Rainy Rain Days

It's been almost two weeks since the first showers hit Mumbai. I remember the date because I had just had all the cartons and miscellaneous toys and accessories kept in the window ledges sent over to my sister-in-law's garage for safekeeping. And I had just written my English exam that day. The welcome smell of the rains, promising relief from the burning summer heat was coupled with a brief power cut. Now R has never seen a proper power cut in Mumbai. True- it happened more often when we were visiting Nanu in Noida but because of the large inverter there, she didn't realise when the power returned.

On that day, suddenly everything went black. I held onto her tiny hand, fearful that she may walk into a toy or worse, a wall. However, she was mesmerised by the lone candle that cook lit and kept on the table, far from her reach.

R: happy to you?

Me: yes, happy birthday to you (and we sing a little to get rid of the five second long boredom)

R: chalao iPad

Me: (putting on her favourite Balam Pichkari) here you go

And she's suitably entertained for the ten-odd minutes that we are plunged into darkness as she voices the words in the cutest manner possible.

I remember when the power would go off in Lucknow. We would ascend to the terrace and having spread out the charpais, proceed to swat off mosquitoes with handheld newspapers and magazines and drift off to sleep in the cool breeze. Ma would wake us up when lights came back and we would clamber onto our beds half asleep - with the promise of this story to be told at school.

When the inverter came along, it robbed us of this joy too. We would simply congregate in one room and adjust ourselves to the lone whirring fan and fall asleep. No story for next day.

Now I stay in Mumbai where power cuts are as rare as a blue moon. My daughter will never understand the fun of a cool breezy night under a canopy of stars or the sheer joy of dissecting your own power-related story in school!