Memories of Monsoon...

Monsoon arrives every year at a pre-determined time...

But every year I see monsoon differently.. according to my mood at that time...

Rains have always made my life special... and very memorable also...

I remember lots of rainy moments when I travel down the memory lane...

The rains have just started... and I am ready with my school uniform, with schoolbag, tiffin and water-bag...

First day of school every year... Meeting friends and discussing what we did in the holidays...

My Marathi language teacher Mrs. Barve... Who stopped teaching prose and started with poetry when it started raining in her period... for the next half an hour, it was raining outside and we were getting drenched in monsoon poems and songs...

Eating hot vada-pav after the end of first mid-term exams in August...

Getting drenched in rain on way back home, most of the times forgetting umbrella at school...

My friends’ group on a rainy cycle ride at Pokharan Lake... The hot bhaji’s and bhutta’s we ate by the lake...

Me and my mom... running to the terrace to get drenched in the first rains... every year...

Me, my father and my sis... preparing a cup of hot masala chai just because its raining...

Me, with a cup of hot tea in hand, sitting by the windowpane, looking at the rains...

Me, pretending to study in my room, but merely sitting by my table, looking at rains...

Me and my friends travelling in Thane-Panvel ST bus, getting drenched halfway through college... Trying to protect the assignment sheets...

Getting caught up in traffic at Witawa and reaching just 1 hour late for lecture... then, after the prof denied the entry, going to the canteen and chatting over a cup of tea...

The leaking ST bus where we sat directly below the hole, with an umbrella to protect us...

Me, standing in the baddy court at IMT Nagpur in a weird outfit, waiting for my seniors to rag me while the rain drizzles...

Me, Pankaj and Shail, next year at baddy court again, soaking to the skin in the first rain of the season...

Going for walk to the lake in cloudy, windy weather... and eating pakoda's at Dorli on the way...

Listening to all sorts of rainy songs...

"saawan barase, tarase dil... kyun na nikale gharase dil..."
"saawan ka mahina... pawan kare shor..."
"saawan aaye yaa naa aaye... jiyaa jab jhoome saawan hai..."
"yeh raat bheegi bheegi... yeh mast nazarein..."
"rimzim rimzim... rumzum rumzum... bheegi bheegi rut mein... tum hum hum tum...”
“ghanan ghanan ghir ghir aaye badara... ghan ghan ghor kale chhaye badara...”
“kahan se aaye badaraa...”

Me, at home again, enjoying rains with my family...

Me, getting engaged to Chaitanya in June... With the rains and greenery around...

Me and Chaitanya meeting in the evening on our engagement day... and roaming around Thane streets in one umbrella...

Me and Chaitanya going for our first date the next day... The most romantic rainy evening we spent at Marine Drive... looking at the sun hiding behind the clouds and waves lashing at the rocks on sea-shore... roaming along the Marine Drive, hand-in-hand...

Me, sitting at my Pune home right now, listening to the sound of rains, writing this blog...

:-)