Monsoon Musings!

While speaking about the importance of mother tongue and the regional emotions, deceased journalist Gauri Lankesh quoted her father and said in an essay how the English rhymes like ‘Rain Rain Go Away’ are so not suitable for the Indian agrarian society where we welcome rains. For us, rains are about abundance, prosperity, love, romance, longing, joy and the same finds reflection in our poetry, art, music, literature and films and even spirituality. But, there are instances when rains and thunderstorms are also used to indicate turmoil, war, violence, sorrow. 

Monsoon Feelings – A History of Emotions in the Rain’ edited by Imke Rajamani, Margrit Pernau and Katherine Butler Schofield is a compilation of essays by scholars and experts in the field of South Asian arts and culture. The authors investigate rich, diverse and changing history of monsoons in sub-continent as experienced by writers, musicians, painters, garden architects, filmmakers, and the experiences their works create in the connoisseurs.  

What makes this compilation an engrossing read is the expansiveness of the subjects – there is an inevitable reference to Kalidasa’s ‘Meghaduta’ (The Cloud Messenger) where the fifth century poet’s hero implores the cloud to carry the message of his love and longing to his wife, as also the makings of Bharatpur’s garden – The Jat rulers created this space where one could experience monsoon feelings even on a summer afternoon. 

Catherine Asher, an expert in the Indian and Moghul art also explores Moghul gardens designed to revel in joy during monsoons. Let’s celebrate monsoons with this beautifully illustrated book of interesting articles, which is definetely not an exhaustive commentary but surely an insightful collection.