d e e p t ! ([info]diffdrummer) wrote,
@ 2006-08-18 12:45:00
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Current mood: lethargic
Current music:Charlie Daniels Band - Devil Went Down To Georgia

Rain Rain Come Again
For weeks the sky has been splodges of ink and water, damp and rainy. Day and night happens, confirming that sun must be somewhere in the vicinity but will be indisposed for most of the day.

I love days like these especially when I don’t have to leave home. Cocooned in the warmth of the house, shades partially drawn, I try to muster enough energy to overcome the cozy inertia and make the experience more ‘monsoony’ by making elaichi tea and onion pakoras. But alas! I realize inertia of rest is stronger than any force known to me, so I settle for a mug of microwaved cocoa instead.

Monsoon is a season the poets, the rich and the lazy can easily fall in love with. I belong to the last category. If you are a fan of monsoon or not, what is your favorite or most despised monsoon memory?

To make this entry more jazzed up with monsoon colors a picture of rain coming in from the sea at Seward, Alaska




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[info]kitticat
2006-08-18 08:58 pm UTC (link)
Oh that is pretty!

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-18 10:14 pm UTC (link)
thank u :)

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[info]locks
2006-08-18 09:26 pm UTC (link)
Favourite memory - Clunky gumboots, new text books (schools opened right when the monsoon began in Bombay), walks along Marine Drive, squirming earthworms, sound of thunder, coconut palms waving wildly - all accompanied by the scent of the wet earth - heady.

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-18 10:23 pm UTC (link)
Oh yeah - new text books, although not a direct consequence of monsoon, invariably associated with it.

Walks along Marine Drive in the rains - something typically Mumbaiyya :)

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[info]hariputtar
2006-08-18 09:30 pm UTC (link)
Long time ago, when i was still single, i would go out and drive during the rains. At 2:00 am in the night, i would drive around the bay listening to KOIT (milpitas -> 880 N -> one of the 3 bridges -> 101 S -> milpitas) ... my favourite used to be Song About Rain. :))

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-18 10:33 pm UTC (link)
Thaaat... long ago ;-P That's a nice drive, if I remember at some stretches you can see the sea(I mean the bay).

Don't remember whether I ever listened to KOIT, my fav. stn was Alice-97.3. Haven't heard this Gary Allan song either.

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[info]tko_ak
2006-08-19 12:22 am UTC (link)
I love clouds and like rain okay. Wind is also alright. But it's been pretty constant. Such is August, I guess.

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-19 04:13 am UTC (link)
Yah, this Aug it seems like an overly benevolent rain :) not complaining though.

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(Anonymous)
2006-08-19 06:11 am UTC (link)
Nice picture, as usual.

For me rain brings nostalgic feelings about my tharavadu. I remember the rainy days I enjoyed sitting on my grandfather's chair (the so called chaaru kasera)with my legs on the half wall(which was definitely discouraged by elders!) that demarcate "naalukettu", reading some of the fine malayalam novels, sipping hot hot black coffee!!! It is an irony that the same rain has been looked upon with an eye of hate now because it cancels my kids' evening trips to play parks.

Regards,

KS

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 02:39 pm UTC (link)
Hello KS, no idea who you are, anyway thanks for dropping by.

Your comment about charu kasera, half wall and 'kattan kaappi' brought back a similar, favorite memory of mine - my tharavadu, rain drenched mornings drinking hot black coffee(with jaggery), sitting on the half wall and reading the morning papers. But now that half wall is no more, they renovated the whole place - like the door has been closed to that magic place.

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(Anonymous)
2006-08-24 06:20 pm UTC (link)
Hi Deepti,

I do not have a web page/lj that I can share with you, to introduce me to you. Whatever be it, one point is certain, I read your blogs quite regularly. I started to know you thru Rajith's page, and I was a regular reader of his entries. The best things that happened to me thru Rajith's pages are you and Ratheesh.

I live in MD and I am a stay at home mom of two kids.

Thanks,
Kala

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-24 11:38 pm UTC (link)
Hello Kala,

I am honored that someone not in my friends' list reads my blog :) If you blog you might turn out to be quite a blogger yourself, maybe you don't have time with two kids and a home to manage. Once again I appreciate you droppin' by and leaving these comments.

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[info]rileen
2006-08-19 10:50 am UTC (link)
Lovely pic!

I used to like the rain better when it correlated well with the time of the year.

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 02:40 pm UTC (link)
German rain comes at all the wrong times of the year I s'pose :)

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(Anonymous)
2006-08-22 02:49 pm UTC (link)
London, Bielefeld, Cologne. those are the three culprits, and Jena sems all set to join them.

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 02:54 pm UTC (link)
Take a monsoon vacation in India next year, wash away all your complaints.

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[info]shri
2006-08-19 01:56 pm UTC (link)
Nice pic!

My fav. memory - Getting wet in the first monsoon rain and giggling gleefully while at it. :D

Most despised memory - Riding a two wheeler on craters supposedly called 'roads'. Blah!

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 02:42 pm UTC (link)
Oh yeah, riding two wheeler in the rains is bad, then I think riding our state transport buses which used to be my other option - that was worse.

