AHA!! That was my first reaction when I heard the familiar sound that we all hear, this time around the year. Well almost. Im talking of the sound of water splashing against your window panes, the howl of the wind, the photography done by clouds with the flash full on. I’m talking of the rains. The first rains to be more prescise.

This year the date for the rains to arrive was scheduled (as always) on the 7^th of June. But like it has been for ages, the Met department never gets its math right. So this year again the raingods have decided to prepone their program.

Im sitting by my window pane, just having finished dinner. The “gadgadahat” of the clouds is deafening. The fragrance emanating from the earth on the first rains, is as intoxicating as ever!! If only there was a technique to bottle this God of all fragrances.

The little drops of rain, blown by the wind and landing on my face, bring a smile. Theres just something about the rains that seems to pep me up totally. Most of the windows around are open, everyone peeping out to get a glimpse of the start of this mind blowing season. On the left, the neighbors little cute kid is smiling showing off his dimples. Eyes blinking in a cute fashion as the rain drops tease them. It’s a beautiful night. Welcome O Rains!!!

This is an exact repeat of last year. Only difference is that my reaction was not as pleasant. Flashback to last year, when the raingods decided to add a bit of spice and tension to the already tensed engg students’ lifee , what with their last paper just the next day.

May 31^st 2006 : Mind was in a dilemma, on the one hand there was the anxiety of the exam which was going to be held on the next day, and on the other hand, the excitement that was going to follow post the last exam of my engineering life. As if these two contrary feelings weren’t enough, the sudden onslaught of rains had me and my friends in a tizzy. The rains just wouldn’t stop. A lot of What if? kinda questions were going thru the mind. I surely did not want my last paper to get postponed!!  

The attention apart from the books was on the climate outside, which just seemed to get more and more damp. 4pm, 6pm, 8pm time was passing, the anxiety of exams + anxiety of pouring rains, increasing. I finished studying what I had to by around 2am and opened the window, expecting that the onslaught may have reduced, but no, it was still the same. With a bit of apprehension, I slept. God! The raingods could have waited one day na?

When I got up in the morning at around 630am, the first thing I did was open the window, just to see the rain still pouring. I left home at around 830am for an 11am paper, something totally unlike me. I didn’t want to get stuck in the trains. But would that help?? What if…the trains beyond Thane stopped working?? What if… the Mumbai Univ decided to postpone the exam date?? What if.. What if… The suspense was killing.

Luckily enough, the rains had calmed down by the time I reached my station. There wasn’t any waterlogging around Kurla Stn. That was a big relief. So I had managed to conquer the anxiety of the rains. Next Mission, giving the exam my best shot!

If only!! Internet Communication Engg (ICE) was an interesting subject and I quite liked it. Infact the fact that it was going to be my last engg paper, was really cool, reason being, it was a standard subject which had standard questions to which we engg studs had to give standard answers. Well, all that went for a toss the moment we set eyes on the paper. Five minutes into the paper and everyone was jus looking at each others faces. Surely this wasn’t what we had expected.

What followed was bluffing riot. I first finished of the questions of which I was confident, laters it was pure throwing up of all the concepts, fundas, theories I had studied in this subject. Fingers pained, but I carried on, saying to myself, this is it, give it all you’ve got!! As the duration of the exam was increasing, the exam anxiety was decreasing and the impending holiday excitement was increasing. And if that wasn’t enough, Himess bhais “Aapka Suroor” and “Naam hai tera tera” were playing in the nearby building, making me sing along and in turn making me forget some concepts. And worse, when I tried remembering it, the only thing I heard was Himess Bhai!!

Anyways the thrill I got, after handing over my paper, knew no bounds. But this wasn’t one of your best papers?? As if I cared a damn. I knew I had faked enough to secure atleast the passing marks. Whats more, majority of the junta had done the same, so naturally they could sure as hell not flunk all of them. So the excitement of the holidays took over.

What followed was 3 weeks of nonstop dhamaal!! And ofcourse the separation from college friends later on. Moving on from Campus to Corporate life. A 360 degree change in lifestyle, the works. Life moves on. But with the onset of the rains (on the same day as last year) atleast somethings in life don’t change(that’s lousy philosophy by the way:D ).

Take Care

Ciao