Monsoon - come soon

Its been raining today. Off and on.

Raining enough to get me a bit wet. Enough to have me put the raincoat in the dickey of our family Honda (scooter that is - not 'four-wheeler) - and to have to retrieve it mid-journey twice.

The monsoon is due to officially open this years deluge in Mumbai / Thane today or tomorrow. We can expect tons of water. Literally. Falling from the sky.

Alas, most of our nation - esp. the northern states are still parched. The monsoon is only 10 days late according to our weather pundits - but 10 days can seem like years.

And there is no saying how much it will 'yield' this year.

We have had something like 13 years in a row of 'normal' monsoons. That has translated into 13 years of by and large good crops across the countries. There have of course been shortages here and there - but the bulk of the country has been pretty well-watered.

Until now. The government has just announced that this monsoon is likely to be 'below normal'.

Pray for rain. Without water our plants (both green and steel) wither. And the knock-down effect always hits the poor harder.

Here in Thane we are enjoying the coolness of air and the splashiness of water. Would that it would continue - and would that the rest of our parched land also get its share of monsoon joy.