Monsoon Clouds (Megh) (Reblog with a few changes)

अषाढ़ उच्चारं, मेघ मल्हारं, बनी बहारं, जलधारं,

दादुर दकारं, मयूर पुकारं, तडीतातारं, विस्तारं…

The advent of the month of Asaadh (June/July of English calendar) reminds every Gujarati literature lover the above ‘chhand’ (a type of poetry with particular number of letters and maatras) (in music we call it the ‘metre’) which he/she has been hearing from his childhood. It says thus,

“With the advent of the month of Asaadh, it is the thundering of the clouds, the clouds condensing and falling down as rain which is witnessed. The frog and the peocock start calling out their mates, and the thin wires of lightening covers all the sky.”

The monsoons have finally set in. And it is raining here in Mumbai since last 4 days. The rain estimates show that the monsoons have made up for their late arrival by raining heavily roughly 500 mm in last 72 hours. Just passed by the Mithi river and saw it’s flow. The new waters have rejuvenated her and she too like a growing girl is making all the right noise. It’s a first time I have not heard a single negative comment about the rains, rather people are happy. Let’s hope and pray that the monsoons be normal in India.

Rains signify new growth.

Rains signify germination.

Rains signify toil.

Rains signify coolness.

Rains signify energy, enthusiasm and verve.

As the great poet Rumi says :

“Raise your words, not your voice. It is the rain that grows flowers and not thunder.”

Am always fascinated by rains and who isn’t? Atleast during the rains, every person turns a poet or a singer during these watery times. And my readers will have no different experience than this. The songs of the Hindi movies start resonating in our ears.

“ओ सजना बरखा बहार आयी”

“बरसात में हमसे मिले तुम सजन, तुमसे मिले हम”

“प्यार हुआ, इकरार हुआ, प्यार से क्यों डरता है दिल”

“टिप टिप टिप टिप बारिश शुरू हो गयी”

And many more which drive in us the urge to dance and sing to their tunes.

Am equally fascinated by the 12 types of clouds/rains which are mentioned in the Gujarati literature as follows:

1. ફરફર – फरफर (Farfar) Rain which just stimulates and wettens our hair on the skin. Very Romantic and mind boggling.

2. છાંટા – छांटा ( Chhanta) Rain drops which is a little more then described above, yet less.

3. ફોરા – फोरा (Fora) Rain having drops of size that can wet an area of radius 1 inch on the ground.

4. કરા – करा (Karaa) Rain falling down as ice. We call them hail. Better to stay indoors when it hails.

5. પછેડીયો / પછેડીવા – पछेडियो / पछेडीवा (Pacchediyo – Pacchediva) – Rain from which we can protect ourselves only if we have an umbrella or a covering.

6. નેવાધાર – नेवाधार (Nevadhaar) Rain which will not only wetten the clay roof tiles, but also drip through it.

7. મોલીયો – मोलीयो (Moliyo) Rain which is beneficial to the crops to be grown. This rain is absolutely essential for a farmer.

8. ઢેફા ભાંગ – ढेफा भांग (Dhefaa Bhaang) Rain which will break the pieces of soil formed during the year so that the soil becomes ready for sowing.

9. મુશળધાર – मुशळधार (Musaldhaar) Rain which falls in form of torrents. It prickles us like a pin, when it falls.

10. અનરાધાર – अनराधार (Anaraadhaar) Rain which falls continuously. Drops cannot be seen. It seems as if water is falling like that from a tap.

11. સાંબેલાધાર – सांबेलाधार (Saambeladhaar) Raining cats and dogs. Very heavy rains.

12. હેલી – हेली (Hely) It is a mixture of any of the above mentioned rains which goes on continuously for a week.

The above rains explain to us the life of a devotee as well.

The ‘Farfar’ means the love a devotee experiences when he just starts believing in God.

‘Chhanta’ is when his mind and body starts wetting up due to his experiences.

When a devotee starts understanding that whatever he does, is because of the blessings of the God, it is like the ‘Fora’. It is a small start towards the experience of oneness, experience of non-duality.

‘Karaa’ means experiencing the wrath of God during the whole process.

The next ‘Pacchediyo/Pacchediva’ is nothing but the guiding our actions towards truth or attainment of truth, ‘satkarma’.

Later, as we move up the steps of evolution, our lives need to be transparent enough so that the rain of love for God / devotion seeps in and starts transforming our life. So the next would be a combination of both ‘Nevadhaar’ and ‘Dhefa bhaang’. We should be able to break the vices in our lives due to the experience of love of God, so that love seeps inside and makes the ‘kshetra’ moist.

Then rains the ‘Moliyo’. We now need to sow the values to build up a God loving character.

The last four “Musaldhaar”, “Anaraadhaar”, “Saambeladhaar” and “Heli” are experiences of moving towards God and becoming one with God. That is the ultimate goal of life of any human being. To merge into Him is another experience which cannot be described by me as I still tread on the path.

And I urge you, my reader, to gain your own experience.

At the same time there would be many such words in our native languages which we all need to make an effort and find and learn and share. Will be happy if some of you can share a few such words.

Wishing you all a very Happy Monsoons and a very Happy Festival season.