rainy season ahead!

So kids, stop singing ‘Rain Rain, go away!’ It’s time we celebrate! It’s time to get dirty and play some real games rather than Candy Crush and Angry Birds!

Have a rainy weekend ladies and gentlemen! See you soon!

Abhijeet Jog