Aaah Pune Monsoons & The Happy Earth.

Yet another rainy summer weekend just went by and once again we were insulted with a bright and sunny Monday.
Global Warming meets Jihad you say? Naaah. Just plain old rotten summer weather.

I do love the rain though. Not 'the rain' actually but as I fondly remember them, 'the rains', the wonderful monsoons of India. Correction. The wonderful monsoons of Pune. The Bombay monsoons-not so wonderful. I have a fabulous story where I was floating in a cab towards Mahim waving my visa papers above my head screaming 'bachao' (help in angst)... A great story I promise to tell in full detail very soon.

Pune monsoons on the other hand are just plain yummy.

Garam pakodas or bhajis as they are locally known, steaming milky hot chai with Parle G of course (read my Parle G post if you haven't already!), spicy samosas and vada pav with green and red chutneys setting your tongue on fire, crunchy roadside behl-puri, the smell of the fresh earth releasing into the misty cool air, lushness and greenness, splashing rickshaws, children dancing in puddles, drives to Mulshi, Khandala, Lonavala, Sinhagad, getting soaked to the skin if you were zipping on bikes or enjoying the constant spray of monsoon rain as you drove with your car windows down.

Going for bike rides or drives was the the thing to do when it rained. Maybe it was the thrill of the ever perilous and moon crater-like roads this time of year, given that most drives involved steep, uphill, curvy roads like the one to Sinhagad (which is a fort atop a mountain), just to get the feeling of being right in the middle of the bursting grey monsoon clouds, or maybe it was the lure of the steaming chai and roadside treats ...our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Either ways, it was all heavenly.
It is an old Indian custom that ranges from children running out and playing in the first shower of the season to teens on bikes and people driving around in their cars...if it rains, you come out to play.

Besides, there is no electricity at home.

How can you possibly stay indoors during this beautiful time of year when all of nature finally comes alive? It is after all, the end of a long, dry summer and you are more relieved and excited than the cracked soil and the yellowed, brittle leaves. The whole experience is highly sensory. You walk bare-foot on the wet grass, or even better, you roll in it. Scrunching your eyes, you look up into the grey sky, and stick out your tongue to catch a few drops of the sweet rain water...and that smell! What is that wonderful fragrance that is released after the earth has soaked up the rains?
If I could bottle that smell, I would call it 'Smiling Indian Earth says Thanks for the Good Times'.