The Beauty of Rain

The sky just came falling down all around me, and all I could do for the past hour was stand in exhilaration and wonder, and watch it happen. What is it about rainstorms that makes a person (or is it just me?) so dreamy? For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved rain and all that comes with it – thunder, lightning, muddy puddle-filled roads, hot-hot bhajiyas and pakodas, getting drenched to the bone, lazying around bundled up in a blanket cozily in bed with a good book, and what not! People tell me I’m crazy! They remind me about the gloomy and cold atmosphere, power-cuts, seepage, sickness, floods, and even destruction, and I always wonder then that they’re not all wrong, rain can be devastating for a lot of people and it’s unfair of me to love one season so much and neglect the others.

But then, as soon as it looks like it’s going to rain again, there I am on the roof, getting caught in the whirlwind, breathing in the cool breeze, with my hair flying harum scarum all over the place, taking pictures of the dark clouds, and the world around, hoping it’s going to rain like hell! What is it about the rain that makes me forget everything except the good? Why don’t I worry then about how I’m going to get the gallons of water that has entered my room through nooks and corners, out, or how damp and dirty it’s going to be? I don’t care if I won’t be able to get a signal on my mobile due to the storm, or if I don’t finish the work that’s been procrastinated since the beginning of time because of the power cut (power cuts are a must here, even in case a leaf rustles due to a slight breeze!). I don’t care about floods, dirty roads or anything else. I’m a sucker for rainstorms and nothing can, at that moment, dissuade me!

There’s something magical about the way the sky opens up and lets it all out, just the way we sometimes feel like doing with all that pent up frustration and emotions! Just letting go and giving in to everything you’ve been holding back! Even the novels and books I read since I was very young, always ended up romanticizing the concept of rainfalls and storms, by making them the perfect setting for lovers to meet, part or rekindle a long forgotten romance. And after it’s over, the world feels cleaner, brighter, and a much better place to live in.

For romantics and dreamers like me, it’s the perfect way to escape the real world for a few hours and just revel in the beauty Mother Nature has to offer. So when it’s raining cats and dogs the next time, instead of worrying about the water trickling down the back of your neck through an opening in your raincoat (which you can never seem to find!), get rid of it and welcome the downpour. Breathe a little, get lost in this new world, at least for a few seconds, and dream the dreams you didn’t get enough time for last night or in the last decade! And when it’s over, you’ll feel alive, cleansed, fulfilled and beautiful too. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll feel love for someone rekindling in your heart too.

“Rain is beautiful when it comes hurried and passionate, fleeing from the storm wind, hurled, like a volley of small musketry, against your streaming panes…. It is beautiful in the Midsummer, when it comes in light, soft showers, or, more in earnest, accompanied with thunder-music, straight and heavy;

The beauty of rain is a thing often missed, I think, even by those who do keep, as they pass through this world, a keen eye for the Creator’s thoughts, embodied in beauty about them…”

~ John Richard Vernon, “The Beauty of Rain”, 1863

Photo by: Amit Kanwar & Jaipal Mandyal

Catherine Nipps