Beautiful things, like the weather right before the rain, grab my attention
‘Bahir niklo’ comes a text from a friend who knows I love it when it rains
And I sit on my balcony, looking at the raindrops picking up pace as they descent
My gaze falls on the kids playing, laughing, jumping in the puddles outside,
And I think back to the days when I was a kid enjoying the rain like them.
.
Through glistening glass windows, he watches the children
playing, laughing, jumping in the puddles outside
happy? with battered clothes, playing in the mud
while he’s there in his pristine suit
clean, spotless, powerful, lonely
if rain makes people happy, why not him?
his house echoes at the sound of thunder,
quiet, dark, gloomy
a reflection of his emotional state
till he opens the balcony, letting the rain fall on him
until he can no longer differ between
his tears and the rain.
.
She looks at the man on the balcony, arms open, standing stiff, facing the sky,
‘He must really love the rain’ she thinks watching him get drenched in his fancy suit
Running a hand over her swollen tummy she sets down beside her husband,
‘One day our baby might join them too’ she says smiling at the children
playing, laughing, jumping in the puddles outside
‘Why not now?’ he says, taking her hand, leading her towards the veranda,
Drenched, in hysterics, he twirls her around, showering in rain, love, bliss,
Celebration.
.
Battered clothes, hot summer rain, the smell of pakoras and wet gravel
a cool breeze from the broken window, a dimly lit home
putting buckets under the leaking roof, rushing to get the laundry off the line
she looks at the girl on the balcony smiling down at her kids
playing, laughing, jumping in the puddles outside
She calls out to them, pakoras in hand they sit under the shed
breathing in the damp summer waft
“abhi tak light nhi gyi” she says
The electricity goes out, as if waiting for her command
she laughs at the irony, thanking god for these rare Karachi downpours
and just like that,
the rain will be what you choose it to be
joy, distress
a blessing, or a way to hide your pain
