The Race

This a poem that I came across in my younger brother's standard Xth textbook. It's a rhyme from which I derieve great inspiration.

THE RACE
attributed to Dr. D.H. "Dee" Groberg

Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face,

My downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.

A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,

Excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race

Or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.

Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,

And each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they flew, like chariots of fire,

To win, to be the hero there, was each young boy’s desire.

One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd,

Was running in the lead and thought “My dad will be so proud.”

But as he speeded down the field and crossed a shallow dip,

The little boy who thought he’d win, lost his step and slipped.

Trying hard to catch himself, his arms flew everyplace,

And midst the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face.

As he fell, his hope fell too; he couldn’t win it now.

Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.

But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,

Which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win that race!”

He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that’s all,

And ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall.

So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,

His mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again.

He wished that he had quit before with only one disgrace.

“I’m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn’t try to race.”

But through the laughing crowd he searched and found his father’s face

With a steady look that said again, “Get up and win that race!”

So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last.

“If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought, “I’ve got to run real fast!”

Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight, then ten...

But trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.

Defeat! He lay there silently. A tear dropped from his eye.

“There’s no sense running anymore! Three strikes I’m out! Why try?

I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought. “I’ll live with my disgrace.”

But then he thought about his dad, who soon he’d have to face.

“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven’t lost at all,

For all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.

Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place!

You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!”

So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit,

And he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.

So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been,

Still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win.

Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again.

Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place,

Head high and proud and happy -- no falling, no disgrace.

But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place,

The crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race.

And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,

You would have thought he’d won the race, to listen to the crowd.

And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”

“To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”

And now when things seem dark and bleak and difficult to face,

The memory of that little boy helps me in my own race.

For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all.

And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.

And when depression and despair shout loudly in my face,

Another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race!”

Missing the Lizzie McGuire TV Series

Lizzie McGuire is a Disney Channel Original Series that aired on the Disney Channel from 2001 to 2004. Its target demographic was preteens and adolescents. The TV show was created by Terri Minsky. The show's creatively offbeat, mixed media format stood out from the rest of the Disney Channel's programming of the time - and in essence, became the channel's flagship, and definitive show of the early 2000s.
I got hooked onto Lizzie McGuire Show during the later part of my 10th standard exams in 2006. Lizzie appeared to be this shy teenage girl, and is self-conscious middle schooler. Miranda was one of her best friends. The other was David Gordan or Gordo, as he was more popularly known as. He was the genius of their school. Lizzie, Miranda and Gordo formed the main triumvirate. Lizzie had a younger brother Matt, whose antics while troubling Lizzie made me suspicious whether his character was inspired from my own devilish younger bro. And then, of course, there were the other wonderful characters of Jo & Sam McGuire (Matt & Lizzie's parents), Kate Saunders (the most-popular, most-good-looking girl in school & Lizzie's enemy), Ethan Craft (the common crush of all girls in the school, including Lizzie's), Mr. Digby (the cool & laid-back teacher), Lanny & Melina (Matt's friends; Lanny never spoke a word and Melina was so shrewd, she could give the FBI agents a run for their money).
And, again, there was this animated Lizzie who represented the title character's inner thoughts, addressing the audience directly in the manner of a Greek chorus. She would pop-in in between the scenes and would have the audience in splits with her wacky comments!
During break from studies, it was great to get lost in Lizzie's world; to watch Lizzie, Gordo & Miranda discuss their problems, to laugh when Lizzie & Matt would fight, to see how her parents cared for their children, to gun for Lizzie when Kate troubled her, to smile satisfactorily when they over-came their obstacles; it was a mesmerizing world alright! So what if it was only on screen? I got attached to each and every character. I loved relishing in their joys and problems and their hilarious tactics.
Unfortunately, it was only a 65 episode show. But Disney channel kept on showing its re-runs. and I, along with many others of my age, continued enjoying them! But I guess showing 65 episodes for 365 days in each of 2 years made no sense to the Disney Channel, so they took it off air in 2008. Mom used to scold me when I would watch the same episode for what was probably the 25th time, but I could have lived on the staple diet of Lizzie McGuire shows for 2 years more atleast! 25th time or 125th time, I don't care! With the entire world of Lizzie, just bring it on, man!
Missing Lizzie's world very much... Why can't they show even 1 episode per week or something?

