Clouds had gathered in the sky by 3-30 p.m. and it looked like they meant business. Yesterday it had merely been a convention of sorts and the clouds had dispersed soon after the meeting. Today, thunder rumbled, lightning drew jagged silvery lines, and the wind blew strong. It was evident that the clouds were here with the necessary reinforcements to make things happen.

The treetops swayed this way and that, the tall coconut trees bent first one way and then another and the crows flew up from their perches cawing in alarm and made for safer places. The stray dogs who spent their time outside the main gate were nowhere to be seen.

Doors not locked into place could be heard banging loudly making me jump. I fervently hoped no one was hurt. I know the agony of a heavy door unexpectedly shutting having had one shut on my little finger years back. I had needed stitches. That experience was enough to make me a compulsive is-the-door-secured kind of person. I checked all rooms. The doors were all locked in place.

When the rain finally began to fall, the winds blew it ahead of them creating an impression of a billowing curtain of raindrops. The cloth curtains billowing inside the house needed to be curtailed and the north-facing windows quickly closed shut to prevent the floor of the bedrooms from getting wet.

Once the glass windows and doors were slide shut, there was a sudden eerie silence. The sound of the storm seemed to come from far away. That was no fun. So I went to the south facing balcony to enjoy the isolated thunderstorm that graced our city today.

© Shail Mohan 2022