# When It Rains Outside

Rainy season is the favorite season of almost everyone. It’s loved by everyone as it is a welcome relief after the heat and the dust of summer. Its a wonderful gift of nature to all mankind plants and animals. We are lucky that we are living in God’s Own country, that we get to experience the biggest blessings of nature. Its the most beautiful season, the land turns into a picturesque landscape. The lush green forests, valleys, and the beautiful waterfalls are in their full glory. The forests look awesome and we get to witness the incredible Indian wildlife. The rains are important for our agriculture. The Indian farmers depend upon the rainfall of June and October. Crops like rice, jute, sugarcane, rubber, wheat, barley etc need heavy rainfall for the cultivation. Adequate rainfall is very essential. It helps to boost the sale of consumer goods. It helps to fill up reservoirs to generate electricity. Groundwater is replenished, it is important to conserve rainwater for the future. The growth of the economy is high during this season.

    When the monsoon gets heavy, the mood changes. People are forced to remain indoors. Man is rendered helpless before nature’s fury. When the rains pour down, river banks break and the sea gets rough. The overflow of water from rivers, ponds, and lakes become a reason for floods. These floods can also destroy crops. On one hand, it brings fun and excitement but on the other, it brings sorrow and destruction. Lots of health problems do arise. Water and airborne diseases break. Dysentery,  malaria, cholera, typhoid etc. Cold, cough, flu etc attack the kids faster. Due to waterlogging, mosquitoes tend to breed. Power failure, shortage of water are the other major issues. We must eat nutritious food and drink plenty of water. Plenty of intake of water helps to drain the toxins from our body. The surroundings should be clean and we must make sure drainage and sewage are not clogged. The drainage system in the cities is inadequate. The water keeps overflowing from the drains. The roads become muddy and slushy and it becomes difficult to walk on them. Due to the heavy flow of rainwater traffic jams happen on the road and it affects the lives of the people. Transport and communication get suspended.

    Its always been a concept, that the rains come pouring down when the schools reopen. This year the south-west monsoon has arrived a few days earlier than usual. All the kids who are to begin their first day in school are all set with their umbrellas and raincoats. Its a moment of joy and chaos for all the parents who bring their toddlers for the first time to school. I still remember my early days of school, how we loved the rain we had to walk a kilometer from school to our house. All of us had umbrellas yet we preferred to get wet and dance in the rain. When I  became a mother I was overprotective of my kids. And feared that they would fall sick but they too had their fun and loved the rain. Who doesn’t love the rain?

     The biggest problem we face nowadays is when we travel by road, especially by public transport. I am giving you an insight of the daily commuters struggle on a rainy day. I was traveling by bus on a Monday morning. As I was ready to leave for the bus station the skies were turning grey I could see the clouds getting heavier. I had to catch the bus before it rained. I reached the station and boarded the bus on time. As I took my usual seat near the window, I could see the others rushing to enter the bus before they could get wet. I usually take 2 hours to reach my destination. The traffic on Mondays was always bad, we had to cross a few traffic signals. On this day we almost reached our final signal before our usual time. Most of us were happy we would be reaching our work before time. But after that, it started to rain and the traffic came to a standstill. We were 15 minutes away from our offices, but nothing could be done as the roads and traffic were bad. We took more than 50 minutes to reach our destination. Rains do have their own disadvantages. The roads become slushy and nothing can be done as it’s just impossible to walk on. We must find a solution to make way for better sewage systems And construct safer roads for the smooth flow of traffic. We can’t predict the weather every monsoon is different. If it rains cats and dogs this year, the next year the rains would be scanty

Each one of you I am sure has different views about rain. It would be nice if you could post pictures on rain or narrate an incident that brings back the nostalgic feel of the season. If you don’t feel at ease you can brief me about it. I would write about them in my next blog.

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