As of July 26 when it has rained for about a month during the monsoon of 2019, we've been through the usual rain woes that Mumbaikars brave through each year.
Pot holes have promptly appeared on roads right after first rains. Silt cleaned from drains and nalahs placed next to where it was removed from has flown back with rainwater. Suburban train system has broken down. Autos and taxis have surged their prices keeping with demand on days people did not have trains to commute. Road users of course have become used to long two to three hour journeys by car daily. We at Mumbai have in a few days of heavy rains have asked ourselves this question: What really am I doing at this city that seems to breakdown at the sign of the first downpour?
If you dear reader have NOT been affected by Monsoon Morning Blues (MMB) yet, you are lucky or resilient or both. Let me explain what I mean by this phrase - it is a feeling of sluggishness each morning you feel after waking up during rains. You secretly fantasize that it should rain so much that day that nobody needs to do anyrhing - incidentally if you took a poll, this would be every Mimbaikar's top secret fantasy.
Lemme reassure you that MMB is common, widespread, natural and has nothing do with you but is being forced on you! To explain, in Ayurveda it is believed that the external environment influences the internal one inside your body. So if the weather outside is slow, dull and phlegmatic you'll feel the same. There really in nothing you can do about it. That is why the smart people of Kerala (at least in ancient days but even now) never planned work in monsoon and actually would eat frugally (that too medicated gruel) and undergo rejuvenative (Panchkarma) therapies while at home during Monsoon.
Sleep well - this is the #1 remedy for most ailments of monsoon. If required, sleep an an hour or two extra to go with the sluggishness that you feel. If you catch a cold, sleep is a better remedy for cure than any over-the-counter or home-made remedy. Amuses me to see people pop in pills, take antibiotics and then go about their routine during a cold rather than just stay put and rest. To build immunity, take a powerful Indian herb - Giloi - it is also named Amrit for it's amazing healing properties. Available as tablets or even a bitter tea, this one is a better preventive and cure to cold than a shelf-ful of cold remedies. Eat light. The rains may tempt you to go for the season's favourite - fried stuff. Check yourself and stay with light food that is easily digestible.
Stuck at home as it pours outside you may be getting irritated but in reality the rain imposed home-stay gives you great opportunity for a lot of cacth-up. Read the books that you could not even get started. Do gardening and grow easy to grow greens and vegetables. Take a walk in the covered parking areas. Play indoor games. And start conversations ( a lost art of our century) with family members and neighbours.
The amazing thing about the monsoon is the magical green it creates in our vicinity. When you travel in any direction out of Mumbai you see a green carpet like grass on the open ground. You see seasonal water falls on hills and the vegetation all around turning dark green and refreshing. You don't even need to head out of Thane. Drive to Yeoor Hills or Ghodbunder Road and you'll see lush green grass growing in open areas. If you want to plant tree seedlings do it now. The Forest Department of Maharashtra has a goal of planting 33 crore tree seedlings over a period. Get in touch with the Social Forestry wing who'll give you seedlings and also show you the place you can plant.
The word slug has many meanings, one of which is a soft bodied creature, a mollusc. To see it head to Urban Farm in the rains. Slugs (think of them as snails without shells) slowly crawl on the surface and leave a slime behind them. They teach you what to do in the rains - slow down, take it easy and perhaps you will beat the Monsoon Morning Blues. The mushrooms that bloom are a bonus. So too fireflies which an Urbania resident spotted at Urban Farm this season.