it's raining in manipal

a very close friend of mine asked me something yesterday, "have you ever seen the rain?" and i thought, "have i?"

yes, i've seen the rain. i've seen clouds open up on a daily basis in bombay. i've seen valleys going green from brown. i've seen new waterfalls form in the mountains of the western ghats. i've seen the lightening display its wild untamed energy. i've seen nature showcase her mastery with colours in the rainbow. i've seen floods in the heartland of a state said to be a desert, yeah, kota... i've seen rains which we were sure were the beginning of the Mahapralaya. i've seen the water droplets slowly touch the parched lips of the earth in muscat, where it almost never rains....

and then i realized, maybe i had done more than just see it.......

i've smelt the rain.... the lovely whiff which rises when the soil gets wet for the first time. the one fragrance which cannot be replicated in any way. it smells of motherly affection, it smells of love, it smells of freshness... it smells of all the new flowers and leaves that grow in the season. it smells of delicious kachoris being fried in hot oil ...

and, yes, i've tasted the rain... the strangely sweet feeling in your mouth when you are singing in the park... the delicious pakoras with family in the balcony while it pours outside... curling up with a cushion and a cup of hot coffee by a french window, thinking of anything, or nothing...

and also, i've heard the rain... the gentle pitter patter of of the raindrops on the road, the rustling of the trees in the wind... the lub dup of the heartbeat on seeing that special someone walk across the road with an umbrella. the fright from a thunderbolt and the following exhileration at being alive.... the sound the stereo playing ab ke saawan in the background...

hmmm.... come to think of it... i've also touched the rain. the raindrops sliding down my skin, the wet clothes clinging to me... the wind making me shiver to the core, blowing my hair.... the puddles which put cycling on the roads of bombay next to a tour de france...

i've touched, tasted, smelt, touched, and seen the rain.... but what is more... i've felt the rain. with feelings transceding the senses, i've been transported to a new world by the rains. i've dreamt and fantasised about the rain.... i've grown up loving the rain...