And suddenly the rain...

When we lived in Lucknow January was marked by cold sharp rain accompanied by a freezing wind that chilled the marrow in one's bones . December and most of cold January is a pleasant dream now that the weather has turned warmer in the daytime .

Yesterday Ashis and I were looking down from our second floor back window onto the small dusty patch with a few straggling evergreens we call our garden and moaning about how sad , dry and dusty the place looked - the leaves coated with a thick layer of brown dust . So much so that I made up my mind to hose them down when the Corporation water supply came in at 12 pm .

Of course I forgot . But then at night there was a sharp gust of wind and a spatter of rain which soon turned into a brisk shower . Caught unprepared I ran up and down closing windows and securing the bolts .

Today morning was a pleasant surprise . The leaves washed clean , the smell of wet earth and little mushrooms where the mango tree had once stood .