Every holiday we go for in life usually has something that we look forward to doing or seeing, it could be the view, the place or something special that warms our hearts. A beautiful sunset, being with the person you love, sharing time with family and friends, or visiting a place that has some deeper personal significance make a holiday special.
In the month of August, the monsoons make their appearance in India. I was going on a holiday to India during the month of August. I love the rain and I especially look forward to the monsoon weather. I enjoy the heavy torrential rain, which may sometimes continue for two to three days, as the city of Kolkata gets flooded with rainwater.
However, I arrived in Kolkata to find that the weather was bright and sunny with no rain or dark cloud in sight. It always rains on my birthday, but it did not this august. I was disappointed, as the holiday in the city of joy was coming to an end and it had not rained yet.
Three days before our holiday came to an end, my wife and I took an autorickshaw to the New Market in Kolkata. Suddenly and without warning the weather changed, there was thunder, lightning, and rain. We got off the auto at our stop in the rain, with the hope that we could get shelter in the New Market. We stood for an hour, in the shelter of a roadside shop, with so many others who had sought refuge from the rains. The rains battered the buildings, and the trees and washed the city with its sheer ferocity.
The rain continued. I watched as the lightning flashed across the skies, the waters rose, we were soaking, and the rain continued without showing signs of stopping. My wife and I decided to get the next auto-rickshaw back home. We could not do any shopping that day, as the roads started to get flooded in the city. I smiled when I reached home soaked in the rain, happy and content. My holiday wish had come true.
My wish was fulfilled, I had experienced a monsoon in the city of joy and it brought back so many childhood memories of going to school in the floods and rains. I also recalled the happy memories of making paper boats and placing them as I walked back from school in the floods with my mother. I love watching nature’s performance, which is an orchestra of rain and thunderstorms.