THE RAINY SEASON COMES WITH ITS TRUE COLORS



বাদল দিনের প্রথম কদম ফুল

"Kodom flower" - only blooms in the rainy season

After almost a month of sultry weather most places of Bangladesh were showered with moderate rainfalls in the last couple of days. It was a great relief from the heat wave that had put many peoples' lives in miseries. At least 35 people were killed and I was pretty much shocked about the news of death of one brilliant young boy just collapsing in the road coming home from school suffering from heat stroke. People were longing for this rain.

There could be no better way for the advent of the rainy season. Today is the first day of Ashar (Asadh), the 3rd month of the Bangla calendar. Ashar and the subsequent month Shrabon form the rainy season, the time of the Monsoons (Borsha). At this time, parched lands are inundated with almost incessant rain and crops are harvested. Borsha is the most dominating season in Bangla literature, particularly in poetry as poets feel numb (with emotions) to write verses. They consider the monsoon a season of separation from the loved one, of nostalgia and nameless longing. They often use to personify Borsha as a young woman pining for her beloved. Probably this has come from an age old tradition. In rural Bengal, the rivers and waterways got inundated in the rainy season, and fishermen and traders used to travel distant places with their boats for a long time. That might have caused the separation and longing.

But Borsha also has a ugly face, specially during its end. Heavy rainfall causes inundation and many people gets dislocated due to flooding of the plains. Severe infrastructural damage is the curse of these floods. Many people have to start all over again.

I hope Borsha (monsoon) shows only its beautiful face this year.

Related reading: Frolicking in monsoon days - a nice article