the morning after.

last night it was pouring, as they say cats and dogs. but this morning things seem all fresh and clean.
the most important feature of the monsoon is that it brings new life to everything around. i watch the little plants around my house when the sun is scorching the earth, even watering them is of practically no use, by the evening they are so drawn and withering. of course, the night does give a respite. but nothing compares to the first down pours. it is so beautiful the next morning. everything around is so clean and washed and fresh.
yeah , yeah, i know i sound like a little drum that goes on beating the same tune over and over. but yes this is so fresh and wonderful that it has been etched in my memory and every time the monsoons are here that gets a fresh coat of paint.
oh i remember,when we were kids, during the monsoons, we used to go looking for the mushrooms that can be cooked. they spring up one morning and by evening they are gone. so early morning, as soon as the rains take a breather, the kids go around the property spotting mushrooms. the big ones like an umbrella stand majestically. sometimes, you find hundreds of them. at first some one older will come along to see that we get the right ones and not the magic mushrooms:)
but the ones i really have never been stopped being fascinated are the tiny ones which we used to call "arikoon" which when translated literally means rice mushrooms, the reference is to their size. they are so tiny and they always grew by the hundreds. a whole patch will be like carpeted with these tiny mushrooms. you always have to pinch them out one by one or they get destroyed or damaged. it just never seizes to fascinate me, that feeling.