Miracle

It was the usual end of a weekday for me. Done with my routine work, I packed my stuff and left for home. Took the accustomed bus home. The ride was no different - Packed with countless people just like me, going home after a tiring day. After an hour’s journey, I got down at my stop. It is some 15 minutes walk from my home. I had just began the walk when I felt that something was pleasantly different. I felt my skin react to it as it is used to, year after year. Something that was not at all new, but is welcomed with the same enthusiasm every time. Something that every one waits for eagerly. Something that I wait for eagerly. Yes, here come the first rains!

It was just yesterday. It took me another couple of seconds to really believe that it was raining. People started scattering for shelter. Vendors and hawkers tried their level best to keep their stuff safe. The fragrance of the wet soil – aha, not the best of attars can compete with it – refreshed the tired me. Soon, the roads were wet and shining, vehicles with their wipers at work and bike riders slowing down their speeds to a safe level. Well, what was I doing then? Nothing. I just kept walking. I just let the rain do its job. I just let it drench me. And I was enjoying every bit of it. My clothes were all soaked and heavy. I was wet and cool. The mild winds on my wet body felt so blissful that I wondered how I could possibly spend the rest of the 8 months without the rains. The roads were soon almost void of people. Only a few fanatics like me were enjoying the natural showers. I was still listening to the music on my cell phone. Then, probably the most apt song for the situation came up in the list. Turn the page by Metallica. I could actually feel the lyrics.

Here I am - on the road again
There I am - up on the stage
Here I go - playing star again
There I go - turn the page

Yes, I did feel like a star, walking alone on the road, wet and cheerful. I did not feel like going home. So I was out there, enjoying the change in weather. Nothing can compare the joy when you have some one special with you for the first rains. I have been welcoming the rains for years now. Every first rain brings with it the loneliness that wraps up my heart. I yearn to tell that special someone that the rains have come. I yearn to make that special someone listen to the song of the first rain. I yearn to be with that special someone, just to have a look at her when the first rains touch her. I believe there is someone out there who feels the same way as I do, who has the same yearning as I do, who believes in God as I do.

With these thoughts in my mind, I walked towards home. My mom saw me and smiled. Perhaps, she saw the child in me, still wanting to be out there. Before going in, I turned back to have a last look at the attraction of the evening. The Rain Gods were still showering their blessings. Children were out there in their cute little raincoats and umbrellas, their parents shouting instructions from the windows. A couple was just around the corner celebrating the romantic scenario gifted to them by nature. I smiled. Really, God must be a magician. He just has to put on one of his miracles to make us aware of the so many already out there.