When I took a shower this afternoon I found the water soothingly lukewarm, heated by solar energy. We don't have any solar panels or anything fancy like that. The overhead tank water was warmed by pure and natural sunlight.
Feels so cool to take bath in this environment friendly environment. No electricity, natural gas or natural gas was needed to warm the water to a lukewarm temperature. No boiler or geyser was operated, water only warmed by unadulterated sunlight. But mention of this earth friendly fact only elicited lukewarm response from most.
Post noon it turned excessively muggy, with heat index feeling not be less than 115 degree (50 degree Centigrade). Then around 5 PM came lightening followed by Thunder which sounded music to my ears. The squals of wind swirled in causing tree branches to swing and sway, instantly sweeping the floor with leaves and twigs. It was the harbinger of KALABAISAKHI or the summer thunderstorms, an integral part of the tropical weather.
I was watching the pouring rains in India after a long time. Intermittent lightening brightened the western sky, relegating Sun to the background. The view of the silvery strings of rain lashing against the grayish dark horizon was awesome. Streaks of lightening, a la the forking tongue of a giant Serpent partitioned the dark sky in the horizon, creating a spectacular view.
It rained good for good 30 minutes, lowering the temperature with a still still, muggy air around. From the balcony of home, I watched the gray Bull of our locality and couple of pariah dogs taking shelter under the mango tree protruding out near our gate. The animals shared the natural canopy, respecting each other's space with mutual trust and respect.
Their bonhomie did not last long. No sooner the rain stopped, than the bull headed Bovine charged at the doggies to shoo them away. One of the dogs stealthily walked towards a bike and lifted its legs to pee on it.
Suddenly came out the pillion driver from nowhere yelling "Hey Hey, JA JA (Go away), frantically snatching a broken branch on the ground to chase the doggie away. The mongrel fled away fast with its tail tugged well between its legs, its peeing job half finished. The guy wasn't amused by his freshly rain washed bike to be overridden by fresh dog urine.
Couple of Marwari guys in our locality drenched themselves by coming out in open wearing NADA (string) shorts stressed to the hilt by their protruding bellies. I thought they were simply excited, to enjoying their shower under fresh showers. Later I discovered the more profound reason behind their action - the belief that bathing in summer rains cures skin ailments.
The power went poof for little more than an hour. Haven't seen the electricity playing truant so far, today was the exception due to the thunderstorms. Some voltage fluctuations and few minutes of power outages notwithstanding, the electricity is far more cooperating compared to my prior trips. More later....
No comments:
Post a Comment