Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain

I’ve always loved the rain, to me, the rain symbolizes new beginnings, sadness, happiness, relief, destruction, hope - Life.

As I child, I often used to sneak out of the house to play in the rain. Oh what joy it is to dance in the rain,one of the simple pleasures of life.

As I grew older the rain started to symbolize so much more, not just fun, but a time to introspect, to lie in bed under a blanket, sipping hot cocoa while the rain pelted away at the windows and just watch. Such a lovely feeling and what a lovely smell. It always made me feel grateful and content.

During my first year at college, i clearly remember the first time it rained, my friends and I ran out in the rain and got soaked. Let it suffice to say, that we could not attend any further classes for the day and I was sick for the next two days, but it was great fun.

Strangely enough, in my life the rain has always been my companion when I was sad or depressed. When I broke up with my first boyfriend as I walked away, I was glad it was raining so no one could see I was crying. And as the rain washed away my tears I was glad that I had finally gotten myself out of a destructive relationship which had made me miserable.

When I got my first job and moved to Mumbai, I was excited and impatient waiting for the rains as I had heard so much about them. Early one morning while I waited with my dad for my company bus to pick me up, all of a sudden it began to rain. As I heroically pulled out my huge umbrella, my dad watched in amusement. In 5 seconds my umbrella had been rendered totally useless by the wind. And however hard I tried, I just could not fathom how to hold it to prevent it from turning in the opposite direction. As I soon learnt, there is a technique to hold an umbrella in the rain. My dad was laughing so hard at my bemused expression that he was having difficulty giving directions. Finally, he just held my hand and tilted it so that the umbrella was pointing in the direction opposite to the direction of the wind and lo and behold my umbrella was fine. In the process we both got wet and laughed like crazy, but its one of my happiest memories of the rain.


A few months later, when I got the news that I had lost my father, as I wept in despair the skies joined me. It rained continuously for three days, from the day I got the news till the funeral was over. And as I sat in my ancestral house in kerala surrounded by hundreds of relatives who were searching for the right things to say, I kept looking out of the window at the rain and the comfort I felt just looking at the rain was so much more than listening to anything anyone had to say. Just hearing the rhythmic pitter patter and watching the droplets of rain fall to the ground and become one , made me feel in a strange way that maybe each of the tiny droplets joined together for a certain reason, maybe there was a purpose to everything after all. And as I looked out, at the dark green leaves and the red earth, I could see my father standing in the rain and smiling at me, with a look which said , don’t cry, I didn’t teach you to be strong for nothing. And suddenly I felt a sense of peace knowing that I would always be able to see my father in the rain.