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[info]arunshanbhag
2006-08-19 04:00 pm UTC (link)
Monsoon is a season the poets, the rich and the lazy can easily fall in love with.
not to forget readers and writers!

my fav memory is of spending a month before engg exams with my grandmother in rural karnataka. The rains were incessant, i had set up a table on the porch looking at the rains, listening to the diverse sounds rain drops make, watching ripples form in the yard and all kinds of lifeforms dart about (and supposedly studying). There was not tv, radio, music (but for the rains) and on many days - no power. But easily the bestest and most serene time of my life.

... and those wild flowers must be going crazy in the rains!

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 02:51 pm UTC (link)
I didn't know you were an engineer! I thought you did something related to ortho :)

Yeah I know places like your grandmother's - my grandma's, for instance lol. Sometimes when I am there it's like that place is detached from the rest of the world and the people there are happy as they are - unaware about the larger world and with monsoon this total-isolation-effect increases, yeah as you said it was indeed serene and peaceful. Wonder whether you got any studying done, it so easy to lose oneself in such places.

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[info]arunshanbhag
2006-08-22 06:32 pm UTC (link)
you seem to have experienced what I was refering to! :-)

I defined studying broadly to include human interactions. The best time I had with my grandma - I appreciated how hard she worked, how disciplined she was, how tough and yet so kind and vulnerable she was.

I met laborers in the field, random women stopping by to weave palm fronds, sell milk, trade, or barter something. In the midst of all that, I managed my German studies and Electrical Engr Principles.

Yes, I am an engineer too! but have since moved on. Who knows what I will be tomorrow, but the human lessons I learn't long ago I will always cherish. I add to that learning everyday! Its so much more satisfying than Electronic field theory ever was (or will be!)

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-24 11:33 pm UTC (link)
I am an engineer too! but have since moved on.
That's something I like about the US, here you can re-invent yourself in ways unimaginabel anywhere else. Good that you find your job to be mentally satisfying, you are indeed one of the lucky few.

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 02:53 pm UTC (link)
danke. Haven't seen you around for a while :)

Although it is not an exceptional picture I like it(that's why I posted), your explanation makes sense, maybe it is soothing to the eye that way.

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[info]capricornian
2006-08-21 02:56 am UTC (link)
Hey DD, great picture and a nice topic to wonder ..
I am surprised none of the comments so far mentioned the cliche - pakode and garam chai !! for some strange reason, it always rained heavily on the day we had the final paper of the semester - all 4 years in engineering and we would always ride(bicycle for the first 2 years and scooter in the last two) home in drenching rain, stopping for chai and samosa at Samrat (a "galla" near the railway station in Baroda)

btw, i am aware i have yet to post my odditties ..very soon

Check out this link

http://www.lacarte.org/songs/rain/

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 03:02 pm UTC (link)
That's nicely timed rain - last exams finished off with samosa and chai. I think I've been to your college, one of my good friends went there and I spend a summer in Baroda with her taking me on a tour of her college(engg.) and her favorite food haunts - Baroda had so much good quality street food(all those laaris) though I do not remember the exact place names now.

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[info]capricornian
2006-08-22 03:45 pm UTC (link)
Baroda has great places to eat out on the street.. the whole main road from the ABB circle (Fatehgunj) to Kala Ghoda - which is flanked on one side by the University (more specifically Faculty of HOme Science and Girls Hostels !!) and the Sayaji garden on the other was the crowd favorite at that time.. today there are many more places that match up ..

I was at the college of engineering (Kalabhavan) or Techo as we called it from 1989 -1993

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 04:17 pm UTC (link)
Ok..I remember the names Fatehgunj and Kala Ghoda now that you mentioned. MSU is one of the best campuses in India, I think - all that maharaja money and land?! My friend was 94-98 batch.

Btw, the link from your original comment - didn't realize there were these many songs about rain.

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[info]capricornian
2006-08-22 04:28 pm UTC (link)
Yes, it is a great campus ..the maharaja buildings definitely add to the charm .. The faculty of engg also has a very active alumni in the US

btw, my sister-in-law is from the 94-98 batch (electronics)..probably knows your friend.

Bala

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[info]floopilot
2006-08-21 07:25 am UTC (link)
Hi diffdrummer, been following your journal for a while - beautiful pics and experiences. This post brought back fond memories of the western ghats and the monsoon .. thanks!

Have added you, btw

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 03:03 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for dropping by. Added you back.

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[info]navina
2006-08-22 05:49 am UTC (link)
Gorgeous picture!

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[info]diffdrummer
2006-08-22 03:03 pm UTC (link)
thanku :)

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[info]thearchitect
2006-09-01 03:13 pm UTC (link)
my favorite 'monsoon' memory is new. i'm so totally amused by the way people here in arizona refer to this time of year as 'monsoon' season when the duration of rain in a week can be measured in mere minutes. i know it's a relative thing - tis a 'monsoon' when compared to months without rain, but still....

i miss the lazy days brought on by long spells of rain. it's not the same being trapped inside by 113 degree (f) sunny cloudless weather. one doesn't get that same moody dreamy sense of lassitude.

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(Anonymous)
2006-09-06 08:48 pm UTC (link)
I've lived in a semi-arid place in India(similar in climate to AZ & NM) and there also the locals refered to their few days of rain in a year as monsoon :)

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