The monsoons are a welcome and often necessary relief to Delhi… After the soaring temperatures and rising mercury, it is the monsoons which bring a cooling effect to an overheated city. In Delhi, the monsoons are particularly beautiful, the dust is washed off the leafy old trees, the wide boulevards are swept clean and the ancient monuments have a fresh new gleam. The colours across this beautiful city become sharper, and young lovers rush to the many beautiful gardens to enjoy birdsong, the cool fresh breeze, and the smell of nourished earth.
As a writer, the monsoons always put in a contemplative mood, which is for most writers (including me) the most favourable time to write. As the water flows and pours from the sky, the words too just seem to come, and the ennui and fatigue of the long, hot summer months seem to vanish. Beyond writing the monsoons are always a time for romance, for freshness, and for newness. In the west, springtime is perhaps the happiest time of the year. It is when the long, cold, harsh winter has ended that along with the flowers, the birds and the bees emerge; as does young love. In India, the equivalent of this brief, and precious spring is the monsoon. Now that I have painted a merry picture of the monsoon in Delhi, I must say that sometimes it can be a nightmare too. No matter how many monsoons we have, it seems that the municipal departments are never prepared — newly constructed roads fall apart, alleys are filled with waist-high water, and the dengue mosquitoes breed in puddles across the city. Even a small shower will leave hour-long traffic jams, and it's impossible to move about. All Indian metropolises have their monsoon trouble, and Delhi is perhaps the worst I have experienced, after Mumbai of course.
All that said, the monsoon in Delhi for me is ultimately a time of joy and lots and lots of words which come straight from the heart. I do look desperately forward to the monsoon months to get my writing mojo going again.
