"
Sun , it has come . Finally..". Her eyes were shining in excitement.
I looked up from my book and smiled
"
Perfect. And it is Friday too".
"
Did you ask if it is available?" I asked , slightly doubtful now.
"
It is bound to be. If we don't get it today , some one else will and we won't get it for a week."
"
Let's go now then. ". I said , discarding my Famous Five on the wicker chair in the porch.
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
"
Amma , I'm going out with Deeps. We will be back soon. ".
"
Don't get wet." she called out .
"It looks like a thunderstorm is on its way."
"
Don't worry Amma , we 'll be back in no time.". I called out, starting to get ready.
We looked for our black umbrellas , but could only find one. The other remained stubbornly out of sight. "
Fine , let's just go with one then."
I said as I put on my Verlon sandals. We started walking. A cool breeze was blowing . The rain had left the ground wet with an aroma of freshness that made me happy.We walked faster than
usual , taking the shortest route possible to reach our destination. We
made it just in time before the shop closed.
"
I was
about to close the store , but here, I have placed it in a plastic bag , take good
care as it is the only copy I have." He said as he pulled down the
shutters and got on his bike to go home before the rain started.
As
soon as we started on our way back , it started drizzling. Suddenly
with the sound of exploding fireworks, thunder boomed , and a streak of
lightening seemed to hit a tree nearby. Rain was falling by the buckets
and the roads were flooding. Walking through puddles and water filled
potholes, our return journey was slow. And then the wind decided to play
naughty and take our umbrella away. Now completely wet , we tried to
chase down the umbrella which had overturned and was collecting
water inside like a huge bowl. Deeps covered the plastic bag with her
dupatta while I chased the umbrella that the wind was moving away from
us.
"Got it . "I said as I caught up with the flying
umbrella and desperately tried to put it back in shape. We were almost
home now. "
Let us make a run for it , We are wet anyway". She said , and I agreed.
We dashed down the mud road, into our houses ,
completely drenched , right into my Amma and Valiyamma (aunt) who
immediately started scolding us for our escapade in the rain. But we
knew that no scolding could take away the happiness of the possession in
the plastic bag that
we had so jealously guarded. "
Let's go change into something dry first .We'll watch it when the rain stops. "
Deeps said. Her words were drowned by the bang of the next thunder bolt
. Electric sparks flew from the electric post nearby and then all went
dark. "
The transformer was hit. It will probably be a day before it gets repaired and power is restored." Our hearts sank as we heard this oft heard proclamation from my uncle who had gone out with his torch to investigate.
We
looked sadly at each other. For all the trouble we had gone to get the video cassette of Baazigar , we wouldn't be able to watch it after all..
In
the candlelight , we sat on the verandah , staring at the dark moonless
sky playing Antakshari as there was nothing else to do.
"Oh Mera ...Baazigar O.. Baazigar Tu hai Bada Jadugar". I sang ."Your turn , sing with Ja".
N.B : This
post tried to picture a typical monsoon incident in my childhood.
While all of it may not have happened in one single incident , it
happend some time and chasing umbrellas , getting wet in thunderstorms ,
and playing Antakshari during power outages were part of my childhood
monsoon memories in Kerala. Hope you like it.
N.B: This was written as an entry for discussion topic Monsoon Memories in Darlings Of Venus
