On our last day in New York, the rain gods decide to pander to our Mumbai monsoon madness by bringing on the rain. Seriously, this is rain?, we remark while hailing a taxi to the airport. This anodyne, slightly irritating trickle that barely grazes the skin and yet requires you to carry an umbrella and wear appropriate footwear… you call this rain? Sir, where we come from, rain or to call it by its more respectful nomenclature ‘The Monsoon’ is a very weighty matter.

It is what debilitates your soul, creates havoc in your city, makes you yearn for Rabindra Sangeet and Pablo Neruda couplets and call in sick to work. The monsoons when they come, inspire you to write poetry, send for onion bhajias and consume copious amounts of masala tea while lying in bed. These days the monsoon is what inspires hundreds of social networkers to whip out their smart phones and capture its awe-inspiring moods for Instagram posts.