[Points: Introduction—description of a particular rainy day in Calcutta: scenes on roads and streets; sufferings of people living in huts—village scenes.]
A rainy day means a day when the rain is so heavy as to interfere with normal life. We have many such days in West Bengal and Assam during the rainy season. Here is a description of one such day this year.
It was the month of Shraban. The sky had been overcast for a few days with occasional drizzles. On the 15th a heavy shower began at about 9 in the morning. As the downpour continued, I felt school was out of the question. So I began to watch the sight from the window. And what a sight it was! The roads and streets were under deep water. Tramcars ceased moving and lay standing on the lines. Many buses and private cars also were similarly stranded. Only double-deckers plied on with difficulty, splashing water on all sides. And the ripples they raised entered the ground-floor rooms of many a roadside house. Young children were floating paper boats on the water accumulated on the streets. Some urchins indulged in swim ming and sprinkling water among themselves in fun. Here and there were people wading slowly through the deep water with their cloths drawn up high above the ankle. The small park on the other side of our house was a vast sheet of water.
The rain stopped after about an hour; but it took a long time more for the water to subside. Trams and cars and buses began to move again, and people went about their business with hurried steps.
I then came out to see the state of things in the lanes close by. Water had entered most of the bustee houses, and the inmates had taken shelter on wooden cots with their belongings. A few sheds had tumbled down altogether under the heavy downpour.
All these brought up before my mind's eye a picture of village life on a rainy day. The roads there are unmetalled and get easily n.uddy and slippery. So it must be difficult to walk along on such a day. Carts get stuck in the mud and the carters are hard put to drag out the wheels. Ponds sometimes overflow the banks. And these troubles often continue for a couple of days even after the down pour has ceased. Much as I disliked the hardships caused to us in the city on a rainy day, my heart went out in silent sympathy to the village people for their suffering on such a day.
