When It Gets Dark

Up in the Northern plains of India when the heat gets high, then people living in it get to feel it. They sweat and toil and their brains get fried like poached eggs.

Then there are the famous sandy winds of North India also called ‘loo’ and not to be confused with the bathroom synonym. When the sand blows against the walking individual, there is no nook or corner of the body where it will not settle down. It will suck the moisture from the body and parch the throat like a sand paper. Soon they will feel dehydrated. Dehydration has strange effects on people. Some people see darkness in broad daylight, while some people catch a cold, while some people have dysentery. They don’t really link up, but they happen to people. The heat has a way of getting into their skin and making its presence felt.

Thus, when God applies Sunblock on the earth, and the clouds quickly cover the parched surface like an emergency blanket of immunity, there is much relief. The color of the sky turns a reddish hue, often tending to a purple and grey, and there is a gentle breeze cool and comforting, washing the human lungs like the coolant of a hot engine.

The ground is wet with water, and the grass is green. The leaves of the neighboring trees seem to be giggling in joy, dancing and fluttering away. While every other living creature is affected on a physical level, the human beings are affected on a psychological level as well.

Suddenly there is a song in every lip and a dance in every step. Suddenly there is a panorama of activity for no particular reason except to soak up the gift while it still exists. Soon it may perish and the loo-devil may rise up with its dangling tongue to kiss everybody in its path.

Anyway, on a positive note, there is enjoyment in just watching the rain, not feeling it in person, and a living embodiment of such gratification is the writer himself who decided to stay indoors while the beautiful weather phenomenon passed away in front of his eyes. He seemed nonchalant, but he was just lazy. He thought maybe writing about it would satisfy the feeling that you can only have by experiencing it. He is such an unsociable person. While nature beckons him outdoors, he sits still, allowing fat molecules to accumulate in his abdomen. Hearing others sing songs in praise of the weather does not seem to affect him. He must be made of stone, pumice perhaps, with big holes and of no use except in washing utensils.

Well, in North India the days are usually very long in summer. It may not be before eight in the evening that the Sun finally starts to set. In that condition, when it gets murky and rains, the fading light and overcast conditions can be usually enjoyed for a longer period of time. How beautiful it is then. An Englishman might not agree though, for they are a country of people who do not have the privilege of experiencing the Sun as Indians do.

The Gods have no balance in what they give and what they don’t. When they don’t give something they don’t give it for such a long time that human beings and other creatures alike fall on their paunches and froth in their mouth. Then when they reach tipping point, the Gods manage to relieve them of their agony, but that too doesn’t apply to all. Some, he pulls to heaven to serve Him where everybody is satisfied, and they stay that way, no matter what (something that is unknown in human nature on earth). And when he gives, the clouds burst with the crack of thunder and then someone has to become Noah and float around with his ark searching for living creatures. Off course in this modern age, dead creatures will suffice too, as there is enough technology to bring them back to life and thus start the agonizing process of living all over again.

Dwaipayan Adhya