Of rain and book-shine

It's been really cold weather for the past few days now, and seems as though winter has already begun. Having been born and brought up in Mumbai, it took me quite a while to get used to the cooler winters here. In fact, I am one of those who feel extra cold on any given day, and need at least a thin coverlet on warmer nights on which others cannot sleep without a fan.

The cold these few days is more as a result of the rains, thanks to Cyclone Jal, not true winter yet, methinks. Sweaters, jackets and quilts have nevertheless come out, and it is purely by sheer willpower, and the thought of having to get the child ready on time for the school bus, that I can get out of a warm bed before daybreak, shivering as I take a handful of really cold tap water to rinse my face so that I wake up completely.

Uncharacteristically for Bangalore, it has been raining at all odd times. It is not usual to have rain mid-morning. Unlike in Mumbai, where it keeps raining 24/7 for almost all days of the monsoon, July being the worst. What is interesting is that Mumbai keeps going inspite of it, and on days when the lifeline of the city, the local trains, stop in their tracks because of the water-logging, the die-hard Mumbaikars find alternative ways of going about their business. It isn't called maximum city for nothing.

Two incidents stand out in my memory.

One July day, many years ago, it rained so much in Mumbai that the local trains were not working. I had to submit my admission forms for my graduate course that day. On enquiring, I learnt that rain or no rain, it had to be done that day. So I took buses to the place, and had to walk the last half kilometer or so through thigh high water. Equiped with my certificates wrapped securely in plastic (Imagine the loss if they had got damaged by water? Try telling that to an 18-something person who has no concept of the apparent mission impossible!) and nothing more than an umbrella to protect myself from the incessant rain, I proceeded to do what I needed to do. Never mind that it took me the entire day to get there in the crazy water-logged traffic, finish with the formalities, and come back home.

Second was when a friend's parents had come to Mumbai from a town in interior Maharashtra for the first time since she had married and come to Mumbai. They had come just before the monsoon season had begun. When the rains started in earnest around the 2nd-3rd week of June, they were astonished that she had to go to work as usual, rain notwithstanding. That aunty later told me that she thought her daughter would have a holiday since it rained so much and so continuously that day. She soon realised, however, that the incessant rain was not just for a day or two like in her native town, but would continue unabated, increasing in ferocity over the next 2-3 months, and daily life had to go on!

When I came to Bangalore, it took me awhile to get used to its rains too, just like I had to get used to the cold. To my Mumbai-acclimatised mind, the rains here were erratic, comimg in summer as well as winter. Also, a sunny morning was no guarantee that it would not become overcast towards the afternoon, and rain in the evening. Initially, I hated the fact that I could not get out in the evenings. Also, I could not get my mind around the fact that people hardly ever carried umbrellas here-which you'll still find me carrying. (I always carry one in my purse. True Mumbaikar at heart. Ready even in case of unexpected rains.) And, I could not get any rainy footwear like in Mumbai- which I would get from there every year.

Now, after 15 years in Bangalore, I have partially switched loyalties, and find Mumbai too sultry sometimes. After all, this is air-conditioned city. I carry that umbrella, get my rainy footwear available at Bangalore shoe-shops since the past few years, and do all I have to do during the mornings. The cold- well, have made great additions to my wardrobe with some excellent jackets, pullovers and cardigans. And am fine with wearing warm-wear during the day, too if necessary.

On a different note- am looking forward to meeting the Tulika team tomorrow at Mother Earth, where they will be releasing their new set of books based on stories from the Panchatantra.. Although their programme is in the evening, which I will not be able to attend thanks to a function at the daughter's school, I shall try to attend a session that they have in the morning. The books, reviewed here at Saffrontree, look yummy!

And looking forward to drooling over the glut of books at the Bangalore Book Festival which starts today! Will try to go during the following week.

Also looking forward to meeting some old and new blogging friends next week.

Come rain or shine!

Edited to add on Nov 14th: Went to the release of the Tulika books yesterday. The team were very warm and welcoming, just as I had visualised them to be. Had a chance to attend an awesome performance by the inimitable Jeeva Raghunath as she told the story from one of the books which has been re-told by her.