http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/31/your-letters-childhood-memories-rainy-days.html
It’s rainy season, ladies and gentlemen! Keep your raincoat
and umbrella ready! Be prepared to get wet! And brace yourselves for the worst
enemy, the traffic jam!
Yet, the funny thing is the smell of rain always brings back
my timeless blissful childhood memories. It brings me to my old days spent in the
countryside; lie flat on the green grass under the blue skies, facing the
lashing rain. After the rain, the small white and pink wild flowers just shine in
the pure sun, the brightest rainbow ever decorate the bluish skies, and the smell
of fresh ground and grass waft through the air. It’s so great to be so
carefree, having an unfettered life with care a damn attitude.
Rainy days help to bring back the love, fun and joy of
childhood memories. The melodic rhythm of raindrops pattering on the roof
creates the full symphony overhead and dream of far off adventures. My
childhood friends and I would dart out of the doors on a rainy day when our
mothers weren’t paying attention. We jumped in the puddles, splashing water.
Getting soaked, we ran along the edges of the slushy paddy fields, seeking out
frogs and eels. Then, we hunted for fallen mangoes and rambutan or jack-fruit under the downpours, gorging at them when we were lucky to find any.
Our greatest joy came when the rain flooded the small river
in our village. Its water became light brown like chocolate milk. The current
got wilder which we loved so much. We swam across the flooding river in groups,
testing our gut. The strong current often carried us down the stream and we had
to hug some rocks as our saviors. We cheered like wild Amazons when each of us succeeded
to swim across the other side. We were just like fearless warriors!
Oh, can we bring back the joy that we got from such silly
things? It seems has been lost decades ago. Gone are those days when we
could find wildlife in the rain.
Now, in the concrete jungle of Jakarta, the rain gives us an
excuse to curl up on the couch with a good book with a sip of hot tea or coffee
on the weekend. Or just listening to the melodic rhythm of it drumming on the
roof. However, during workdays, venturing outside after a storm and taking in a long
draw of damp air, an earthiness with hints of dust and smoke seems to linger in
the air. Then, there have been several powerful storms with lightning and
thunder, menacing clouds and a great quantity of water that almost flooded the
streets of the city, disrupting the train and paralyzed the traffic. Rainy days
become constant nightmare to this city dwellers.
Despite these odds, I still have
this odd tingling feeling about the rain. I miss playing in it. I miss going
out and just getting wet to be wet and getting muddy under the guise of having
fun. So, I steal times just to have walk under the drizzle, feeling the
droplets splash on my face. Closing my eyes for seconds, I could see flashbacks
of my childhood timeless memory in the rain.
My Mum
said that rain is God’s tears to wash away the bad things from the earth. It does indeed wash away the ugly part of
this city, the clogging garbage, the choking haze and so forth. It also brings
life by helping the plants and grasses to re-grow. After all, we are all just humble
travelers in this world, fragile and hopeful. Yet, we also are strong and
tenacious as water making its way through dangerous cliffs to reach its final
destination.
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