It's hard to think of depression and welcome in the same breath or even within the same sentence. But there was a time when the word 'depression' signalled rain and holidays from school. It was the days before the internet. I had no responsibilities except that of being the child I was. My parents looked at the sky or the newspaper and told me, 'Depression over Bay of Bengal'. Hmm...that meant I could wear my favorite red coat and find a place near the window and spend hours watching the sky weep. It wasn't my concern that the clothes had no place to dry. They would hang like huge penants from the roof along corridors, taking in the smells of the house. The garden was hosed down repeatedly, the way you find people in cities today washing their cars, trying to get dust off that had already made its way into their nostrils. Each tree had its unique response to the falling water. Mind you, this was no heavy downpour, but a steady pattering on the wide wet world around me. The plaintain leaves made the most of this; the broad leaves allowed the unseen hand of the magician to drum a melody. Atleast one didn't have to water the garden for a long long time. Grey skies, watered down sunlight, an isolation for a few days from the playground, a good book to read, toys to play with, were never unwelcome.
It's back again. Three days of a steady rain; life under a waterfall. I always wake with a sudden dread that I've left a tap open somewhere. The sound of water through drainpipes that filters in through my dreams makes me see visions of dripping clotheslines on the terrace. Its only when I'm awake, with a cup of tea in my hand, that I dismiss these concerns.
It's good that the rain is outside of me. The other dreaded D-word which implies the steady rain within the mind is probably similar. A constant wetness that dampens the desire to look at the outside world, preferring the cold slushy depths of sad thoughts.
I'm glad the rain outside doesn't seep through my skin. The clouds will lift. In the meanwhile, two or three days to relish the warmth and comfort of hot food and woollen clothes.
And then the wash will dry in the sun once again.
