Monday, July 20, 2009

SURPRISED BY BEAUTY

You are sitting-sweating in a BEST bus, caught in a traffic jam on the Western Express Highway. You fidget, wiggling your toes encased in ‘rainy-season sandals’, grimacing at the feel of dirty wetness and street slime. The ‘synthetic-material’ kurta (another monsoon-must) is damp and uncomfortable against your back and your lap is clammy with the wet umbrella. Squinting against the drizzle you look out of the window, looking at the sad scattered mounds of plastic and debris - the dirty suburban underbelly of the city exposed by the rains. Nothing new.

And then, you raise your eyes beyond the bedraggled bulidings, and you are suddenly transported. The grey clouds have descended low, partly hiding the green peaks of the small hills of the Western Ghats in the distance. The grey softly drifts across the green, merging, separating, creating misty patterns like a child’s watercolour. You never noticed that dull grey and drab green could offer such luminous variety. And even as you look, the hazy-breathtakingly-lovely horizon is obliterated as the rain fastracks from drizzle to downpour. Nothing new.

But, your feet sliding in the Mumbai muck, shrugging your shoulders into your already-dripping raincoat, you feel blessed by this sudden surprise gift of monsoon beauty.

29 comments:

ZB said...

humm, monsoon always crop up mixed emotions. a bit of relief, then a bit of torments. As they say with beauty its all the eyes of the beholder. nicely written. :)

Ugich Konitari said...

So True. Amidst a chorus of "Aage sarko, Aage sarko:, Utarne ka tha to pehele kyon nahi bola?", and a sense of thrill as your just buttoned raincoat saves you from a splash of dirty water thanks to a desperate bike overtaking a bus.....

No honestly, jokes apart, it takes a special eye to notice this beauty amidst the above distractions, and you certainly have it ....great post!

Aparna said...

I always thought Mumbai had a special beauty.
Where else will you find lakes, mountains and a sea in the same place? Unfortunately people do not appreciate it and the city has been reduced to a garbage dump.
Still, it takes a special pair of eyes to look for the beauty hidden way beneath all that muck.Well written.

Swaram said...

What a beautiful post! U play with words my dear n convey the feelings so well :)

Nona said...

I winced reading it! I could feel the muck and also the humidity reading the post.

Supriya Dutta said...

Mumbai is one among the places i love..it really has a beauty of its own beyond the urban jungle..and as said.."Almost everyone has a sight but fewer have vision...you are among the few..Beautifully described.

Pinku said...

Beautiful post Sucharita....
I see you love the Bombay monsoon the way I love dilli ki sardi. :)

enjoy!! and send some rain our way if you can.

Meira said...

well, at least you have the Monsoon.hmpph!
Send some to Delhi, pretty please

pradipwritenow said...

Here monsoon means the continuity for rain with torrential winds for the last 15 days,and the whole team is locked inside the house. The fog makes the vision like a pencil sketch erased several times.

Peter Rozovsky said...

Ah, unlike on your other blog, you do not ask your readers for examples of their own!
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

magiceye said...

well done!

Sumandebray said...

Very Well narrated...
The next best thing to getting drenched in the rain is to be in the middle with a Rain Coat and Duckback Rain boots....
During the monsoon the rain in Delhi used to be in sync with the office timings... I still cherish those riding the bike on water logged roads on my way back

JD said...

liked ur narration of mumbai monsoon..
i like the rains only as long as my feet are in mud, any more water and i shout floods..

lopa said...

Its not the eyes...you are blessed to have the vision.

Pearl said...

So well-written. We do not have monsoons -- we have blizzards, but the feeling is the same.

Only frozen. :-)

The blue of the sky, the white of the snow-covered earth. Who can help but smile? We suddenly awaken, as if nudged. Look around!

Pearl

Pesto Sauce said...

Heard that monsoons in Mumbai can be fun

Vivek S Patwardhan said...

I too share the sentiments.

I liked 'merging, separating, creating misty patterns like a child’s watercolour.' Very apt expression!

Enjoyed,

Vivek

manju said...

Most people cannot see the monsoon beauty that you noticed. Enjoyed this post!

Santanu Sinha Chaudhuri said...

Wonderful!

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@Zillionbig,
Thanks, and this year I am refraining from directly cribbing about the monsoon because it came so late.

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@Suranga (UK),
You have said it so well.

@Aparna,
The dump-factor saddens me deeply.

@Swaram,
Thanks!

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@Nona,
It is a totally 'yucky' sensation which we have to bear for four months.

@Priya,
I too love Mumbai truly madly deeply.

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@Pinku and Meira,
This year it's been pretty rainlessly bad at Delhi, no?

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@pradipda,
What a vivid image! Loved it.

@Peter,
Would love to have your comments anyway. And your view from across the oceans.

@Magiceye,
Thanks

@Suman,
Duckback and monsoon go hand in hand in my memories too.

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@ JD,
Flooding is pretty frequent here.

@lopa,
thanks.

@Pearl,
Thanks and I can just close my eyes and imagine what you described so easily.

@Pesto sauce,
Fun, and frightening!

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@ Vivek and Manju,
Being from the same city, i am sure you have enjoyed such moments too.

@ santanuda,
thanks

Roshni said...

ah! Don't remind me of the monsoons!! even though I am sitting in sunny California and should be thanking my stars for it, I am moronic enough to miss the rainy season!!

Urmi said...

I liked your post very much and enjoyed reading it.You have described it very beautifully.Though I have visited Mumbai several times but not during monsoon.

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@Roshni,

The grass is always greener on the other side, no?

@ Babli,
Thanks. And you live in a lovely beautiful country, so you are not missing much.