India, May 3 -- Early this morning, it started raining in Delhi-NCR. Trees were uprooted, traffic came to a halt, and I somehow managed to reach the Metro station in Ghaziabad for the long commute to my school in South Delhi.
However, anyone who has grown up or grown old in and around the verdant and scenic Chhotanagpur Plateau will always carry in her soul an imprint of the summer showers, sudden, spectacular, at times with thunder, lightning or hail. They were brief and did not lead to flooding or waterlogging, at least till the late 1990s. The ancient trees lining the city's roads, a few still retaining their rust morrum character, looked pristine after a thorough wash-down, and raw mango or tamarind could be collected, usually by schoo...