A grandfather remembers the Bombay monsoons he experienced as a child!
Childhood Memories
Walking In The Rain!
Those who say it rains in Mumbai don't know!
I'd say it just drizzles.
In the sixties, it rained in torrents, it rained in sheets, it rained like waterfalls.....well it just rained! It rained through the season, more..... or ......less!
Now you can get around without rainwear. Then you couldn't.
At the first hint of rain Amma would take us to buy rainwear.
People said that Bata specialised in leather and Carona in rubber shoes. So, Carona it was! There was this small shop near Khar Station.
As Amma tried various rubber shoes on us kids, we lusted for those knee-length gum-boots in the shop! We fancied they would make us look like Superman or Captain America whose pictures we saw in Dell Comics!
Those cost the earth. So, we never ever got those gum-boots!
Rubber shoes often caused shoe-bites on delicate, little wet feet.
God forbid if the wound got infected! A slow, painful course of washing, cleaning and tincture iodine over several days would play out!
It was back to rubber sandals to school for the rest of the rainy season.
Raincoats were a necessity. 'Duckback' was the standard. Heavy to wear and expensive!
So, most of us got cheaper and lighter rexine ones. A couple of sizes larger than required so that they would protect our school-bags too. There was also the hope that we could use them again the next monsoon and save Amma some money!
Monsoon was the favourite season for us kids. To school and back was an adventure everyday!
Especially when it rained more. We would wade to school along flooded streets that looked like flowing rivers. The wind drove the pouring rain into patterns. You could 'see' the wind moving in the rain!
Heavy raindrops whipped our faces sending a slight shiver down the spine.
As we entered the school gates our white and grey uniforms would be half-wet despite the rainware. It would be some time before body heat dried them out as we sat in the classrooms.
Of course we children prayed for more rain, so school should declare a holiday or close early!
When it rained less, the pleasure of thap-thapaaving with our feet and splashing rain water on passers-by was a delight!
The 'gaandools' or earthworms were the the most repulsive part of my monsoons.....ugh! They were everywhere!
They even appeared in bathrooms on higher floors, having patiently climbed up inside the drain-pipes!
They would struggle in bunches like spaghetti out of cracks in the concrete-floored compounds. Just looking at the sight would make a sensitive child sick!
During rainy evenings Mohanlal's cousins were out with their four-wheeled pushcarts and umbrellas.
They burnt coals in a ghamela or a sigri. Fanning the coals into flames, they would roast bhuttas or tender-corn-on-cobs. The umbrella shielded the fire and the roasted bhuttas.
These were sold hot and fresh, smeared with lime juice spiked with salt and mirchi. In wet weather they tasted just delicious!
The smell of burnt coals, the scent of cooking bhuttas, the tang of lemon as it wafted on the cool monsoon breeze was irresistible
Street-dogs were drenched wet. They looked miserable and weak as they scrounged around for shelter and food. Some of them shivered in their wet fur. Many of them died a pitiable death.
The frogs set-up an entire orchestra at night. From the high-pitched baby squeak to the deep-throated draa.....draa of what we supposed was the grandfather frog!
Sometimes a tiny toad could be seen on the relatively dry sheltered stairs of buildings. Its size belied the loud noise it would make. Tick....tick...tick, it went!
We would hear them till it started raining again. Then we heard only the pitter-patter of the rain and the rush of water falling off the eaves!
Water flooded the fields and empty plots of land looked like lakes.
When it stopped raining at night and the water was still, we could see the reflection of lights from neighbouring buildings. The faint, luminescent upside-down outline of the buildings amazed us!
Occasionally, elephant grass would puncture the water surface.
There were days when the sun shyly peeped-out from behind the clouds as though it was politely asking "May I?".
As it warmed the water-surface a swarm of tiny helicopters would appear as if from nowhere - dragonflies!
These four-winged beauties would fly fast over the water and then suddenly stop mid-air, hovering over some interesting tid-bit in the water! Their wings would glisten in glorious rainbow-colours as they reflected the sun-light!
When they flew over dry ground, children would chase them.
God forbid if they were caught!
A longish string would be tied to their bodies as they struggled to be set free. Then as they flew in terror, a child would hold the string and run after it. The poor creature died painfully!
Some would imprison the dragon-fly in a transparent glass jars to show-off to their friends!
Sometimes, the monsoon would take a much needed break.
The clouds would thin-out and scatter, uncovering the blue sky here-and-there. Every now-and-then brilliant sunshine would break through, cheering us from the long gloomy, wet spell.
The monsoon wasn't over yet.
There would be some months still before it would say a final goodbye!
~ Shekhar N. Shenoy
14-May-2016
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125,008 Literary Works • 672,828 Reviews
Heh, leave it to children to be this playful when a flood is happening. Not a care in the world.
Since you signed and dated, am I to assume that these are your own recollections?
I liked this piece, truly. It's just a simple retelling of days long gone but you can feel the nostalgia, the emotions within these memories. It's that little time in one's life where things are so much simpler and easier to take in stride.
Issues with it aren't too numerous but, as belladonna pointed out, they are there. The one that stood out the most to me was how you tend to misuse the exclamation mark.
Usually, these are set to pass an idea of shock, fear, anger, excitement, joy and whatnot. Thus, you need to be careful when using it to make sure it's appropriate to what's being written. Seeing how these are musings about the past, I'd say you shouldn't use them unless you're detailing something that really made you feel any of the emotions above.
This, here, is a good use of them. You use the exclamation mark to express your disgust with the abundance of worms.
On the other hand, this is less so. If it's meant to express discontent with that action (which doesn't seem like it), then you'll probably want to rewrite to get that point across more clearly.
Again echoing belladona, there are a few words that you hyphenated when it wasn't necessary. "Here-and-there", "now-and-then" and such don't need it, for instance. If you're unsure, a quick search on Google will inform you of whether that's correct or not.
But those are all easily fixed bits that don't really detract from the heart I feel in this - whether these are or aren't your memories, it's still touching.
Good job, indeed!
Thank you, Costa! Yes, these are my own recollections. I'll be careful regarding using hyphenation and exclamation marks.
Regarding too many paragraphs, I want what I write to feel like eating popcorn - light but irresistible!
If the write-up gives that feel due to shorter paragraphs, I'm happy.
This is a very vibrant account, although there are various grammatical mistakes. Many phrases, such as rainbow-colored and thin-out, do not need to be hyphenated. Ellipses generally have only three dots, and there are some inappropriate uses of exclamation points. As for formatting, there are more paragraphs than necessary (some could've been combined), but it's a far better outcome than if you had not had enough and lumped everything in together. Overall, it is very nostalgic in tone and the emotions are easily conveyed to the reader. Good luck on future writing! I'm looking forward to it.
Thank you, Belladona! I have taken note of points for improvement. I'll try to be more appropriate in using hyphenation and exclamation marks.