Mumbaikars take a shine to first rains

Harish Chandra Gupta, a cold drinks stall owner opposite Oberoi’s, saw his tin cans flying all over the place. He got a makeshift umbrella installed, but that too soon sprouted invisible wings and landed in the sea. With a big grin on his face, Gupta recounted how he climbed down the parapet to retrieve it. He is also considering a change in business: from selling cold-drinks to “garam chai and vada-paav."

With talk of garam chai in the air, could romance be far behind? “The first spell of rain reminded me of someone special,” sighed actress Neena Gupta.G P Jain, a 58-yr-old resident of Sion, came all the way to Nariman Point with his friend from Ahmedabad to soak in the cool breeze. For Ravi Nandod, Dy Comdt and S K Shan, Asst Comdt, Indian Coast Guard, the cool air brought an extra spring in their steps and their evening walk took them all the way from the Naval Dockyards to Girgaon Chowpatty. "And we don’t mind walking all the way to Bandra," says Nandod. While Naresh Chaturvedi, curator, BNHS had a word of caution. Though happy that the air will be less polluted for a few days, at least he advises against getting soaked as early rains are a milder version of acid rains. But today’s rain anyway brought little grief to Mumbaikars. Except for a tree being uprooted near the Gamdevi police station no untoward incidents were reported. Even M Venugopal, Dy GM, CS&PR, MTNL, was in a good mood as there had been no complaints of disrupted telephone lines. "There can simply be no problems. We have taken all possible precautions," he says.