My Monsoon Love Hate Love Story

Last year, almost the same time, I packed every belonging of mine and landed to a place which is close to my heart. With bag and baggage, my family moved from Delhi to Lucknow. It was monsoon time when I came here and thank god I witnessed a prosperous rain. Lucknow, though smaller compared to Delhi, is a place I distinguish since childhood. The city of Nawabs is believed as the happiest city in India. As our move was well calculated, my husband and I made sure to have all those things in our lives that I missed being in Delhi. A bigger house (that we can afford), green surroundings, street food access that we missed in Delhi and people who talk in our native tongue.

The Hate Story

I hated the rain when I was in Delhi. My house was in a busy lane of a crowded Delhi locality, and I was living on the second floor of the building. Hence neither I had easy access to the road, nor to terrace. When it rained, I was forced to stay inside. Roads used to get sunk even after the rain of half an hour. It used to become so difficult to walk to the nearest metro station which was only 5 minutes walk away. I could notice trash pieces floating in the water,  still, I had to cross it with folding my jeans up. And the condition of my two room set house used to become worse. Cloths used to get hang all over;  in the balcony, inside rooms, on chairs and everywhere I could hang them.

The Love Story

It is not like I always hated the rain. I used to wait for rain in my childhood. Monsoon was my favorite season. Three-fold umbrellas were rare back them. However we had folding umbrellas that one of my uncles brought from Kerala. I loved flaunting those umbrellas to my school friends. Most of the houses had that giant black umbrella that used be so heavy and difficult to open. So, parents never let kids carry them to school. Whereas I used to carry my colorful, light and rarely found three fold umbrella in my school bag. After reaching school, if rain continued, my classmates used to come and request for my umbrellas. They all wanted to see how it could open with a single button press. I used to feel like a celebrity, believe me!

Then back home, my mother used to make pakodas for us. And as kids, my sister and I both loved fried papad. At my native place, families make a variety of papad and chips around Holi. They used to literally stock them for the whole year. And the best time to enjoy papad was when it rained outside. My mother used to serve pakoda and papad with tulsi tea. As kids, we were not given tea on a regular basis, but occasionally like this, we had tulsi tea. The reason was obvious, to keep monsoon bugs at bay Tulsi leaves with its enormous benefits was the most preferred remedy of mothers of that time. Also, who can forget school rainy days? When you suddenly come to know that school is closed due to heavy rain. The whole day used to go making fun then. As a kid, I cherished every bit of rainy season. Making paper boats, getting drenched in the backyard of the house and relishing all fried food items, enjoyment was boundless!

The situation was though different when I started living in Delhi. I was married and I was the one who was making pakodas on the demand of dear husband. There were challenges in going office and doing daily routine activities. I was no more loving umbrellas and even hated how I always needed to carry it.

Love Happens twice also

However, my perception again changed when Vibhu showed his love for rains. I found my childhood love for rain in his eyes. He loves getting wetted in the rain. He insists to carry an umbrella. He adores making a paper boat and floats them in water clogged on the roads. He too loves to be outside when it rains. Like a bird, he enjoys every drop of it. Once we visited Pune during rains and Vibhu was unstoppable there. Come rains, and the bliss is truly out of the world in Pune. It was a sheer joy to see him running all over in rain. Thanks to peppa pig, he now jumps in all  "muddy puddles"!

If you remember that Asian paints ad, "Tabad Tod Tu Aa Ri Barakha..", this is our rain anthem now, that Vibhu and I sing whenever it starts raining. And we stretch the last word "barakhaaa..." and laugh like mads! As we both saw a good rainfall last year in our new city, we got ample chances to walk with umbrellas in our hands. Our new house is very airy. So, we literally stopped our AC that time. The weather was cold enough to stay cooped inside our thick sheets during nights. May be this is the luxury of moving to a smaller city!

A confession is sure to make here. I miss Delhi at times. I have spent almost 13-14 years there. I miss all my friends, neighbors and common Delhi crowd who made my life lively. They taught me how to live happily even with fewer luxuries. Of course Delhi Dil walo ki hai!!

Rainy season gives new life to everyone on this earth; like plants, trees, animals, birds and human being. And I realized that in the name of inconvenience, I was quoting reasons to hate it. However, with rain comes a rainbow that make everything colorful. We just have to see those colors in our lives too!

 Hosted By : Neha #growingwithnemit Gunjan #tuggunmommy

This blog is part of #GWNxTNM #BirthdayBlogTrain hosted by Gunjan Upadhyay http://tuggunmommy.com/  and Neha Sharma http://growingwithnemit.com/. I would like to thank Noor (https://nooranandchawla.com) for introducing me to this blog train. I am now introducing Sonam (http://themagicplatter.com) who will take the train forward and will express her views on prompts. Do read her post!

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