On a soothing summer evening, back from a hectic routine at office when I sat on my comfy sofa sipping delicious hot sugary syrup we call tea, it seemed as though the summer rain was awaiting my return to home today. My balcony door was half open and I was too lazy to close the same. Was it my laziness or the weight of my childhood memories which were stopping me to get up and close the door, rather sit and continue gazing forward to my balcony, or backward in the Memory Lane!

Suddenly my silent gaze outside was interrupted when my eyes were drawn to the carpet adjacent to the balcony, which was almost half wet by then. So the lazy girl inside me was compelled to overcome the magnetic force of sofa and be a savior of my carpet playing hide and seek with the increasing rain.I got up to close the balcony door, and looked outside, the rain had become heavier by now, and there was no one to be seen out on the silent street across my apartment on that rainy summer eve. In this silence, as my eyes were following one car after another zooming through the road afar, sidelining the heavy rain, the headlight flash of one of the cars reminded me of the torch light my uncle used to flash on the falling rain from our drawing room when there used to be no power. It flashed an image of my innocent childhood, a small me jumping with excitement of stepping outside and saying “Hi” to the falling rain!!

The heavy rain outside, which by now, as per my conscience should have interrupted the normal way of life or at least would have brought about some change in the entropy and could have given me a chance to experience an altogether  different face of my American town, but it could not become that much generous like always,it seemed though everything else was sidelining the thunderous rain and life was running through the high speedways and the comforts of home were still intact! The power was still on and the sound of rain was intermittently interrupted by my TV running in the background. I suddenly came back to present and realized this is far away from my home, where the unleashing rains  cannot interrupt the way of life, it cannot ruin planned routine or create unwanted excitement or a reason to worry for anybody.

Suddenly, my phone beeped, a Weather Alert popped up on my smartphone “The Rain will start at 6 pm and continue till 11.15 pm” ,the same alert which had popped up on my phone several times since morning, this accurate prediction by technology made something even more precious to me – The Excitement of Sudden Rains in my Childhood, The memory of getting drenched in rain while returning back from school, the tiffin sharing game in school bus after the day being declared a rainy day at the closed school gate, the in-situ kitchen menu change to ‘Khichdi and Fish fry’! Moreover Only the knee high water all around from the beautiful and unrelenting rainfall could compel granny to extend her stay in my home for one more day. Fortunately, there used to be no weather alerts and smartphones back in those days to ruin those priceless childhood moments for me.

Back then when Grandpa used to secretly reveal “God gives surprise if we can make him Happy”, Awaiting that much anticipated surprise, I bribed my God with an extra sugar nut, praying intensely to shower the surprise a bit sooner! Suddenly, hearing my aunt’s voice coming from a distance “Oh God! all the washed clothes would become wet again now!!!” I immediately got ready to rush above and help my aunt.The emerging black cloud cover in one corner of the afternoon sky whispered in my ears “your surprise for an extra sugar nut child..!” I could not gather myself enough out of this surprise and was too busy accumulating the joy within for the celebration, suddenly my aunt called up again “Come with me! Need to bring all the clothes from the roof!” With another excited gaze at the afternoon sky from my balcony (which was almost half-black sky by now), holding my breath I started running upstairs to help my aunt, a question in my heart puzzling me all the way up to the roof  “How come the black cloud covered so much distance in such a less time! Did it run faster than me?” I would need to ask Grandpa later. When I finally reached the rooftop, I heard aunt saying “if this rain could have waited for another half an hour, these two of my sarees could have also been dry like rest”.It triggered an innocent inherent pride in me of knowing why the rains came in early today and an innocent guilt of knowing who the little culprit was!

“Let’s go down, rain will start in a few minutes now” aunt said ignoring my unwilling nod of the head,she quickly held my little hand, so my little feet had to follow helplessly behind. And then, someone suddenly whispered in my head again “One more extra sugar nut child!” I could not wait to make the deal with my God “Please let me stand in the rain for a while today ,this time I will not fall sick. Last time when I was down with fever and everybody was scolding aunt ,I recalled uncle telling her ,if she would have given me a precaution medicine beforehand, all the mess could have been avoided.Only You can convince aunt this time, If you do that, I promise ,you will get one extra sugar Nut tomorrow as well.”

Grandma used to tell me, ‘God likes Sugar Nut’ but I had no idea before that day that it was only His favorite food!! Half way down from the roof, my aunt puts down her tub of semi dry clothes, and whispers in my ear “Want to go there again?!” “Like last time?!!” I jumped with a smile. “Not at all”, my aunt added, “Unlike last time, today I will give you a medicine kept in your uncle’s drawer and nobody will know anything”. I hugged my aunt with infinite excitement and we rushed back up the flight of stairs to the roof again. My aunt was humming a song after making a chignon with her messy hair, she looked at me with a smile and said “let’s go to the middle of the roof,The rain has started”. I told with a scared voice, “And everyone will scold you again!”. She answered with a smile childishly, “How would anyone get to know sweetheart, I have brought another dress for you, will make you wear the same before going downstairs, if anybody asks the reason for your messy hair, we will tell it is because of the hair oil I have applied onto your hair. Moreover, your summer vacation has already started so you will be in my room only, and I will tell everybody that you are going to sleep with us tonight in our room”. With such an elaborate back up plan to avoid the scolding, I was confident the bribe of another extra sugar nut had definitely worked! I whispered to her ears “No, I will not sleep, I will listen story from you, Ghost Story!”

We could not end our talk, suddenly the rain arrived and drenched both of us instantly. My aunt asked “Do you remember the dance you performed at last year’s school function?” I told “Yes! But don’t know the song”. She answered, “I know the song, you start!” I started dancing with her Rabindra Sangeet in the chorus, my little feet rejoicing the touch of water accumulated on the roof floor. The aura, the moment was nothing less than the feeling of a Peacock dancing towards the first summer rain, ‘My Childhood Rain, The Surprise for One extra Sugar Nut’.

Thanks,

BongNote