Won't you smile? Asked the monsoon rain

The Monsoon has arrived in all parts of the country not wholly or completely or in full measure but very substantially with due apologies to Jawaharlal Nehru It is a time when India urban and rural alike celebrates the end of dusty dry parched days and nights and the onset of prana or the life force of monsoon rains But the newspapers and television beam us depressing and horrific news of rapes murders atrocities suicides accidents terror and hopelessness How is one supposed to smile and feel optimistic in such times u00a0In Hindu mythology the onset of monsoon rains is supposed to be the period of anxiety chaturmasa as Lord Vishnu goes to sleep during this time If you look around you from the molestation incident in Guwahati to the warden from hell in Shantiniketan to the beastly khaps of Baghpat the Gods are indeed sleeping We humans have been abandoned Glee Monsoons are a time when India urban and rural alike celebrates the end of dusty dry parched days and nights and the onset of prana or the life force of rains The Chaturmasa is the period for performing noble deeds which include dana charity vrata fast japa prayer and homa purifying worship These can easily be adapted to modern times Increase the wages of your domestic help by 5 per cent donate old clothes toys books and medicines talk to children siblings and parents about the social evils that pervade our society and open as many closed minds as you can The Hindu vrata fasting during this period coincides with the Muslim period of Ramazan which begins on July 20 this year It is a period of deep meditation and introspection marked with intense spirituality and devotion of controlling urges and enhancing endurance If the monsoon in India signifies religiosity to the spiritually inclined it promises romance to those who are poetically inclined It is the mainstay of literature music drama dance films and almost every form of art Bollywood and folk music classical Hindustani and Carnatic music have recurrent theme of monsoon ragas Miyan ki Malhar Megh Malhar Desh Malhar and Gaur Malhar Bollywood film directors music composers actors and actresses have played with the monsoon theme ever since films have been made in India Immortal songs like lsquoZindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi voh barsaat ki raat ek anjaan haseena se mulakaat ki raatrsquo and lsquoGarjat barsat saawan aayo reyrsquo or lsquoBoley re papihararsquo evoke monsoon memories for the sixties and seventies generation among us For the next generation there are songs like the ShahrukhMadhuri number lsquoOh saawan raja kahaan sey aaye tumchak dhumm chakk dhummrsquo or Aamirrsquos Lagaan number lsquoGhanan ghanan ghan ghir aaye badaraarsquo In many of these songs alliteration gives the impression of the clouds in a hurry crowding the empty spaces in the sky waiting to empty their treasure of raindrops on earth Heartache of lovers separated during the searing summer months is consummated only by the passion of lovers united during monsoons The paintings of the brightly attired Rajasthani woman waiting at a jharokha window for her husband or lover to return the miniature paintings of Radha and Krishna cavorting in a bower of leafy dark green trees bent with rain drops and peacocks dancing on rooftops are integral part of Indian art Temples across India host musical evenings devoted to the monsoon ragas Why only humans even birds call out to the monsoons And not just the peacock the chaatak Jacobin Cuckoo so the myth goes is seen only during the monsoon months as it drinks only rainwater White cranes across the skies are also a part of the monsoon imagery The two places that should be on every Indianrsquos bucket list to visit during the monsoons are the Western Ghats and the Thar Desert Go to Coorg Mangalore Udupi Mahabaleshar Lonavala or wherever you can find a small getaway in the lap of nature See the skies open up into the arms of lush green forests Get yourself some neer dosai and coconut jaggery mix for lunch sip kaapi and eat onion bhajiyas after a siesta and let the monsoon magic work on you Alternatively head to Rajasthan See how the parched earth welcomes the short and scanty monsoon showers with such gratitude and respect Watch how a natural resource is treated with such reverence where women fast for its arrival and celebrate when it comes with the festival of Teej Eat kair sangri and gunda ki sabzi buy some bangles as you watch the dry deserts devour the monsoon rains And there are countries in the world where there are no monsoons Just imagine Smita Prakash is Editor News at Asian News International You can follow her on twitter smitaprakashu00a0