The Purpose of Rains

The rainy season is in full swing now in most parts of the country and with rains come a lot of associated changes. One can observe flourishing greenery, instantaneous waterfalls and clean roads. All is not positive though. With rains, also come floods, a flurry of water borne diseases and increased accidents. But that is not the aim of this post.

Human beings, like in any other situation, have different reactions to rains. Many welcome the rains by dancing on rooftops and walking in the drizzle (Oh, I so miss MDI!), sharing good times with friends over chai and pakoras. Rains always bring out the extremes of emotions. Rain can act as a catalyst of joy and reviver of long lost friendships. Thanks to the rain gods, two of my close friendships got salvaged from the brink of falling apart. When it rains, one feels alive. There’s another side of the coin too. To a lonely person, his loneliness strikes the most in the melancholy of the pitter-patter of rain. It is during these solitary times that one tends to introspect, trying to search for a purpose. However, that is also not the aim of this post.

You may be wondering, what is the aim of this post? To answer that, let me take you back a couple of days. Pune has received the first installment of incessant showers for two days. Expectedly, all the roads are full of potholes and with the driving sense that Punekars possess, rather don’t possess, it’s no wonder that people are irritated. With no sun for two days, the atmosphere is gloomy and people have another thing to complain about. That is not all. The rain is not in the form of heavy showers for a few minutes followed by clear rainbowed (if there’s any such word) sky. It’s a constant stream from the sky with varying flow, sometimes pouring, sometimes a very light drizzle. And you guessed it right! People are again cribbing. “It should not constantly rain; it should rain heavily for a few minutes and then stop. That’s the way I like it”, they say.

I’m no expert, but from my limited understanding I can say that dear cribbers, rain is not for your personal pleasure. The joy, and the gloom at times, it brings is just a side effect. The main purpose of rain is to replenish the water table which you keep depleting with your bore wells. Rain feeds the crops in a nation where rainwater (I couldn’t find the irrigation data but I remember reading this somewhere) forms the biggest source of irrigation so that you can eat well. When the dams run full to capacity, you should be happy that your city will have plenty of water for the year. The ‘heavy rain for few minutes’ that you ‘like’ is practically useless as the whole water goes waste. The continuous drizzle that you despise is actually beneficial for the water table as it gets absorbed by the soil.

Please don’t complain when it rains. It is supposed to rain that’s why it’s called ‘The Rainy Season’. If you’re unhappy with the roads, please don’t blame the rains; take your municipal corporation to task. You have plenty of sunshine in the rest of the year, but that time you have to complain about the sun! We are such a bunch of complainers, never satisfied with what nature has to offer.

Please don’t complain when it rains, except if you’re in Mumbai. ;)

Cheers
Aalok
--Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered and no one was there.