Welcome to soothing showers

                             Welcome to soothing showers

                                                             -Dr RAJ BAHADUR YADAV

This summer season, we had to pass through so many hot days in the months of April and May. Under the fierce glaze of sun, I perspired a lot and my shirt got stuck to my back. When I   drank cold water to quench my thirst, it was just a temporary relief for half an hour. Very soon again, I would find my lips parched as if the whole water had evaporated from my body. On June 13 in the evening, the rain-gods showed mercy for us when the dark clouds appeared into the sky of Fatehabad and it started drizzling. I was on my way back to home from duty on a motorcycle, I stopped and parked it under a tree and put my mobile into the iron-box attached to my two-wheeler. Within a few minutes, it was raining cats and dogs. The sun had been eclipsed by the thick clouds and when I resumed by journey, the powerful wind made my motorcycle "shaky" and unsteady. I slowed down to keep the balance on the wet road. Some people had taken shelter under the road-side dhabas and tea-stalls yet I decided to drench myself to the bone on this heavenly occasion. But the whirl-winds along with the rain spinning dangerously on the road uprooted several trees and electricity poles. On  the morning of June 14 once again, there was a heavy rain with streets and roads turning into small streams. I was afraid perhaps the rain-gods would repeat their performance of 1995 when many parts of Haryana had submerged into flood water. In those days, one could spot even the sugar-cane fields fully "drowned" into the gushing rain waters. A large area between Gohana and Rohtak had turned into a big lake and a canal named "drain number eight' was in spate and hissing like a miles-long  snake. But when the rain had stopped and I was out driving to reach the place of my work, I found the weather was quite pleasant and the harsh wind had now turned breezy. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow says,"But at every gust, the dead leaves fall/ And the day is dark and dreary". Leaves haunt me a lot as they have their own life and death. When they are green and integral to the twigs and trees, they mesmerize us with their natural beauty. And when they grow old and withered and become victims to gusts of wind, they float down on the ground to greet us and remind us of our temporary stay in this world.When I was a school going boy, I took a great delight in hearing the pitter -patter of rain-drops falling  on the roof of our country thatch made of reed, bamboo and sugar- cane leaves. In a very famous play,"Twelfth Night', William Shakespeare has shown the Clown singing," When that I was a little tiny boy/ With hey,ho, the wind and the rain/ A foolish thing was but a toy/ For the rain, it raineth every day". In order to skirt the flood-prone roads, I was moving through the hamlets and villages of the area on my bike. The lush green trees of "sheesham" planted on both sides of the link road between Dhingsara and Mehuwala  villages located near Bhattu Kalan town were looking freshly bathed and wonderfully beautiful. They seemed to be now mirthfully dancing. I could see the hardworking farmers tending the young cotton plants which appeared to get a new lease of life from the recent rain-showers.William Wordsworth has also poetically depicted such feelings of deep love for Nature," And hark! how blithe the throstle sings/He,too, is no mean preacher/ Come forth into the light of things/ Let Nature be your teacher". When the gentle rain -drops start falling on the earth, people become really happy. Not only human beings but the wild and domestic animals, birds and insects also feel a great respite from the scorching heat of summer days. The gentle rain blocks the painful memories from our minds and comforts our hearts beyond description. Under the magic of rain, the cottages perfectly blend in with the rural landscape dotted with shrubs, bushes and trees. I feel really short of words while describing my most pleasant experience of reading our national dailies and my favourite books under the thick boughs of trees while it is drizzling mildly. Rain is a great friend of rural poor who pass their entire summer in open sitting and sleeping under trees.I salute the  monsoon winds  and welcome them to shower heavenly blessings on our motherland.