Mhow in Monsoons

"Rain rain go away, little Johnny wants to play!" Oh those British, who suffered the terribly gloomy overcast weather back home, naturally  they always looked forward to a clear  bright sunny day and thus we had to endure such  nursery rhymes. We Indians, who have been scorched in the summer heat desperately wait for the very welcome monsoon showers for some respite. Our farmers depend on this very monsoon for their sowing season to begin, a drought year spells doom and disaster for their fragile home budget leading them into the debt trap.  Bimal Roy's immortal "Do Bigha Zamin" based on Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's story where Balraj Sahni played the protagonist still gives me the goosebumps. We celebrate rains, welcoming them with Raga 'Megh', 'Megh Malhar' and even 'Miyan ki Malhar' which is supposed to be a creation of Tansen himself. These ragas could literally draw the clouds and rains would follow. Our folk songs be it 'Kajri' from eastern UP and Bihar or 'Teeyan' of Punjab, 'Bhilari' and 'Shetkari' in Marathi and even Meiteis of Manipur sing their 'Kumdam Eishei' delighting in the torrents of rain quenching the thirst of the parched mother  earth. 

As kids we would sing, "Pani baba aya kakdi bhutte laya" ( "Rains have brought fresh cucumber and corn along"). Moreover rainy days were declared holidays by school, we got to a chance to step into every puddle on our way back,  and although there were no " Daag achhe hain!" kind of advertisements those days, our mothers didn't mind, the only rebuke was for having got drenched in the rain, but were immediately handed over a glass full of hot milk after wrapping us up in something warm. The only time we resented rains was when it would pour the whole night but would clear up at daybreak and a trudge to the school had to be endured rather than sailing those paper boats in any and every small stream of flowing rain water. Jagjit Singh fans would recall the "Kagaz ki kashti barish ka paani" evergreen gazal which immediately transports you to your childhood days. Even later in life rain gods would be upto their mischief when they would teasingly sort of switch off the rains from up above, as we would be huddled up in our quilts just about 30 minutes before it was time for the morning PT. Grudgingly we would all land up for the parade and in just about 10-15 minutes the drizzle would be back just about enough for the warm up jog to continue. Then it didn't make any difference as it is we were drenched so just went through it mechanically. 

Monsoons in Mhow are special, this place is heavenly, the greenery, the gentle breeze, the undulating rolling hills, one just can't have enough of it. The fragrance of the earth wafts in the air as though she is grateful as her thirst is quenched. The shades of green makes us marvel at the beauty of creation itself, grass is darker, mango leaves are greyish green, leaves of Neem are with a yellowish tinge, Hibiscus is even darker in shade, Mogra leaves are light green and so on, we can just go on admiring it. All our lives we have been wedded to the Olive Green not realising the many hues and shades of green, mint, sea green, emerald, sage, pine, forest, hunter, tea and so on there are more than 240 shades, naturally making the other colours turn green with envy. Then there are the hot pakodas, roasted corn  with piping hot chai which are available at every nook and corner to make us savour this even more. Malwa region is blessed, no wonder Kalidas composed his epic "Meghdootam" in Ujjaini describing the pangs of separation of the Yaksha. The romance in the rains is best described in Hindi movies in the month of  Shravan in Hindu calendar and God forbid if the lovers are separated during this period then their "virah vedna" sort of oozes out in a lyrical form. If they are together it is "Rimjhim gire saawan sulag sulag jaye ye man.." where Amitabh Bachhan and Moushami Chatterjee sing hand in hand while enjoying getting drenched in the Mumbai monsoon.  

Mandu near Indore where the immortalised lovers BazBahadur and Roopmati once roamed, whose mesmerising bewitching beauty would surely have been helped by the monsoons to cast a spell. No wonder their love bloomed and became part of the folklore. May be it is the "M" factor, Monsoon, Madhya Pradesh Mhow, Mumbai , Malwa ,Mandu....