The monsoon season in Mumbai used to be my favourite because of unscheduled holidays from school and college! But seriously, who can’t love the smell of the fresh earth after a downpour and the feeling of everything looking clean and green? Here’s my ode to the rains….
It’s Raining!
I wake up to the sounds of the rain,
Crashing and howling against the window pane,
The rain is pouring down, looking like a curtain of water,
Looking more like a sheet, an impenetrable banner.
I look down at the road, see the snaking line of cars
All caught up in a massive jam, looking like twinkling stars
People rushing to get to work, to school,
With umbrellas and raincoats, looking all so cool
I do wish people stop a while and enjoy the rain,
Stop a while, smell the grass and not complain.
The rains are a time for newness and renewal
For a little pause in your life, before it turns a full cycle.
The year is 1942 and the world is at war. Nancy Clancy is 16 and left school to spend a year droving, just like her grandfather Clancy of the Overflow was famed for. Now Nancy’s family has sent her to Malaya to bring home her sister-in-law Moira and baby Gavin. Moira is British and married to Nancy’s brother Ben, who is now a soldier. Malaya is under threat from the Japanese, but despite the warnings, Moira has resisted leaving as she wants to stay near her husband.
In Delhi, a small baby lies alone and abandoned. The product of IVF and surrogacy, she had been so coveted – until she was born with a fatal illness. No one knows how the infection could have been transferred to the child, but one thing is certain: no one wants her now.
