Monsoon and some happy memories... :)

So, it rains eh?! And what a change in the weather.. As lovely as it can get! Just about a week back, I heard people at work, at the bus stop, in the market and just about everywhere talk about the humidity and the heat. After last night's downpour, I see that everyone is talking about the plight of Mumbai during monsoons, most of the Facebook updates (including mine) are about the pathetic condition of Mumbai roads, highways and water-clogging. Sad. I mean, this is not the Mumbai or Bombay that we grew up in. Just reminded of some memories that I want to pen down..

1. As a kid, I used to wait from April for the monsoons. The entire gang in the building (of almost 20 of us) would prepare parachutes using stones and plastic covers and throw 'em up in the air thinking this would bring rains faster! LOL, whatever! Getting drenched in the first shower was something that I have never missed as a kid. Cold, cough, running nose and mom yelling at me were a part and parcel of the process. Fever? Yes. Bunking school coz of fever? A big yes! Good old days!!
2. Let me talk about a cute li'l gift from an amazing woman. A red colored umbrella. It was my first umbrella and it had a whistle at the handle. It was my gift from mamma for getting 1st rank in 3rd standard annual exams! This red thing is very special to me since it had pictures of my fav Barbie all over it. Gosh, I need to go to Thane and find out if its still safe and intact in mom's wardrobe.
3. Gumboots. Oh yes, who can forget them! Those sad looking shoes, that went right upto the calves, where something that I was crazy about (on the hindsight, I was a complete fashion disaster). I remember dadda using Cherry Blossom to polish my sad gumboots and this was something that was so sacred to him that it was a daily activity. Never mind, his naughty daughter who ensured to walk into every puddle that she spotted on the roads! To this day, dad never leaves for work without his shoes shining all happy and bright.
   
4. Lazy Sunday afternoon, rains, books and hot filter kaapi prepared by mamma. Perfect! I wont type anything more about this since, some things are so beautiful that they should not be described too much.
5. Vidz (school friend) and I had a monsoon ritual. Every Saturday, while coming back from school, we would buy roasted corn (bhutta), separate the corn (the daana) from its stem, eat some part of it and take the remaining back to our homes. Aww man! Talk about loving, caring and sharing.. Hehehehe...
6. My college toli used to measure the length and breadth of all the roads in Mulund. We HAD to roam aimlessly during monsoons and go to all godforsaken places in our quest of bhajjias.
7. Monsoon during Axis days were the best! Murali (one of my very close friends), being the biggest foodie ever known to mankind, used to buy some piping hot kothimbhir wadis as afternoon snack and keep them in the pantry. Almost everyday. So one look at the branch at around 1 pm and if it was empty, yes we were in the pantry, eating those super spicy wadis! I, being the Cashier (Teller), was not allowed to leave the cash room during business hours and the working hours were 9.30 AM to 3.30 PM. Big deal! I had to eat those, boss! *Evil grin* The fights that used to happen between the branch officials for 'that' one piece of kothimbir wadi - legendary!

Wanna write about some more memories, but those are so outrageous that I shudder to pen them down. Stopping here for now. Enjoy monsoons people. Its gonna last only for a couple of months.

PS: I'm sure I'll come back grumbling about the darker side of Mumbai monsoons. Till then over and out.