“Rain, rain go away, come again another day, little Johnny wants to
play,” tattles my little cousin. The boy was naturally reflecting my own
feeling. For, I too was waiting in fact wishing, for a respite from the
heavy downpour so that I can venture out in the rain my clothes getting
drenched, which is what happens even with an umbrella! The monsoon has
just arrived. These are just the first lashes.
Mumbaikars generally receive the onset of monsoon with trepidation. What
with water-logging wherever you turn, the roads turning muddy and
slushy, gutter over flowing, tracks inundated in water, trains service
disorganized, landing up in office invariably late, stranded for hours
at VT or Churchgate after a hard day’s toil, donning that uncomfortable
raincoats whenever you go out or carrying the inevitable umbrella and
finally losing the same, the unavoidable traffic jams, dead phones (they
are even otherwise not alive. But the MTNL has a ready excuse this
season). Water freely enters building compounds or even inside some of
the flats.
You avoid the footpath or a sidewalk and straightaway venture on the
road because you are scared of an open manhole lying underwater like a
tiger stealthily waiting with its mouth wide open to devour its prey! Or
may be, you can’t differentiate a gutter from a footpath!
Again, you are scared to walk by the side of old buildings of our
gullies and bylanes. For, the dilapidated building may, at any time,
collapse on your head and finish you on the spot.
Shopping has to be quick affair. No strolling or roaming around
holidays. You, wife and kids are all down with frequent cold, cough and
fever. And umpteen other inconveniences, discomforts and disgusts. Every
plan of yours goes haywire dampening your spirit. For every important
work to be done, according to its importance “is barsaat ko zara
jaane do,” or “is barsaat ko zara rukne do,” are the common
refrain.
Here is something to bolster you. Unless our Vaitarnas, Vihars, Tulsis
and Tansas overflow, can we have potable water in good measure? Can we
afford to have a good bath splashing buckets-full of water, for the rest
of the year? Can the farmers have a good crop to provide us with grains
and vegetables in abundance and at times cheap?
Come to think of it, people elsewhere perform yagnas, play music
and observe even fasts and wait for Cauvery and Krishna to condescend,
open taps only to hear whistles, stand in queue for hours to get
rationed water being supplied in tankers and that too every two or three
days in several places, trekking miles to get a potful of that survival
liquid, digging borewells only to get mud, mud and mud, the sight of the
long stretch of parched land pains our heart. If those hapless brethren
expect some visitors, then the former asks for a bucket of water to be
brought along with them! We are lucky. Hasn’t Lord Varuna been kind to
us all these years?
Boloji.com is owned and managed by Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
