Rain that refreshes, fertilizes, rain that we await anxiously. In India, the monsoon season is like a windfall. It is so beneficial, always intense but at times dangerous.
There are two types of climate. Sunny and then the rains. A cycle that is repeated since time immemorial. And of course the joy of seeing the two arrive, one first and then the other.
In India, the monsoon season is a blessing. It irrigates the land, brings a bit of freshness. Even if it can also be dangerous and flood villages as precipitations can be Intense. Each year, before the month of May, prayers are recited imploring Providence for a normal, adequate monsoon: a rain which will sustain the cotton and rice fields. Farmers moreover go off on pilgrimage. And in the time of their devotion, they live in an egalitarian manner, away from castes and value judgement.
Children change their play grounds…… and they make paper boats. They meet up and eat hot corn, ‘pakodas’ and vegetable ‘bhajias’. These are pleasures reserved only for that time of the year, to such an extent that in India, some say that after all, the good weather is the monsoon season. This period of time when reflections are seen differently, where life is ready to bloom.
All images: Steve McCurry
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