The monsoon rain blesses southern and south western India by June every year and we receive substantial and sorely needed rains until mid September every year. This year, the rains have continued pouring down right through October, putting a damper on India's festive season, especially Diwali, the main festival of the Hindus. My home town Pune has been particularly hit, last month my parents' ground floor was badly flooded and I have lost both my scooter and my car, as the insurance company has deemed both vehicles fit only for the scrap heap, and everyone there is waiting with bated breath for the rain to wreak havoc again, more so as a cyclone, with it's centre in the Arabian Sea, is adding to the fury of the rain. We have been anxiously, metaphorically, scanning our skies there, via weather reports and updates from family and friends.
For my family, there are no Diwali celebrations this year, as we remember my Dad....It is hard to celebrate in the face of loss...
For my family, there are no Diwali celebrations this year, as we remember my Dad....It is hard to celebrate in the face of loss...
Juxtaposition of rains and Diyas ( lamps)…
( Image from the net)
A Damp Diwali
Damp, dark clouds, heavy with rain,
Scuttle across the outraged October sky,
It is a dismal, dire, depressing Diwali.
Damp, dank, earthern diyas,
Line a peeling parapet wall,
Attracting, instead of prosperity,
Rain insects, which flutter around the flame,
Only to die on Diwali day.
Damp, Diwali decorations dangle,
Dangerously from a warped, balcony ceiling,
The rain did not spare us this Diwali day.
Decorously dressed families, meet, greet and say,
" Will it stop pouring at least today?"
Damp squibs refuse to deploy,
Further dampening already low spirits,
Which now spiral rapidly downwards,
As the eyes light upon muddy footprints,
Marring the once sparkling floor,
Instead of the dainty, vermillion hued ones,
When Goddess Laxmi, on Diwali day, comes.
My damp eyes try to peer past,
The cyclone brewing over the Arabian Sea,
Bringing further dismay,
To all those celebrating Diwali today.
Despite the damp, the despair, the gloom and doom,
All over my state, the sweets and savouries have been made,
And, one hopes, our debts to the Rain Gods have been paid,
By this evening our skies, of rain, will have no trace,
Like every year, a billion sparkling lamps, will be seen even from outer space.
