Monsoon Memory
The constant pitter-patter of rain drops hitting against the tin roof of my study and a cool breeze that blew past me as I got up from my table to open the window a just lil more,sent my thoughts afloat to those crazy high school moments when we would run out and dance in the rain, or purposely hide our umbrellas so we would have an excuse to get wet in the monsoon showers.
From jumping into the puddles in the play ground and laughing our heads out as we quickly clambered on to our school buses wet from tip to toe after a hearty splashing galore, to diving into the swimming pool on a rainy day, we did it all. Okay I know you must be like-- typical teenaged girls!!!! but hey it was fun.
But those were not the only memories I have of the monsoon.As I put my hands out of the window allowing the water to fill up in my upturned palms an incident that happened 12 years ago, instantly crosses my mind. And though it was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life at that time, it still brings a smile to my face.
I was in form five, and that was sadly my first year in Nepal. I knew nothing about the never ending rainfall we have here and how exceptionally muddy and slippery our roads get during the monsoon.
Anyways it was a rainy, extremely gloomy morning with no signs of the rain stopping. I was kinda excited though hadn't seen it rain like this all my life. Ignorant of how the road conditions were in this weather I got dressed like always for school, wore my neatly ironed uniform and shiny, polished black shoes and my new rain coat over it.
My mom was constantly at my back that morning telling me to pack those shoes into my bag and wear my wellington boots....Now like every other teenager I was like, "are you nuts mom, I'm not carrying my shoes in my bag"!
And plus I was already the odd one out so I didn't want to look like I was from planet Mars. I wasn't the cool one in class and my classmates usually made fun of my Nepali accent which, let me tell you, even to me sounded very weird, I spoke it like a Zulu trying his hands at Swahili! and every time I spoke my friends would burst out in giggles.
I honestly had a hard time here, the girls thought I was too boyish, cos I wore baggy stuff--a style trend that hadn't really caught on among the girls in Nepal, at least not yet. Nepali girls are known for their very chick style sense, and even in school they would come all decked up.
They listened to love songs and went gaga over Bollywood stars,films and Leonardo Di Caprio.
While I personally loved hip-hop and R&B hated the Titanic and wasn't gaga over romantic Bollywood films probably because I never understood what all the fuss was about.
The guys here listened mostly to rock and heavy metal. So yeah, for a teenager starting off in a new place it was tough. The only time I was taken seriously was during my English classes and my Biology classes the two subjects I was really good at, the rest of the time I ended up being the class joker.
So I grabbed my bag and walked out in to the rain with my rain coat and black shoes on. We live in the outskirts of Kathmandu amidst the rice paddies. And my school bus wouldn't come get me at home. I would have to walk for at least 20 minutes to where my school bus would come. Another reason my mom had told me to wear my wellington boots.
I had just walked for about five minutes splashing water on the way as I merrily trotted downhill. I had never seen so much rain water and I got really excited.I hadn't even realised that by now the water was already ankle high and I still hadn't reached the bottom of the slope.
I was so preoccupied with splashing about that I didn't even see that the road ahead was flooded and there was water gushing out of the paddy fields on both sides of the ten feet wide road I was walking on.
As I carelessly trampled on I slipped and fell right into a rice paddy and to my surprise a frog jumpped right over me making me scream and shout in sheer fright.
I helplessly tried to get up on to my feet. I tried so hard and sooo recklessly that I kept falling down. By this time I was covered in mud from tip toe and was sinking fast into the wet muddy clay soil.
trying with all my might I tried to wade myself out of the paddy,by now my shoes had already sunk deep into the mud and unable to find them and frustrated I somehow managed to climb back up on to the road. Thankfully no one saw the whole episode.
It was messy ordeal and I looked like a zombie that had just risen.As I walked back up the slope a few kids burst out at laughing at the sight of me. a friend of my mom's passed me by without even looking twice at me. as I picked up my pace and ran. I tripped, tears welling down my cheeks by now. My cheeks stained in tears and my mind in frenzy I tripped again and fell right into another muddy puddle some ten meters away from home.
Too embarrassed to look around I scrambled back on to my feet and raced home. I had just entered the gate and was about to go upstairs when my mom appeared from the kitchen with a tray in her hands. And without even thinking twice she let out a shreiky scream and disappeared back into the kitchen. Not knowing what to do I continued climbing upstairs.
When suddenly i was jerked back down and out of the house.This time my mom had a knife in her hand and was threateningly looking at me with her huge angry eyes and before I could say a thing she opened the gate and told me to leave before she called the police.
Not knowing what to do I pushed right past her exclaiming this was my house too. It was only after hearing my voice did my mom realise that the intruder who she had threatened with a knife was her own child.
Now looking at me sympathetically and unable to withstand a chuckle my mom asked me what happened. I was covered from tip to toe in mud and looked like the swamp monster,I wasnt wearing any shoes and I wasn't carrying my bag either.
Unable to keep a straight face my mom burst out laughing first at me than her reaction to throw me out as she hosed me down with clean water before letting me in. Needless to say even after having seven cups of coffee and two bowls of my mom's chicken soup that day I still caught a bad cold that kept me in bed all week.
