Not Everyone Loves the Rain

It was a bright, sunny day when I woke up. The sky was clear blue, and the sun was clearly in a good mood that day. Mornings usually feel breezy and cool, but it was a warm start. Nevertheless, I did my morning chores and sat down to work. Lately, I have been frustrated by my sleeping routine. I feel sleepy when I should not be, and I often feel guilty when I waste daytime hours sleeping. So, I drafted all the emails I had to send and scheduled them. I also checked whether I had to report to anyone, and it was all clear. I was pretty much waiting for follow-ups and replies from clients and my employee. And before I knew it, I was asleep on my couch. It was a very nice, tranquil peace.

Suddenly, I woke up to a loud sound. Lightning must have struck somewhere, I thought. When I looked through the window, it was raining torrentially. Obviously, the drains were overflowing, and many hoardings and bins were flowing down the streets with the water. I checked my clock and realised that I had slept for exactly one hour. For the next thirty minutes, I stood at my window, and it kept raining with the same force. I knew that many trees would have fallen and many roads would have turned into rivers, and it was indeed so when I stepped out of my home after the rain finally stopped. Many of the roads were blocked, and people were using alternative routes to reach their destinations. It was an utter inconvenience.

In the evening, I went out to drink juice, as I do on most days. It took me some twenty minutes to reach the juice shop, going through the labyrinth-like narrow alleys of a typical Indian town. When I reached there, the shopkeeper was leaning on his chair and was rather quiet. He got up instantly when he saw me and asked me to sit. He started making my juice while I sat on the corner of the bench in his shop, enjoying the cool air. He made it in some three minutes, gave it to me, and sat back on his chair. I was drinking it slowly, enjoying every sip.

‘Sir, not even a single customer has come since morning because of the rain,’ he said while I was still drinking my juice. I nodded, showing pity, and he continued. ‘I had to make some payments and place orders for stock! Everything is disturbed now. It was perfectly fine in the morning. God knows what happened; suddenly dark clouds took over, and before we knew it, it was raining heavily.’

I finished my juice. ‘Yes, uncle, it happens sometimes. Rain disturbs everything.’

‘Hmm,’ he replied.

I made the payment and came back home. I remembered how, when I was standing near the window while it rained, I was enjoying every bit of it, wanting it to rain till the end of the day despite knowing the wreck it was creating, because the atmosphere had become so cool. But certainly not everybody thinks the same about rain, and definitely not those small establishments that depend on daily customers.