SNIPPETS OF THE MEMORIES THAT WE MADE IN MONSOONS

It was almost seven years now. Everyone must have been changed since that day. I remember it was raining. Raining cats and dogs. The dark morose clouds were hiding all the light behind its large shoulders. Even the mighty sun had to bow down to these clouds. I opened my eyes slowly to see behind the curtains at the weather and in to that memory.

....We, we were unstoppable! Treading down the muddy roads, sharing that only umbrella among the 6 of us. Giggling and passing by some people who were trying hard to shield themselves from the shower. It had always been like this. Never caring about anything or anyone, just being with one another in any situation. The mini screams we were making made the people look back at us from their speeding cars. The ruckus even alarmed the traffic police and he whistled at us to stop distracting the crowd. But how could we halt. It was the last day we were meeting after all. Life was going to change after this last time....

Life had actually changed a lot since then. I looked down from my 7^th floor French window that I had decorated with daffodils. The playground below was swarming with kids who were kicking the ball to each other even amidst all the mud. The playful shouts were making me nostalgic. Suddenly I was lost.

....We were on our football ground where we were often seen applauding and cheering our favorite teams and making fun of the opposite team. Making funny faces at them, christening them with weird names, making amusing rhyming couplets to annoy them. Aah! Those were the days…

I had a long day ahead of me. Being a working woman wasn't an easy job at all. I had two presentations and a meeting to attend for the day. All days were like this. It left me almost no time for myself and my family. Though my husband of 3 and half years was a lovable and understanding man I sometimes felt guilty for not having time for him. The beep of the toaster broke my reverie and I realized I had a meal to prepare for myself and Aman. Toasts, freshly blended fruit juice and an omelette sunny side up- (quite contrary with the weather) was what I had prepared for today.

I left my umbrella at home. Not wanting to go up for seven floors again I rather chose to battle with those drops and call for a taxi. The tiny drops amused me when they tried to cool me off of that sticky heat. I looked out of my taxi at the sky. I made out that it was going to rain the whole day. Office was still 20 mins away. The traffic on the road would make it another 10.

....We missed the first 10 minutes of it because of that traffic. It was a movie we had planned to watch since the day we heard about it. There was a unanimous decision. No more discussions. But these guys were always behind time! We girls had to wake them up, keep them calling. And now we were late! How much we had argued that day over lunch after the movie....

I loved my work. Considering that I was a workaholic I enjoyed every bit of my job. It was more of a passion than earning money. That was why people around me liked for what I did. All of my friends must have been doing well too. I wished we could have been nearer than being at different places. I missed the togetherness. I hoped for a get together someday but I also knew that the need to make our careers and a good life had left us with no choice but just be content with phone calls and few wall posts left at that social networking site. My nostrils got filled up with that familiar fragrance of my favorite room freshener which my assistant had most probably sprayed in my room just before my arrival. But it lacked the freshness of the smell of the soil after the first rain. How much me and my friends enjoyed it over a cup of tea on those rainy evenings! The glass walls that gave me a full view of outside including the vast sea made my heart glad every time. But today the sea looked even more beautiful than before. The windy outside and rains were making it a pleasant sight to see. I touched the glass as if I was trying to feel the droplets with my fingertips. I missed getting drenched in the rain, missed my friends with whom the monsoons became a season for adventures. “BACK TO THE BUSINESS!” my mind reminded my heart who refused it INSTANTLY. I wanted some days out from this hulla ballo of busy. As I searched for my phone I hoped that they were thinking the same as I was the whole day. We were friends after all! Dialing the number one by one I was thinking of the excuses that I was going to site for my reasons of leave. They picked up the phone one by one and-

“Hello! Oi did u see the weather?? Isn't it great?? Reminds me of the day when we used to…..”
“uff the mud! How I hated but still loved it naa!....”
“remember the time when it rained for 2 days continuous…..”
“lets meet this time… what say??”

And the conversations kept brewing…………..