A shower to remember

Raindrops keep falling on my head… the song must have found a place again to live on the lips of most of the Mumbaikars now, as the city and its people are immersed, rather enjoying the so-called unpredictable Mumbai monsoon.

For every Mumbaikar, monsoon has given different experiences and so is the case with me. Over the years growing up in this city (though I don’t stay anymore in the city, I have moved to its suburbs years ago) and watching its monsoon showers has left an indelible experience.

I can still remember the Saturday half-day afternoon at Utkarsha Bal Mandir School, Vikhroli, from where I did my first seven years of schooling. The peon rang the last class bell and then we all started packing our bags. When I was assembling my belongings, I realised that the monsoon was going to break that day, as there was a smell of rain in the air. So I quickly stuffed my books and decided to leave school and reach home as early as possible.

But the moment I stepped out, a large drop of rain hit my face. When I looked upwards, I saw that a curtain of black clouds was hovering above the whole vicinity. The clouds thundered badly and in the nick of time, the monsoon rain descended. I thought that the rain god must have received the message of my departure.

Since childhood, I never liked to get soaked in the rain. I prefer a stroll in the drizzle with an umbrella covering my head or like to sit next to the window looking at the raindrops dripping from the leaves or stand in the balcony watching the heavy downpour.

But that day the mood of the then ten-year-old-me was intoxicated by the mist and sweet fragrance of the earth. The raindrops were playing melodious music, khasa-khasa-khasa, that lured me to hop and dance with exhilaration. The umbrella that I took out, I tucked back into my bag and then with a big smile I started running under the natural shower.

I barely reached the BEST bus stop nearby, which was a half-a-minute distance from my school, the speed of rain increased. Drenching me almost. So I stopped at the bus stop, anticipating that the rain might stop in some time. But to my surprise, the wind became even gustier and the amount of thundering increased, pouring rainwater heavily.

My school friends, who ran with me, left me at the bus stop to dry up alone under its shade. But nature had something else in its mind. It didn’t allow me to dry. The rushing wind splashed rainwater all over my body, dousing me more than what I was.

The descending rain reminded me the legend of holy Ganga, who at the request of King Bhagirath came down on the earth from heaven by meandering through Shiva’s hair lock to wash away the ashes of his ancestors. I thought, maybe the myth was repeating itself? Maybe someone had supplicated the rain god to wash away the pile of sins on earth.

But another splash of rainwater brought me back to the reality and made me realise that at 3.30pm there was no one on the street. The BEST buses were nowhere to be seen and it seemed that the rickshawallas had gone on a holiday all at once. Few shops were open nearby but that too partly, as the gusty wind was carrying rainwater in every corner.

When I peered from the bus stop at the common-balcony buildings around, I discovered that the dark clouds enveloped them and every house door in the building were closed, as the downpour forced families to stay in their home.

Looking at the scenario, I got worried and scared. I prayed to the lord to stop this menace quickly because I missed my home terribly. I waited there for some time. But I think the Lord himself had gone for a siesta, letting one of his avatars Lord Indra to do what he wanted to do. Rain heavily.

I was just like a typical child, who used to get stubborn if something goes against his wishes. I understood that my prayers would be unheard. So I determined to go against the law of nature. Instead of standing secure at one corner under the bus stop, I decided to run in that heavy rainfall. Run so fast that even the gusty winds will find impossible to get a hold of me. As taking out the umbrella and walking under the mad rainfall would've been a bad decision.

I held my school bag tightly, took a deep breath, and then like a sprinter I moved my feet off the ground at such a speed that it was immeasurable.

But the moment I started running in the open and empty road that became rivulet after a continuous downpour, I realised that the drops were big and bold enough hitting me hard and prickling like a pin on my face. So I looked down to cover it but the idea turned out to be futile, as the drops started hammering my head.

The accumulated water in my hair flowed like a stream throughout my face down to my torso and to the limbs, which depleted my energy, giving me an exhausted feeling. My teeth started trembling, as the cool breeze found its way in my body, inducing cold shiver all through my body.

When I reached my building, what I saw was not a playing ground between two each other facing common-balcony buildings but a pool of rainwater that was brown in colour. So I made my way by jumping bit-by-bit on the stones that emerged from the newly formed pool to reach the entrance of my building.

I reached the entrance rapidly and then forgetting about the slippery staircase, I ran through it by putting steps alternately.

Happiness ran across my body, as I climbed the staircases.

I knocked the doorknob and within seconds my mom opened the door. At first, she gave a surprised look, which was obvious. But then instead of scolding me, she laughed and pulled me inside and then went in to bring a towel to wipe me like a newborn baby.

It has been more than a decade now but still, I can feel the droplets of rainwater on my face. Maybe because that was the only time in my life I enjoyed having a natural shower.