There is a popular phrase “Birds bath” in Bengali which mothers use to describe the inadequate amount of water used by their children to bath. Sparrows are happy and busy creatures. The bath they take in small puddles of water in a rain soaked city is no less than a spa. After a hellish warm and humid summer comes the rains. A few days of continuous rain changes the city.
Kolkata loves its fare share of rains, unless it’s office time and the streets in your locality are going to get flooded. This year a six month old pavement dwelling child got separated from her mother in sleep and got killed by drowning in the waterlogged streets. Those who live in certain parts of Kolkata feel the need of buying a gondola using a car loan. (I shall suggest a good read here. After you finish this take a look at this blog-post by Amitabha Gupta for some more memories of rain). Kolkatas iconic hand pulled rickshaws make a few quick but tough bucks, struggling waist deep in water to commute people from one place to another.
Those who still believe in real life gaming hit the Kolkata maidan playgrounds. Mud and sweat gets washed away in rains.
The football game ends or rather continues in a swim for some. Many of them don’t have smartphones. But they have lesser problems than us for sure.
Rain makes us happy, maybe the plants are the happiest. That’s why they look so beautiful in rain.
Mandar Sengupta 