June is here. Summer is on its knees giving way to monsoon clouds rolling in from the south. Bombay is experiencing pretty cloudy and dark early mornings and nights. The first rain will fall and everybody should release a sigh of relief as the unbearable hot of the days makes way for rainy cool. Except, living in Bombay I have come to hate the rains.

A lack of sunlight is something I have learned to dread since past few years. I was not always like this. Back in college, I used to wait for monsoon. Just last year, I was optimistically waiting to experience Bombay with its rains, this romantic idea of rain engrained in me from Wake Up Sid (Now continue reading this post with the song playing in the background). And all that happened was the city made me deal with the wet roads, dirty rainwaiter, water-logged streets, the unstopping traffic, stuck locals, jams and general dampness of everything, which made me hate it. Add to that the fact that yours humbly does not experience the sun for several days and everything seems to start gloomy at best.

NOT THIS TIME. Farewell, summer. Fare thee well. The monsoon will come and I am bound to make my experience of the Bombay monsoon turn around and have a little fun this time. You see, last year I was just starting my job at around this time. It had been a month since the internship was over. While I was still new to the city, I was trying to settle in and live a normal life, failing to actively seek the beauty and getting overwhelmed by the horridness the rain gives. Sure the rains here in Bombay brings enormous challenges for everyday life but I am going to actively seek beauty wherever hidden in the unspoken crevices of the city it is. Let the rains come. I am a little older now, more learned than before.

You see I am the kind of person who complains a lot. About alot of things. We were at Crawford Market yesterday and I had just had another typical exhausting day at the office. The air and the sky around was orange, the sunset over-stretching itself and I had decided to leave work early. My backpack was giving me hard time. It was not heavy as such but after sitting on the uncomfortable office chair the whole day I was having real sharp bouts of pain shooting through my neck. And the day was hot, as ever. Usually I am really cranky when situations are like these and I am walking outside. It was pointed out to me how I could try putting the slight discomfort in the background and try enjoying for which we were actually there. Which I did. I put the pain the background, tried enjoying and guess what? We ended up having a good time. Me not complaining not only made me learn to be a bit resilient but also avoided spoiling the fun of others around me which in turn made me enjoy things. Now, this is not to encourage suppressing your problems and avoid telling them to the people who care about you, who could help but this is just about a managable problem which you could avoid having conquered your life.

Same goes for the monsoon. Will be actively searching for the subtle and the beautiful this season. Let the rains come.

See you tomorrow,
Avi.