Skip to main content

On a rainy day...


Back in my schooldays, we did not have rainy days, quite unlike most of my friends and colleagues now, who reminisce about rainy days like some long-lost treasure. It did rain pretty hard during monsoons, but being a dry area in general, the water would percolate quite fast, leaving the soil soggy and squelching. But I have recollections of beautiful moments spent on my bed or my study tables, hunched over a book, as it poured buckets outside...

The flickering flames: A heavy spell of rain inevitably meant a power outage. Back in those days, invertors weren't all that common, and we would have glass lanterns and candles lit up while I studied in its light ! Somehow, this always happened right before my Hindi exams, and I remember one particular evening, when the rain was lashing at our glass panes, while I was ploughing through a beautiful Premchand from my text book...

The crumpling pages: As the drizzle just commences when the sun is about to set, the first few, fat drops would plonk on the pages and magnify a couple of letters. I would brush them off or soak them on my clothes and they would leave damp depressions on the pages. Later they would dry out and become slightly wrinkled. Its the next best thing to dog-eared books.

The rain slashing across the panes: This continues to be the most romantic of all aspects. The rain water leaving diagonal trails across the window panes and its soft greyish shadow criss-crossing the pages of my book.

The cup of tea: Gently steaming, the vapours curling into the leaden sky. There is no such feeling than a mug of tea, an unputdownable book, a dog and a couch to curl up in. The only trouble is that the beverage runs cold quite soon, and then there is a dash to refill it.

No doorbells to attend to: Its the second most annoying thing to have to do; after attending to phone calls. Thankfully, a steady shower discourages people from seeking companionship outside their immediate surroundings, allowing me to sink in the pages unhindered.









Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Side Reads - A Book of English Essays - Edited by W.E. Williams

Remember our school days? Remember those dreary passages we had to read and read again - between the lines and over and under them? Remember wondering how could the study of language be so dry? Well, it turns out, what we were served was high in protein, but pretty much devoid of spice and juice. Let me set the record straight. Essays are fun. Read A Book of English Essays to see if I'm right.  As the name says, it is a collection of small essays on a multitude of topics by the who's-who of English literature - Francis Bacon, Joseph Addison, Charles Lamb, Leigh Hunt, A.A. Milne, R.L. Stevenson - honestly the list is quite scary. But once you pull your head out of the table of contents, it's a treasure mine. Most essays are short, possibly the length of a newspaper article (which is how they must have been originally published I think). What is interesting though, is the topics they are on. So there are absolutely gorgeous ones like 'Getting Up on Cold Morni...

How are rugs and books related

As a child, I was pretty indifferent to rugs or carpets. Back at home, they always existed. They were scrubbed and vacuumed and dirtied and dribbled upon and I didn't quite imagine life without it. Till I moved out.  Basic amenities do not cover rugs, far less, carpets. The first few days I didn't mind, basking in my new-fangled independence, traipsing over bare floors with un-socked feet. Eventually though, the irremovable stains on the bathroom floors made it clear that, in the absence of carpetting, a near-permanent use of slippers is a must. Then came the winters. It brought the chill from all possible directions, including and especially, the floor. The soles of my feet must have been frostbitten on a regular basis and I yearned for the luxury of a nice woolly carpet to sink my feet in. As a conscientious student out making her life (not very successfully), I chose to brave the chilblains (they were not, really).  It wasn't until I was married that ...

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

Image courtesy: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com Genre : Classic, Drama Rating : 5/5 There is no arguing the sheer brilliance of John Steinbeck. The long list of accolades and the controversy he had courted in his days (some of which still continues) is proof of his influence in the current society. Some deem him (astoundingly) mediocre, partly on account if his opinionated take on events; others, consider his work as American classic. Neither argument is completely false, though I, personally, align myself with the latter. If it would be possible to keep aside for a moment, the political ramifications of Steinbeck's work, one cannot deny the strength of his writings. He does not waste words; his economy only accentuates the somewhat lean personality of the settings and the characters. Everything is stripped unappealingy bare and covered flimsily with sardonic humour. A bit like J.D. Salinger, in some ways, but with a bigger lens on the society.     ...