Getting drenched in mid-Spring Rain!!

The climate was quite humid!! I was indeed sweating!! The temperature read 29C around 10:00 am. It was March 19, 2022, and we were technically still in Spring!!!

Watering the plants and helping my mother put the wet clothes on the clothesline on the terrace had probably added to the uncomfortable feeling.

Wiping the dripping sweat from my forehead, I said to myself, “Oh! I wish it would rain!!... Oh! I wish I could get drenched!!”

As I wished, my nose suddenly caught the smell of petrichor (the earthy smell when it drizzles). I ran outside the house and yes it was raining.

My neighbourhood uncles – Mr. Rajesh, Mr. Sidesh, Mr. Shankar, and Mr. Sujith; and aunts – Mrs. Kamala, Mrs. Priyanka, and Mrs Saritha along with my friends – Ms Candy, Ms Jothi, Ms Poorvika, Ms Saanvi, Master Divek, and Master Yashwanth were already there – drenched! I joined them without any second thoughts.

It was magic! It just rained around us – probably 10 meters in diameter. Uncle Shankar got his car out, opened the doors and belted out some of the liveliest tunes from Kannada and Hindi. Dancing within the small circle and getting drenched was fun.

All the uncles stood around the perimeter with water hoses slightly pointed upwards creating the rain effect. Then out of nowhere, water balloons also rained on us. Aunts began throwing the water balloons filled with colored water and then applied color powder on all of us. Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, et all… our faces had gone beyond recognition; I could only know who I was talking to based on the voice I heard!

As the rhythm of the music intensified, we were back to the circle to get more drenched. Then, we kids took the water guns and started chasing the uncles. It soon became a game of wits between the kids and the uncles who were trying to outrun us and dodge the spray. As the kids outnumbered them, we easily won that round.

Then when the adults took the break, we played airplane – a game where you spread your arms and run – like how the airplanes glide in the sky.

The sound ‘Holi Aaya Re! Holi, Holi Aaya Re!!’ echoed across all the 3 roads at the T junction almost until noon. And that’s how I celebrated Holi 2022, courtesy of my lovely and always friendly neighbors!