The First Shower

Disclaimer: This post is inspired from true incidents. Any resemblance to person, place, thing or community is purely a coincidence. The images used in the post are only for representation purpose in order to assist the reader's imagination. They are downloaded from the internet and the author does not bear the rights of the same.


Spending one of the holidays at home instead of a day-out was seldom interesting due to unwilling neighbours ringing the doorbell at any instant irrespective of the time. After a heavy weekday work, I thought of staying indoors and make myself more comfortable than how I do in my office during weekdays. It was fun to get along with our Tommy seated in my lap listening to my conversations which actually made no sense to him yet as any faithful companion would do he would remain composed in the state he was in, glancing at me a couple of times making an impression that he's following me closely upon which I would laugh at this at times.

That day Tommy was busy in searching his natural prey in his optimistic surroundings which were all trees and bushes and grasses and an old well across the frontyard which provided us pure groundwater for more than a season. Our house is situated in a rural area which included moderately dense trees all around and farmlands spread over no less than several yards in the west such that the threat of any accompanying wildlife creature would be noticed by Tommy first, alarming us all about the threat. We were a couple of families residing in the eastern patch along the boundary of farmlands while the others occupied the plateau on the east. On all the sides of our house except for the west there were trees which can hide anyone's presence within tens of meters away.

I sat on the border of verandah which was a ten feet wide passage outside our living room and which was the only construction in the entire house made up of concrete in order to avoid any surprise attack of predators whose possibility of roaming around after midnight would not have been zero. This time there was no Tommy beside me or any novel in my hand as the usual ritual of mine was to enjoy the presence of either of the one to break the silence effectively.

It was daytime - a quarter to three - without the slightest trace of any bright rays of sunlight falling upon the leaves and getting reflected which reveal the true natural colours of our environment. The ultimate silence from other houses was enough to prove that all other families have been enjoying a sweet post-lunch nap. The birds had also stopped their twittering.

I gazed the part of the sky which was visible to me right above the house and the major one to the west, above the farmlands The grayish shades of all clouds was not really that surprising for me as the summertime had ended and it was no perfect the time for any downpour. A flash of bright white light appeared across the horizon for less than a millisecond which was no wonder the thunder light informing about the approaching rainfall in prior. I stood up and leaned from the frontyard and there it were - the first drops of rain - falling on my cheeks giving an immense pleasure. Within no time, not just my face but even my clothes began to moisten and that quick realization made me rush indoors into the verandah.

While running inside, I looked back to notice the rainfall turning severe and wondered if Masala Chai would add to my comfort which was already blessed with this sudden rainfall. Without considering my thoughtful opinion which would have been in affirmation anyhow, I marched into the kitchen, made myself a hot Masala Chai and returned back onto the steps of the verandah with a large cup to relish the moment altogether.

The dry frontyard was now completely soaked with water and it emanated petrichor, that distinct mesmerizing smell of ground dampening due to first rainfall. The small trees in the compound, of jasmine, Holy basil, chikoo, banana, papaya, etc. had by now completely drenched in rainwater and was evident from their leaves which shined more than earlier in just a few minutes duration. The larger ones occupying the entire neighbourhood like tamarind, mango, teak, jackfruit, etc. were no less wet during the period.

Taking a glance all around the verandah, I gulped down the throat - drop by drop - the hot Chai which acted like a supplement to a healthy man. The birds had now supposedly woken up to the sound of the roaring of clouds for there was a speedy flight of few tailor birds, crows and sparrows across the trees in search of a more secure place of shelter. Tommy appeared from nowhere and took a seat beside me without growling even once. Following the distinct sound of 'meow', the soft trail of Peacock amidst the dense trees at a very long distance had disappeared before I could even enjoy its sight. Alas! Even Tommy looked at me in dismay.

With few more ferocious attacks of thunderstorms, the first rainfall was now on the verge of becoming a heavy rainfall for the entire frontyard was now flooded with the water level of about a couple of centimeters which readily flowed through the narrow passage at the corner down the slope. The distinct circular ripples which form due to raindrops had now been interfering with each other losing their individuality leaving behind water as a whole.

The crystal clear drops of rainwater falling off the clay roofs of my house appeared like thick strings of transparent molten glass dripping right in front of me from the empty verandah where I was seated occasionally touching my lips to the cup of tea which had emptied minutes ago. It was raining cats and dogs now and the surroundings appeared to be more faint than usual and the visibility range had reduced drastically. I could only make out that the neighbours were yet covering few things like wood and hay lying in their yards which were almost soaked with water due to this surprising outburst.

I realized it was almost four in the evening, as I turned my back leaving aside the empty cup to take a glance at the large round clock hanging on the side of the living room. There was no doubt for the rainfall to be the sole reason for keeping all neighbours away from my house and keeping theirs into interest for the day. From a long distance, somewhere the mixed sounds of peacocks, monkeys and several birds were clearly audible as it remarked the cry of happiest expressions of animals during first rainfall. The sound of weak trees falling abruptly somewhere far away due to their incapability of standing against the mighty winds accompanied with the rainfall was quite characteristic.

The clouds seem to have emptied their entire volume onto the earth as it could be noticed from the reduced intensity of rainfall. I stood up from my place and was about to verify the same when, much to my astonishment, the wonderful band of bright seven colours flashed into the bright sky. No sooner had I turned my head down than the sound of 'meow' targeted me. This time it was so close that I got to see not only the peacock but also its spreading of feathers and I stared at it without closing my eyelids even once till its disappearance in the nearby bushes.

The rain had almost stopped now. Tommy went inside and I stepped further ahead in the frontyard to feel the wetness of the ground in a real sense and I was almost dancing over the entire compound when all of a sudden there fell something on the ground with a loud thud sound right a few steps away from me. I turned to check the object which revealed itself as the coconut falling off the tree beside our compound after weakening enough due to this rainfall.

Having enjoyed the experience of first rainfall I hurried myself indoors to resume my work for the next day as I didn't want to turn this pleasant evening into a disastrous one.