Memories
It has been raining incessantly since a couple of hours. The road is partially waterlogged. Although the pothole is gulping muddy water very fast, the water level is still increasing. She watches the water run down the tin roof of the house on the opposite side of the road. She was awakened a few minutes ago by the sound of thunder and is grateful that the rain was falling vertically all this while — lest it entered her apartment. It is ten in the morning as opposed to what the clouds and the thunder outside makes one feel.
The previous night was a long one owing to a work deadline that had kept her awake until four. She is hungry but tired to be able to cook anything. She watches her daughter sleep peacefully. She freshens up and makes herself a cup of tea. Sitting at the inner end of the balcony, she sips her tea while watching the rain fall. The wind makes the drops of water sway a little. She watches few small streams of water flow towards her, running down to her feet in a race — a race that has been on since her childhood.
She remembers her small village where she was born; her small house with a porch. She recalls how the rain water would start running inside the verandah from the overflowing drain outside. The water would flow in multiple small streams, racing against each other before finally colluding to flood the entire porch. Suddenly she feels the smell of wet mud tease her nose — a fragrance that she had long forgotten amidst her life in the city. She recollects how she used to venture out into the rains and dance until she was completely drenched.
She is brought back to reality by another sound of thunder. She remembers how it had rained very heavily that evening — about four years back- the one that she thinks changed her life forever. It was drizzling when her husband drove her to the hospital but the pace of the fall was increasing at an alarming rate. They had decided to welcome their baby at her husband’s ancestral place in Himachal Pradesh. After getting her admitted, he had rushed to get her few essentials from the market. No one had any idea of nature’s oncoming wrath.
She recalls how she continued to call her husband the entire time but the network was broken. Although the day was supposed to be a precious one for she was blessed with her daughter, the price paid in lieu of it was not something she had imagined. She was earlier told that her husband was injured because of a landslide induced accident — only to find out the entire truth a little while later. It was after that day that she never felt like going out and enjoying the rain. A drop of water falls into her cup of tea — one not from the clouds but rather her wet eyes.
She hears her daughter wake up and wipes her face immediately. She goes inside and kisses her forehead. Her daughter realises how strongly it has been raining and cries — for they were supposed to go to the park in the afternoon. She buries her head into her mom’s lap. Her mom, feeling guilty for not being able to give her time since last few days tells her that she would prepare her favourite dish for lunch and that she wouldn’t stop her from having any sort of fun the entire day at home. Listening to this, her daughter jumps out of the bed, pulls her mother along and before she knows, they are on the outer uncovered edge of the balcony — the little one laughing and jumping in the rain and splashing water all around her mother!
Originally published at https://themarwaridimag.blogspot.com on August 12, 2020.
