ON AIR
Yes I was on air and I spoke about the rains and being
cautions as you go about enjoying the rains
Here is a transcript on the same; it was a fun exercise for
me to hear me on air.
The topic today is :
Enjoy the rains, but with pre-caution
Before we get to rains let’s
talk about the summer months that precede the rains,
IN a village of Jharkhand we see a bunch of men
playing a sport in the continuing summer heat. The sun is bearing down on them,
and it seems to make no difference to the men, they are probably used to the
heat while working in the fields.
They are playing a game
called sekkor,
An ancient tribal game that
is being played out in the middle of the field, with tops, yes you heard it right,
Giant TOPS, (lattu in Hindi), and they are 18 inches in length and by 4 – 6
inches in width. These Tops are called Sekkor. Each players has a sekkor (top) of their own
The game is played between 2
team of each team has 6- 10 members, and the idea of the game to hit the top of
the opposing team from a distance of 12- 20 feet, and make it travel a
distance.
The HO and the santhals tribals believe that
every time the sekkors collide the rain Gods are invoked and reminded to come
down to earth, they believe playing the game of sekkor, they are also
communicating with the rain gods, asking for rains to come and drench there
fields and help prepare the land for the coming plantation season.
This summer I was party to
such a sight, as I stood on the periphery of a sekkor field and watched the
game happening, cheering the losing team to put up a fight and anything to keep
my mind away from the heat all around,
This year summer had been excruciatingly
hot, the days and nights were hot and humid with no sign of respite, and rains
were long overdue,
Rains are usually expected by
1st week of June, and it was almost 25th July today.
Interestingly as
watched the game of selkor I I did notice some clouds build up and by 3 pm, it did look like there were some
rain filled clouds, who knows maybe we will see rains. Today, Maybe there is
some truth to the belief of the village folks or it is just nature doing it
work quietly.
Game done we started to
return home
And suddenly it did start to
rain, large raindrops on the windshield of the car, a wonderful pattern could
be heard as the rains hit the glass and metal of the car, the trees were being
drenched as was the hungry earth, it soon was raining hard, visibility down to
a few feet in front of me, I moved to the shoulder of the road, to watch the
rain and enjoy the cool breeze, the rains were finally here, a pleasing sight
for the senses,
I pulled out my camera and managed to get a few
interesting images, while out in rains it is a good idea to protect the camera by putting it inside a
plastic bag, with just the lens protruding outside, and fastened with a rubber
band, while one is himself under a umbrella, or not. it is a easy way to protect the camera while photographing
in the rains
Post enjoying a few minutes
watching the rain once more I was ready to move, rolled up the windows and as I
switch on the wipers of the car, the wipers did move but dint seem to move the
water that was on the windshield
Yes the rubbers on the wipers
had dried up with the summer sun beating down on them and cracked, making the rubbers
hard and not useful when rains were on us.
What do you know here I was in the middle of
torrential rainfall and still a good 20 km to get home, and visibility almost
zero,
I broke into my emergency kit
comprising of a bar of lifeboy
soap, knife, tobacco m fuses and so on,
I rubbed the soap on the windshield of the car,
what it did is it broke down the water molecules of the rain water and the
water refuses to stick on the windshield and I was able to see again as the
rain water was sliding away from the glass while I drove
DO you know the same can be
achieved by using a Potato, yes cut up a potato in two and rub it on the wet
glass it too will keep the windshield water free. You could do the same with Tobacco
(khaini) so always a good idea to have one of these; you never know when your
wipers might pack up anyway.
And if you are wondering if
this trick will work on Helmet visors, yes it will, it will keep them water
free.
Talking about bikes, should you
be in a car, please realize Bikers are at danger as the rains come along, there
brakes are not as good as cars, so be more cautious and careful as you observe
bikers try to beat the rain and ride often times more riskily then they should.
For bikers a work of caution with
the first rains comes a higher chance of getting involved in accidents. The reason you ask - YOU see the roads all
during the summer has had oil leaked on it by cars, smokes that has condensed
on the road, cows and other animals have done there jobs on the road, leaves
have shed, and been brushed away, but they all have left its own signature, and
with the first rain the road becomes slick, it is like riding on a thin film of
oil and grease, there is a high probability of one losing ones balance in the
rain, especially the first rain, you want to ride being ultra careful along with having the headlights on and ,
avoid using the brakes, try to slow the
vehicle by engaging a lower gear, use
engine breaking and not the brake of the bikes.
Moving on to us humans,
Post summer when one has been
scorched and roasted and burnt, most days, one has been sweaty and irritated by
the hot sun, one often looks up for the tell tale sign of rains while going
about ones day, we look for the lovely clouds that will bring us rain, and when
it does happen, we definitely want to be out in nature to enjoy it on the skin.
With the coming of rains
It starts to make us feel
relaxed and we have visions of romance and beauty and cool days to follow when
one can just sit and read or just sit and think about plethora of things that
one has been meaning to do, eat hot fried
pakoras for one while the rains play out a pattern on the window, or on the
floor.
The first rains happen, and it is a welcome
sight, it pulls us like magic to go and get wet, it draws us have a bath in
nature
The first rains is said to have healing
properties, the rain water is considered pure, distilled, with no impurity,
thus making it good for consumption, and its great for ones skin, hair&
body
While that’s
what I have always believed and have always enjoyed a good wetting & getting drenched but today is it still true I wonder? What with all the pollutions and dirt and
grime and impurities in the air can the same be true
While I for
one would love to believe it, but if one is living in a city, the truth could
be different I think it is a Myth that
it will help the skin & body cleansing, tread with caution I say.
In case one does decide to enjoy getting wet
in the rain, do it for a while and then do take some precaution, like
Have a shower once you get home; a good hot
water bath is a must, along with getting your hair wet, shampoo out any
pollutants that one might have gotten on oneself.
If you are wondering about
me, yes I do get wet with the first
rain, I am the first one outside, and soak up the water for not more then 10
minute and follow that up with a good hot water shower, and a scrub myself all over.
Lets talk about things to do
in the rainy season
The feast of Jao, comes to
mind, a celebration that happens in Goa, it is on 25th June when
this festival is celebrated, usually we get to see Soothing greens of trees all
around and flowers in bloom too, people pray for a good monsoon, and typically
jump into well, ponds, water bodies to celebrate the birth of St Jon the
Baptist. It’s a festival with Music, food, dance, fun and fenny,
Some of the other activities
that we want to do in the rains are:
Go for a trek, yes a trek during
monsoon is an amazing experience, to walk through fields drenched in water, to
actually experience the water on us as we walk on paths sometimes the paths are
submerged too and cant be seen and one has to feels ones way is a fun experience,
it is preferable done in groups to make sure one does not get into trouble,
should one slip while walking, or to avoid other misadventure, though do
remember a good pair of shoes is a must and carry dry socks, a change of
clothes and deinking water to stay hydrated, please change into the dry pair of
clothes at the earliest once you finish
the hike.
Waterfalls come alive all
over the hill, and what use to be boring landscape during summer months are now
beautiful and draws us to explore nature, water has a property of inviting
people to come to it, it’s a alluring sight that will want to make you take a bath
under the waterfall, most often where waterfall exists there are rocks that
grow mollusk on it as water flows on them 24 *7, be very careful for these are
slippery to the nth degree, and a slip could also be Painful.
Lastly I would say, Rains are beautiful,
enjoy the rains but remember, if you are not careful, Rains also claim its
pound of flesh.
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| Ms Priyanka, the compare for the show #onair #air #rajatghosh #priyankaghosh #enjoytherains #lifehacks |
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