Rain, rain. Go away?

You can tell a lot about a city by how it deals with rain.

I grew up in Delhi. Delhi has a spattering of monsoon showers. Touch and go. It will be sweltering hot. That in-between period when the cooler is no longer effective and the possibly huge AC bill lingers on your head. You will be cursing the weather gods. News about rains from other parts of the country will become anathema. All conversations will start and end with talks about rains. And then, finally, it happens. An extremely hot afternoon will suddenly give way to dark intense clouds and a heavy downpour. Just like that. 

And just like that, people stop working. There'll be plans for pakaude and chai. People will rush home early. And just as suddenly as it started, it stops raining and work resumes. I cannot count the number of times I missed school because, rain. 

Maybe it's meant to be like that by design. Rain makes people in Delhi wait for it. We are at the flag end of monsoons. After the whole country has its fill, Delhi gets its turn under the sky. So when it does come, its like the pressure cooker whistle being removed. Let it all out. Just relax. Drink some chai. Eat some oily snack. It's the only city I have lived in where actual peacocks come out and dance in the rain. 

Imagine my shock when I moved to Mumbai after 25 years of this languid rain experience. 

I still remember the day. I had moved in April and it was a normal summer for 2 months. Then, June came in and one fine day, if I remember correctly, June 4th, it started raining in the afternoon. Not a drizzle. Not light rains. A downpour so strong it hurt the eyes just looking at it. The Delhite in me was grappling to understand it and like an impulse reaction, I said, "Hey, it's raining. Let's order pakaude and then go home."  The locals stared at me like I was speaking French. Then they laughed, quipped, "Good joke" and went right back to work. It rained all night. 

The next morning, I sent a brave message to my team, "Hey guys, it's raining. I assume noone will turn up to work. Let's meet after the rain stops?"

Silence. And someone finally messaged me separately and said, "You are taking 3 months leave?"

I bought an umbrella that day and dragged myself to work, jeans rolled up, wearing crocs, wading through water. 100% attendance in office. Not one person sat at home. I told myself it will be ok when it stops raining.

It didn't stop raining. That day, that evening, that night, the next day, the day after, the week after, the fortnight after. It stopped raining only at the end of September. And the city went about its work, like nothing had happened. They put tarpaulins on roofs. Shoe shops sold sandals built for the rains. Auto rickshaws had tarpaulins ready. The musty smell become a part of life.

I got used to it too. The next year, I didn't ask for leave because it rained. Like a hero, I turned up, ready to take it on.

Which explains why I am most amused by Hyderabad's reaction to rain. It's the only city I know where monkey-caps come out when it first rains. To be fair to them, the city does tend to get a wee bit cold when it rains. Not winter-wear level cold, but that's their quirk. First rain and out come monkey caps, sweaters, scarves. And as if like a self-fulfilling prophesy, it will invariably be followed by bouts of sniffs and colds and fevers. Making the sweaters more inevitable. It's a treadmill and they can't stop running on it.

And then there's Bangalore. This city stole my heart with its weather. 

Normal cities: Let's wait for monsoons.

Legendary cities: Monsoons will come to us.

Bangalore: We'll make it rain whenever we want.

A sentence beginning with "it's so hot today" will never reach its logical conclusion in Bangalore, because before you reach the end, it will start raining and you will go drifting off into the breeze. Bangalore rains are also fun because they tease. The day starts bright and shiny. By afternoon, the city has had it. A cool breeze starts descending on it. If you have looked outside the window, you have already done harm to your productivity because you are now dreaming about being outside. And then when the buzz about the beautiful weather reaches its peak, its a signal and it starts raining. A nice, short spell and back to the breeze. Just enough to make you feel happy and buzzed. Sure, traffic will build up, but that's  a story many have written about.

All love stories come to an end. And so, I ended up leaving Bangalore and settling down in Singapore.

Singapore needs rains. It's a port city with so much humidity in the air, you can squeeze your hand in the air and get water to fill up your bottle. And it does get rains commensurate to that. Once in every 3 days, it rains. Like everything else in Singapore, they are prepared. Covers for umbrellas outside buildings. Walkways, so you are not exposed anywhere. Underpasses. Bus Shelters which extend to the road. They know their rains and they know how to deal with them. If you are one of those who wants to sit at home because it rained, it's on you. The city will not be an excuse for your lethargy. 

And so, when I woke up to heavy rain yesterday morning, I sat in the bus and told myself, I will do a hybrid. Like the Mumbaikars, I'll go to work in the rain. Like Delhites, I'll order myself pakaude. Like Hyderabadis, I'll wear a sweater and pretend its cold. Like Bangaloreans, I'll just let myself be awash in the weather. And then, just like it happens in efficient little Singapore, it stopped raining. 

So here I am writing this post and explaining all of this, while the sun is out bright and happy.

Hope it rains wherever you are.

Cheers
Preeks