Monday, September 13, 2010

Sleeping with the Monsoon


I was pretty tired and must have fallen into the tranquil comfort of sleep well before midnight. I was alone in that house in Cochin. My friend Sree and family left for Coiambatore leaving me in charge of the regularly unkempt house and the big Great Dane, Motti. Various matters as usual tired me, by late evening ,and the sleep was a welcome visitor.
 I do not know when it began but I woke up at the sound of the music- drum beat and jingle of the rain. It was pouring and in torrents. I lie in bed and saw through the curtains on the window, the monsoon- by night- at its zestful best in Kerala. And I began enjoying its goodness after many years. Living in Tamilnad for the last twenty odd years had its deprivation. An incessant torrential downpour was one. The monsoon does not visit my part of Tamilnad as it does the total of Kerala.

Through the curtains, I could see the heavy rain drops by the hazy light on the street. They were slanted and nearly twisted by the wind. I lay there in bed in all the comfort and peace that only dreams could give. I travelled back years to relive certain days and nights as such during height of monsoon. There were nights when I used to lie cuddled under the sheet listening to the torrent outside and wishing that it pours and pours through day break and school could be done away with. Myriad stories from the times when I was little, the lore connected with rain and rainy days that I picked from the oldies then, went through my mind. It was browbeating rain outside. I seemed to hear every drop of the wonder out there.
I thought of the years that went by. And now into the later part of life, the sound of the rain still holds amazing sway over the mind. Like ones mother, Nature has her many ways to fan you and sooth, the music of rain was one such way. It was a lullaby from up above.

I thought of the book that I read long ago written by Alexander Frater, “Chasing the Monsoon”. It became a highly noted BBC film too. The book documented Fraters journey from Kovalam off Thiruvananthapuram with the arrival of the monsoon clouds. His visit to the men at the observatory in Thiruvannathapuram, and their crude ways of predicting the monsoon; his travel by boat from Quilon and following the downpour right through Kerala , into Goa and beyond till the north east.

I had the sudden urge to get out of the bed and walk in the rain. But the comfort and cosiness of the bed, the thin sheet spread over my torso, the cool pleasant air ,the flapping of the curtains at the persistent gentle howl of the wind, and the music outside touched me much that amongst the thoughts I fell back into sleep- I slept that night with “the monsoon”.



11 comments:

Insignia said...

Wonderful description of your emotions. Rain brings joy and mental peace. You seem to have got that.

RGB said...

Rain is magical isn't it! What it does to our minds is much like what it does to make the soil fertile, adding to the lush green.

Shilpa Garg said...

Oh yes, rains have that effect!! Very beautifully described!! :)

anilkurup59 said...

@ Insignia

Well that was a splendid night savouring the rains.

@RGB
Yea You are right magic of nature.

@Shilpa Garg

Yes indeed .
Thanks

Balachandran V said...

Dey, you forgot to add how many nightcaps you had! ;D

Your solitude was a major factor in your ability to appreciate the rain, wasn't it? In solitude, we become more aware of our environment, ourselves...

Made good reading.

anilkurup59 said...

@ Balachandran,
Dey honestly I would not have woken up if the night caps were one too many.
Perhaps as you mentioned being alone made the difference and the rain!!!!!

Kavita Saharia said...

Joys of life lie hidden in such small things -its only sometimes that we are able to see,find and feel them.

What a beautiful description !

anilkurup59 said...

@ Kavitha,
Thanks for the appreciation

Arun Meethale Chirakkal said...

You've captured the monsoon magic so beautifully! One of the best things I used to do during monsoon back home in Kerala was to watch the rain at night, in the brightness of fluorescent lamps. It's like an endless supply of silver threads.

I just wonder why no one pointed out the spelling error in the heading. Just like your friend I too spent my weekend in Coimbatore.

anilkurup59 said...

@Arun Meethale Chirakkal

First thanks for pointing the error.Silly I did not notice and as you mentioned others too.
I guess it is pin pointing such errors how so ever trivial that are of greater value than the general appreciation.
It is in fact difficult to express in apt words the feelings rain, I mean monsoon in Kerala bring forth.

The Holy Lama said...

Nice read. Could experience it.