Table of Contents
On the arrival of monsoons, the mist covers the forest, and it goes silent. The narrator could hear Bijju calling his sister but could not see him.
This day witnessed an early monsoon rainfall. It was warm and humid. The mist gave privacy. The narrator described the hill station as “A paradise that might have been.”
The rain bought with it some wild creatures. A leopard killed a dog in the neighbourhood. It also tried to kill the cow but was beaten away by Bijju’s mother. Leeches are everywhere, and the narrator might have to give some blood to them. Scarlet minivets are everywhere. In the rainy season, there is plenty of food for insectivorous birds.
Tropical downpour without a thunderstorm and rain helps in reading. It gives the narrator a feeling of being untouched by the rain while being in touch at the same time.
Rain stops, and the sun emerges. A woman is chopping wood. Song of whistling birds appears to the narrator as a dark sweet secret from the depths of the ravine.
Endless rain and mist have caused the sun to disappear. Flowers began to appear. It was not cold rain.
The seeds of the cobra lily are turning red, signifying the end of rains, but the ferns are still green and firm. Snakes and rodents have flooded out of their holes. Grandmother forbids the kids to kill a shrew as they are the harbinger of money. The narrator receives a cheque in the mail.
Now the rain is cold, and higher altitudes are snow-clad. A hailstorm has draped the mountains with golden light.
The narrator’s friend has gone, and he has become lonely only to be surrounded by rain. The trees strike a feeling of loneliness on the narrator’s heart.
End of the winters and the narrator sees a rainbow.