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's Famous Speech

DR. APJ Abdul Kalam's speech in Hyderabad - A MUST READ FOR ALL INDIANS-

As desired by the President of India, this paper is for circulation.

Thanks: Prsedent's Office, The President of India.

DR A P J Abdul Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad :

"I have three visions for India. In 3000 Years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards, The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, and their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.

My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?

I have a third vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only STRENGTH respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand.

My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept of space, professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life. I see four milestones in my career: Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist. After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India's guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994. The Dept of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss. The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A very light material called carbon-carbon. One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three Kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300-gram calipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn't believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. load on their legs, they could now move around. Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!

Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?

Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?

I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim - India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes then read; otherwise, choice is yours. YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name-YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx Rs 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU?
YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai.
YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs 650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else."
YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost."
YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo?
Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston???
We are still talking of the same YOU.
YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr Tinaikar, had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right.

We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air
India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.

This applies even to the staff that is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government.
But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J F Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians????
"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"
Let’s do what India needs from us. Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails. Thank you,

Dr Abdul Kalam
(PRESIDENT OF INDIA)

I Choose To Keep The Faith...!

“There is something called TRUST and there is something called LOYALTY... I don’t know about others but I choose to keep the FAITH...!”


6th July, 2008. Evening time. I had a scrap from the then assistant director of Asambhav. It said “Satish Rajwade 1 July pasun Asambhav direct karat nahit”. I stared at it for a second and closed the Orkut window as an immediate reflex. “No, that can’t be true” I said to myself, “It’s impossible”. Over the evening, I tried to convince myself that I must have read the scrap incorrectly. How could it be possible? “No” I reiterated to myself all the evening “You must have taken a wrong meaning, Ruchi. He certainly didn’t mean that. It’s such a blasphemous thought. Why, infact, only 3 days back Sir (Satish Rajwade) had been online on Orkut and had defended Asambhav against all those who had been criticizing the slow story line. Then how can he not be the director since the past week? You are mistaken, Ruchi” I kept repeating so that, by the time I hit the pillow, I had successfully managed to convince myself that I had read the scrap wrongly.
I logged onto Orkut on the morning of 7th July. Hell had broken loose in Asambhav communities. An editor of the serial had posted the news of Satish Rajwade’s quitting and people were shocked. I was horrified.
I had been (and I still am and will always be) an ardent fan of Satish Rajwade. I swear by his direction. The success of Asambhav, one of the most successful shows on the Indian television, had been universally and rightfully credited to its director. And Satish Rajwade had completely mesmerized the audience not only with his direction but also by his acting. No other character has been loved the way the audience loved Vikrant. Asambhav was synonymous with Satish Rajwade. How in the world, then, were we to imagine Asambhav without him?
There was a heavy downpour of scraps in Satish Rajwade’s scrapbook. Everyone asked “Is it true that you have left Asambhav? Please say no.” I was one of them. That night he painstakingly replied to each and all. And our worst fears were confirmed. “Yes”, he said, “It’s true that I am not doing Asambhav anymore. I thank you all for the love, support and confidence that you gave me.” He cited break from work as his reasons for quitting the show and rubbished all rumours of a fall-out with the producers.
