Raining Cats and Dogs?
on Jen's Indian Adventure (India), 04/Jul/2010 11:54, 34 days ago
So, finally I got caught for the first time since arriving inIndia8 months ago in a substantial rain shower on Thursday evening. I didn’t mind as I thought it was the start of monsoon and that would mean the temperatures would start to drop so in fact I was delighted. It has been a bit cooler in recent days but the humidity seems to be rising in the evenings - this was not part of the plan. However the rain only lasted about an hour and that was it. So if I’m honest I was a bit disappointed.But I have realised that my‘raining cats and dogs’ umbrella will not keep me dry when the heavy rains start to fall. I predict a season of evening sessions of washing clothes, particularly trousers, coming up. The era of a weekly wash load is about to end.I had been out after work, meeting friends for coffee and we had noticed lighting in the distance. As it was quite faint I thought the rain would end up someplace else, but half way home the heavens opened and that was that. Not a good idea to have been wearing white trousers. Due to the volume of construction currently taking place here inBhubaneswarthe roads are laden with sand, often making it feel like I should be on a beach. Of course sand and rain mix into mud. And then the lack of foot paths leads to lots of puddles and dirty trouser legs.The temperature here for the last few days has certainly been dropping.www.timeanddate.comis predicting a mere comfort level of 38 degrees Celsius for today (Friday 2ndJuly). That’s at least 10 degrees cooler than it has been.Bhubaneswaris blessed with a cooling breeze that starts most days by lunchtime. The disappointing thing about this is that in the evening the humidity rises, often up to 80%, and then it’s back to feeling like the heat of the summer with the sweat dripping down my back even though I’m sitting under a fan (no air con unfortunately).It did rain for three days solid last week (23rd/ 24th/ 25thJune) but as I was in Balangir I was not here to experience it. So for me Thursday night’s rain was my start of the monsoon (I think - it’s difficult to know really as it’s not at all what I had imagined). We have just had the hottest summer on record, so maybe we’re about to experience the driest monsoon season on record. My colleagues were certain the rains would start gushing down on 15thJune. It amazed me how precise they could be. But alas, they were wrong.However, looking out the window now I do suspect that I’ll be doing my ‘Singing in the Rain’ song and dance routine, just like Bing Crosby, in the not too distant future.Just as I finish writing this the skies have opened and it is pouring down outside supported by a symphony of thunder and lightning. I hope it stops by 5.30pm…….