Rain resonances

The last whack of the monsoon has once again caught our metros with civic pants down and it8217;s highly irritating to have even the inverter pack up after gallantly coursing the night, because of extra-long power cuts. As for the fallen trees and traffic snarls, you really wonder at our city corporations8217; gall at making us all endure so much infrastructural inadequacy.

They8217;ll tell you of course that less than two per cent of Indians pay income tax, quite forgetting the dozen free ACs every MP gets at home and work, which comes from the pockets of the hard-working professional class. And these fat cats with a notable exception or two had the nerve to demand more allowances recently! Our resentment and dislike of our political class is probably the strongest emotion unifying us a nation today, ahead of even cricket and cinema. Our anger has made us cynical as a people and increasingly 8220;chaalu8221; in our dealings, because we now think that8217;s the only way to get on. But we need not let it happen to us and underneath we8217;d rather be our natural emotional, selves than have to deal with rage.

Take the present downpour. Even as we dodge the puddles, it won8217;t hurt us to look up for a refreshing peep at the palette of grey above us, ranging subtly from dove8217;s wing and pearl to dark pigeon8217;s breast. Unbidden comes the thought of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. As a young boy, he was so overcome by the beauty of a flight of cranes glowing white against a dark monsoon sky that he actually fell down in a swoon.

This very sense of adhbuta or wonder at the exquisite beauty of Creation is heard in an old favourite, Shudraka. The lovely last two lines of his Naandi invocation at the start of his great play Mrichhakatikam The Little Clay Cart go: Paatuvo neelakanthah kanthasya shyamaambudo pamaha gauri bhujalata yatra viddul lekheve raajase. 8220;May that Shiva protect you, against whose dark throat lies the pale creeper of Gauri8217;s arm, like a flash of lightning.8221; Those skies and those feelings are still ours. They can help us fight the mess on the ground.