Stored in the cloud

A few decades ago, when life was less complicated and less demanding, the monsoon merely meant fun and freedom

- SEEMA GOSWAMI

Whenever the skies open up during the monsoon, my mind immediately skips back decades to the time when I was a schoolgirl. During this season, I would wake up early every day and rush to check if it was pouring - because if it was, chances were that my school would declare a "rainy day holiday", and I could simply stay in bed and read a book.

Those were some of the best days of my life. My mom would make crisp stuffed parathas for lunch; there would be delicious khichdi for dinner, laced with aromatic desi ghee; and if I got peckish in between, I could feast on piping hot pakoras. My best friend in the neighbourhood and I would venture out between meals to dance in the rain on the terrace, floating little paper boats in the puddles of water that had accumulated, to keep ourselves entertained and return home wet to the bone, much to the despair of our mothers.