People were not happy. Everyone kept pestering him to return back, to tell the true reason of his quitting the show that made him an icon. “We have the right to know the actual reason behind Satish Rajwade’s ouster”, some of them claimed. This was something that made me uncomfortable. True, the request that he should return back was people’s love speaking. But why in the world were they so hell bent about the stance that there must be reasons apart from ‘break needed’ for his quitting? Satish sir had supplied them with one reason. Could they not just accept it? Whether or not he truly had any other professional reason, whether or not he really did have a fall-out with the producers was Satish Sir’s personal issue. He has every right not to disclose it. And why should he? It may very well be that he really did need a break. Satish Sir is answerable to his audience only for his work, not for the personal or professional decisions that he makes, is something I personally believe; there is something called trust.
Eventually people stopped speculating about the reason why he had left the show. But nobody stopped missing him. (The new team may also be credited for this; their work made everyone understand Satish Rajwade's importance all the more.) I, too, was sorely missing Sir’s direction; may be more than anyone else in this world. And I pinned for Vikrant. But at the same time, I never wanted to see Satish sir as Vikrant under anybody else’s direction. Co-incidentally, the day the titles were changed from “Digdarshak Satish Rajwade” to the new director's name, I happened to miss that episode. I learnt about the change on Orkut the next day. I stopped watching the titles from then onwards. No, I had nothing personal against the assistant director who had replaced Satish sir. I don’t doubt anybody’s capabilities. Do not charge me with prejudice. But nobody can take the place of Satish Rajwade, neither as Vikrant nor as Asambhav’s director. It’s just impossible for me to see somebody else’s name under the title that rightfully belonged to Satish Sir; there is something called loyalty.
I continued watching the show with the only hope that someday Sir would return. “I would rather prefer Vikrant dead than see him replaced” I wrote in my scraps to Satish Sir. To one such scrap he replied, "Ruchi, if at all I am coming back, I’ll inform you first being my best Orkut friend.” This was on 29th July. I was elated. Not just for the honour. Till then, Satish Sir had been saying that his 'comeback seems difficult'. Now, his tone had changed. It seemed positive. I continued hoping with a renewed vigour.
Cut to 1st October, 2008. I remember it perfectly; it was around half past 3 in the afternoon. I logged onto Orkut. And there it was, the scrap for which I had waited for days, posted just 2 minutes before. “Hi Ruchi”, it went “Thank you so much for the love and support. As promised earlier I want to tell you first that yes I am coming back in Asambhav as Vikrant Bhosle and also as its director very soon. Thanks for keeping the faith and your admiration.” I celebrated. So did the numerous people along with me who had longed to see him back. For 4 months, I had closed my eyes or else look away when the titles flashed the name of the new director; I had waited for the titles to proudly proclaim “Digdarshak Satish Rajwade”. And the day they did, I cheered the way I cheer only when Sachin Tendulkar hits a century.
30th October, 2008 will go down in the history of Asambhav as the date of telecast of the most awaited, most celebrated episode of the show. Living up to all the expectations, he accomplished the difficult task of extracting Asambhav from the pits into which it had fallen in his absence. And furthered the irresistible charm of Asambhav the way he, and only he, can. I watched happily as people who, till then, had taken his presence for granted, had finally grasped his magnitude. The world had at last woken up to the fact; Satish Rajwade is an indispensable man. My only worry is - how long will this enlightenment last...?
It has been a general tendency of Orkut netizens to praise Satish Rajwade to the stars for his work and to blame Satish Rajwade again, for anything and almost everything. Just because he is approachable does, on no account, mean that you hurl stones at him for things that aren't his fault in the least. Let me make myself clear; I am not saying that Satish Rajwade should never be criticized. We should praise that what is good and criticize what we do not like; that’s a mark of a good audience. True, being a director, he is responsible for everything about a project; but he is not the only one responsible, is he? Why don't people question the screen-play or the dialogue writers? Why is it that only Satish Rajwade is critisized all the time? Why do people tend to take him for granted? If he doesn't check his Orkut account for 5 days and is therefore unable to interact with his audience, people start protesting about him being irresponsible. I ask - Who, here, is acting irresponsible? Satish Rajwade? Or those who are having a go at him for nothing? Do you all have even the slightest idea how much work, energy and time Sir has put into making Asambhav a success? You may not even be able to imagine the amount of hours he must have spent at the sets and in editing studios! Even though he may return home at unearthly hours, tired from the day's hectic and gruelling schedule, he makes sure he takes out some more time out of his personal life to interact with us; 'cause each of his fan and every single audience is personally important to him. Satish Rajwade has given us so much and asks for just a little faith in return. It is sad then, that this very audience, can do nothing but point fingers at him for every little thing and often go overboard in their criticism. Stop taking Satish Rajwade for granted just because he has given you the liberty to approach him.