My mom and everybody else had a hearty laugh at my expense,but it took me ages to get over it. I mean think about it how would you have felt and what would you have done if your own mom didn't recognise you?
--Prabalta Rijal
From jumping into the puddles in the play ground and laughing our heads out as we quickly clambered on to our school buses wet from tip to toe after a hearty splashing galore, to diving into the swimming pool on a rainy day, we did it all. Okay I know you must be like-- typical teenaged girls!!!! but hey it was fun.
But those were not the only memories I have of the monsoon.As I put my hands out of the window allowing the water to fill up in my upturned palms an incident that happened 12 years ago, instantly crosses my mind. And though it was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life at that time, it still brings a smile to my face.
I was in form five, and that was sadly my first year in Nepal. I knew nothing about the never ending rainfall we have here and how exceptionally muddy and slippery our roads get during the monsoon.
Anyways it was a rainy, extremely gloomy morning with no signs of the rain stopping. I was kinda excited though hadn't seen it rain like this all my life. Ignorant of how the road conditions were in this weather I got dressed like always for school, wore my neatly ironed uniform and shiny, polished black shoes and my new rain coat over it.
My mom was constantly at my back that morning telling me to pack those shoes into my bag and wear my wellington boots....Now like every other teenager I was like, "are you nuts mom, I'm not carrying my shoes in my bag"!
And plus I was already the odd one out so I didn't want to look like I was from planet Mars. I wasn't the cool one in class and my classmates usually made fun of my Nepali accent which, let me tell you, even to me sounded very weird, I spoke it like a Zulu trying his hands at Swahili! and every time I spoke my friends would burst out in giggles.
I honestly had a hard time here, the girls thought I was too boyish, cos I wore baggy stuff--a style trend that hadn't really caught on among the girls in Nepal, at least not yet. Nepali girls are known for their very chick style sense, and even in school they would come all decked up.
They listened to love songs and went gaga over Bollywood stars,films and Leonardo Di Caprio.
While I personally loved hip-hop and R&B hated the Titanic and wasn't gaga over romantic Bollywood films probably because I never understood what all the fuss was about.
The guys here listened mostly to rock and heavy metal. So yeah, for a teenager starting off in a new place it was tough. The only time I was taken seriously was during my English classes and my Biology classes the two subjects I was really good at, the rest of the time I ended up being the class joker.
So I grabbed my bag and walked out in to the rain with my rain coat and black shoes on. We live in the outskirts of Kathmandu amidst the rice paddies. And my school bus wouldn't come get me at home. I would have to walk for at least 20 minutes to where my school bus would come. Another reason my mom had told me to wear my wellington boots.
I had just walked for about five minutes splashing water on the way as I merrily trotted downhill. I had never seen so much rain water and I got really excited.I hadn't even realised that by now the water was already ankle high and I still hadn't reached the bottom of the slope.
I was so preoccupied with splashing about that I didn't even see that the road ahead was flooded and there was water gushing out of the paddy fields on both sides of the ten feet wide road I was walking on.
As I carelessly trampled on I slipped and fell right into a rice paddy and to my surprise a frog jumpped right over me making me scream and shout in sheer fright.
I helplessly tried to get up on to my feet. I tried so hard and sooo recklessly that I kept falling down. By this time I was covered in mud from tip toe and was sinking fast into the wet muddy clay soil.
trying with all my might I tried to wade myself out of the paddy,by now my shoes had already sunk deep into the mud and unable to find them and frustrated I somehow managed to climb back up on to the road. Thankfully no one saw the whole episode.
It was messy ordeal and I looked like a zombie that had just risen.As I walked back up the slope a few kids burst out at laughing at the sight of me. a friend of my mom's passed me by without even looking twice at me. as I picked up my pace and ran. I tripped, tears welling down my cheeks by now. My cheeks stained in tears and my mind in frenzy I tripped again and fell right into another muddy puddle some ten meters away from home.
Too embarrassed to look around I scrambled back on to my feet and raced home. I had just entered the gate and was about to go upstairs when my mom appeared from the kitchen with a tray in her hands. And without even thinking twice she let out a shreiky scream and disappeared back into the kitchen. Not knowing what to do I continued climbing upstairs.
When suddenly i was jerked back down and out of the house.This time my mom had a knife in her hand and was threateningly looking at me with her huge angry eyes and before I could say a thing she opened the gate and told me to leave before she called the police.
Not knowing what to do I pushed right past her exclaiming this was my house too. It was only after hearing my voice did my mom realise that the intruder who she had threatened with a knife was her own child.
Now looking at me sympathetically and unable to withstand a chuckle my mom asked me what happened. I was covered from tip to toe in mud and looked like the swamp monster,I wasnt wearing any shoes and I wasn't carrying my bag either.
Unable to keep a straight face my mom burst out laughing first at me than her reaction to throw me out as she hosed me down with clean water before letting me in. Needless to say even after having seven cups of coffee and two bowls of my mom's chicken soup that day I still caught a bad cold that kept me in bed all week.
My mom and everybody else had a hearty laugh at my expense,but it took me ages to get over it. I mean think about it how would you have felt and what would you have done if your own mom didn't recognise you?
--Prabalta Rijal
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