Finding Humour Amidst The Heavy Downpour In Mumbai

A message in our office group today declaring a holiday, because of heavy rains, reminded me of those impromptu Sunshine Day holidays the nuns gave us in school, back home in Darjeeling. Since Darjeeling weather is much like London weather; unpredictable and mostly cold, we always looked forward to sunny days, just like I look forward to the monsoons for some relief from the summer heat, here in Mumbai.

For me, rains always bring back cherished memories of home and childhood, of curling up with a book in bed, of steaming hot bowls of Maggi, Wai Wai noodles, momos and soup, thukpa, cinnamon laden apple pies, garam garam khichdi sprinkled with a generous amount of melted ghee, or just sitting by the window , sipping some aromatic Darjeeling tea. Well, it’s a different story since I’ve moved to Mumbai! You ask why? take a look:

Yes, the rains have finally arrived in Mumbai and happy we are, happy that it’s finally cooler and I for one am happy with the pleasant, musty, dewy petrichor after the rains. But monsoons in Mumbai also brings with it a lot of woes. The worst being the waterlogged roads and potholes! The weather department has predicted incessant rains in the coming week, while it’s nice to be home and enjoy the rain, it’s not a nice feeling to be stuck in the rain and to have to walk or drive on waterlogged roads.

For most of us who work in Mumbai, getting to the office and back becomes a nightmare. Especially for all those who have experienced the rains on 26 July 2005, heavy rains still gives us the chills. BUT what is quite similar about Mumbai and my little town and it’s people, is that they find humour even in the worst of times! I love what people call the ‘Mumbai spirit.’

People have not only come up with the funniest memes, but also fun songs about the Mumbai rains. Radio jockey Malishka made a parody on the Mumbai rains last year, for which the BMC had even sent her a notice for taking a dig at them. But that did not stop her from coming up with a new one this year too. She’s made one on how the whole of Mumbai drowns in a few hours of rain sung to the tune of Zingat! It says, “Geli geli Mumbai khadayat.”

There’s another hilarious video doing the rounds, that speaks about how some bosses can be insensitive and ask their employees to come to the office even during the heavy rains.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan too seems to be in a good rainy day mood, he shared a meme on his social media with the famous picture of him and Zeenat Aman on a gondola in Venice from the movie The Great Gambler, with a caption that says: “Bhaiya Goregoan lena please!”

On this rainy day holiday, we were entertained by the Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram jokes that were ‘pouring’ in just like the Mumbai rains.Thank god the heavy downpour hasn’t swept away the sense of humour of Mumbaikars!