I say 'love ya rain'
When in kindergarten many moons ago I refused
to obey my teacher's orders when she asked me to sing 'Rain Rain go away
come again another day'. All because I loved the rains. She punished me
and I was sure at that time and even now that my teacher who is about 60
years now, had some score to settle with the rains.
Rain is romantic, Rain is lovely, Rain is movement, Rain is about getting
wet. Remember the songs? - 'Singing in the Rain', listen to the rhythm
of the falling rain, and many others. It is beautiful to sing and dance
in the rains. Some curse the rains. But the world will be cursed if we
have no rains. No food, no green, flowers, birds and bees. What about the
most colourful rainbow we see with the falling rains? No one can forget
the days. He or she played with paper boats. I still remember the joy of
my paper boat overtaking my brother's in the rain waters flowing down the
drains. The drains were not so dirty then.
With rain comes the wet look. What else do you except? We all love the
wet look even though most of us refuse to admit it.
The world went crazy with the wet looks of Bridgitte Bardot and Ursula
Andress, (better known as Ursula Undress) D.H. Lawrence didn't live to
see sexy Sylvia Kristel dancing nude in the rain in the cinematic creation
of "Lady Chatterly's Lover".
He would have gone mad. Rain did the tricks. No Indian movie is complete
without a scene in the rain. Indian film lovers still remember the sultry
Zeenat Aman dancing in the rain (she wore no undergarment) in 'Satyam Sivam
Sundaram' created by the great Raj Kapoor.
Be it Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Madhuri Dixit, cat's-eyed Aishwarya Rai.
They have all danced or cried in the rain. Even the film 'Fire' had rain.
The so called elite in India hold rain parties. They either party in God
sent rain or create artificial rain.
One has to attend the parties in good clothes and let the rains do the
rest. Colombo should try it out. The rain parties are more fun than Panduru
parties. Dr. G.L. Pieris please take note. Maligawatte will be a good place
to host it. Good old Siddhalepa will sponsor it as Rains and Colds are
good buddies.
It is raining cats and dogs in Delhi and flowers are blooming. The roads
are getting cleaned and muddy. Pot holes and manholes are getting filled
up and people falling into them.
People wade through water-logged streets to catch buses. Vehicles stop
half way with wearing down batteries. Highly made up women see their lipstick
and other pasteups washed away. People see reality and I say 'love ya rain'.
The cobblers are in 'big business'. Umbrellas and rain coats are out.
I see the Eskimos of Delhi. It is colourful. Blue, black and blue, red,
gold and blue maroon, green and orange. The speeding vehicles splash me
with water.
The starry hotel guards refuse entry to my all Indian auto rickshaw
and I walk a long distance in search of hospitality in pain but rain. I
too get the wet look. Vipers on my spectacles don't work. I fall into holes
and come out bathed in holy water down Delhi's Janpath Road. The street
walker becomes a mover and a shaker.
Rains have caused floods in some areas. Sonia Gandhi tours the flood
affected areas. People scream 'Soniaji please save us from floods and rains".
They even carry placards well organised by the Congress publicity pundits.
Poor men and women, they don't realise that if Sonia comes to power
it will be goodbye for chapatis and naans. It will be pizza and marcaroni
time. Anyway Soniaji says Mama Mia and thank the rains.
The officials usual cry 'we need rains to create more electricity' sounds
familiar? But people become powerless in their homes. Kama Sutra sales
drop, family planners have more work.
The population booms.
Candle sellers too are in big business. My rain plays havoc. At Delhi's
Sarojini Nagar I hear the Evergay Elton John sing 'Candle in the Wind'
and I get blown mine in the wind (with apologies to Bob Dylan) in New Delhi.
But still refuses to sing 'Rain Rain go away come again another day'.
Stop over: Met J. N. Dixit when he came to launch his new book 'Fifty
Years of Indian Foreign Policy'. The ceremony was postponed but he found
the time for the street walker. He said late R. Premadasa loved him so
much that when he visited Sri Lanka with former Prime Minister Narasimha
Rao as India's Foreign Secretary, Premadasa questioned: "You again?"
However Dixit's answer: "Yes Sir. But I am taking the next plane back
home tomorrow", had pleased the then President.
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