Rains!!

Its been raining for the last few days, a welcome relief from the scorching heat of the past few months.I can even hear the birds chirping with relief.
I am reminded of the rains in Calicut.My college was located in the hills outside Calicut city and when it rained,it poured.Gigantic droplets would pound relentlessly as if trying to flatten every building in sight,strong winds would whoosh around sending the tall coconut trees into a tizzy.Rains would be accompanied with a sudden drop in temperature making it a perfect time to take a stroll along the hostel building,drop into a friends room and indulge in banter.
Most hostelites have a craving for a warm cup of tea or coffee at these times.You could either get hold of an umbrella or share an umbrella with someone who had one and was interested in tea/coffee.There are two ways to get to the mini canteen.You could either take the well paved path or if u are in he final year hostel,take the shortcut through the shrubbery.The shortcut is a lot more entertaining with force of the drops splattering mud on your feet and an assortment of creepy crawlies littering your path, bent on looking as ugly as possible.
If you happen to be going to the city in a bus when rain strikes, then the window seaters need to be alert.The shutters are tarpaulin sheets rolled up and held in place,near the top of the bus by clasps attached to the top of each window.When each of these clasps is released the single sheet rolls out to cover its side of windows.Window seaters late in making the move to release their window clasp could find a few prods and harsh stares from his fellow passengers.Those unfortunate not to have got seats would remain standing, a pretty daunting task as the drivers believed that the bus had to match steps with the wildly swaying coconut trees dotting the landscape, sending occupants crashing into each other.
Making ones way in the rain from the hostel to the building hosting the classes was eased by presence of the long mechanical engineering lab which covered most of the length of the distance from the hostel to the main building.One could squelch past these labs for a brief respite, before opening the umbrella to take on the elements again.
Umbrellas are omnipresent during the rains.You would see a lot of them fluttering wildly in the rain with a poor soul trying her best to hold on to it or they would be crowded around at the entrance of the library or the computer center, happily preening away.
Of all the rainy days I remember one vividly and that was the day we had to get no dues certificate from the hostels ,labs libraries and departments i never knew of, in my four years of existence in college.I remember leaving from hostel at around 9 am and returning back by 5 pm with the rains pouring nonstop in the intervening hours.Needless to say, the umbrella was as good as useless that day.
Hmmm me reminiscing college days..mebbe I am getting soft in the head :)