Is finding faults a favourite pastime for some? They then label their criticism as ‘idealism’ and the support of his fans as ‘idolism’. I ask the world at large – if you are free to criticize then am I not entitled to support? You may call it 'idolism’ but for me, its plain, simple ‘faith and loyalty’; and there is more than semantics to it. You can’t declare my views as ‘blind love for Satish Rajwade’s work’ just because they don’t match yours. Then I wont be wrong in labelling those who criticize all the time as being ‘cynical’ or ‘pessimistic’, would I?
The rumours have it that Satish Rajwade has quit Asambhav again; I have no idea. If it is true then, it will be another round of “Don't leave Asambhav. Why are you leaving the show? Tell us the true reason.” all over again. People will be quick to accuse him of once again leaving the show that gave him so much popularity. But are you blind to the fact that even he has given his blood and sweat to Asambhav? And that he’ll certainly have his reasons for discontinuing that serial which got him so much love of the masses? How much ever his quitting Asambhav might pain me, I'll never say "Don't leave the show" because it is his decision and I respect it immensely. I really don’t wish to know what his reasons are for quitting the serial. For, as far as I am concerned, if they are good enough for him, they must be good enough for everyone else. I reiterate – Satish Rajwade is answerable to the audience only for his work and not for the personal or professional decisions that he makes.
“Always keep the faith…”, he had written in one of his scraps to me, “…and god will do the rest.” I don't know about others but yes, I choose to keep the faith. As a true fan, I’ll support whatever his decision is. Asambhav or no Asambhav, Vikrant or no Vikrant, my admiration for Satish Rajwade will continue. Once again, I’ll stop watching the titles. How much ever I may love the character of Vikrant, I would rather see him dead that see Satish Sir play Vikrant under anybody else's direction. If anyone replaces Satish Rajwade as Vikrant, I'll never watch Asambhav ever again; not even by mistake. Asambhav has always and always been synonymous with Satish Rajwade and it will always remain so. I am not prejudiced. But some things can never be replaced, can never be over-shadowed.

You see… There is something called TRUST and there is something called LOYALTY… I don’t know about others but I choose to keep the FAITH…!

Rains in Mumbai

The older I get, the more I seem to be in love with the city of dreams. But I have to admit it – I like Mumbai best when it rains. Put it down to living in a city that has no seasons; just hot, hotter and hottest. But when it rains, Mumbai comes in to its own; almost comes down close to having a change of weather. The streets become greyer, the skies full of dark clouds and there is love and thunder in the air.
The rains bring out the best in the city. Motorists stopping for stranded pedestrians. People sharing umbrellas; taking in strays; excusing late arrivals at work; turning a blind eye to bare feet and sock-less shoes.
Yes, I love Mumbai in the rains. Soggy raincoats and dripping umbrellas; rattling window panes. Schools closed because of flooding. Trains delayed or cancelled. Erratic power supply. Entire offices stranded with nowhere to go. Ah, you may love the spring in New York, summer in London, winter in Paris; but nothing comes close to Mumbai in the rains. Urchins flashing in the flooded streets; cars stalled; bedraggled policemen; shanties covered with blue plastic; trees struck down by lightening; and roasted corn on the cob.
The rains in Mumbai. The hot chai and bun maska at the local Irani. A drive down the Worli sea face. A walk along Marine Drive. A movie at Eros. Coffee in CCD. A trip to Khandala; a hike to Matheran. A picnic at Juhu beach.; happy hour at the Pav Bhaji stall. A siesta tucked inside a thin quilt. Aah, there is nothing quite like Mumbai in the rains.
It’s a time when I want to buy every song about the rain that exists. Sit home and drink tea all day. Talk for hours to a friend on the phone. Mix a lemonade, sit back in the veranda and enjoy. Wear faded blue jeans and battered slippers. Give rides to strangers. Exchange umbrella woes. Take in shivering pups.
The rains in Mumbai. Much more dramatic than the rains in London. Much more romantic than the rains in Paris. Gentler than the rains in Cochin. A time for rejuvenation and renewal. A time for nature’s glory. Everything being washed clean again. The earth lifting its face to heaven in gratitude. An orchestra in the sky. Mumbai’s most blessed season. The rains in Mumbai take us back to school, where we splashed about in the mud; to Aksa beach, where the foam of the waves lash out on the rocks and the sand; to college, where we arrive very wet and very late.
We do not have a winter and we have never seen a fall. As for the spring, it seems to pass us by. But what Mumbai has is the rains. And by God – I love them!