Pitter-Patter of Rain

 One night sleep came too late to my eyes, Rain was creating pitter-patter on the roof, water hitting the rocks, and my soul murmuring as if the water in the fountain wants to be heard, so-so my soul humming and irritating the flesh while picking the brains. 

It has been a hectic day, certain schedules of life do not hit the dopamine but they pass the time, and when you end your day like a busy ant, you feel happy with your routine. 

Subah hoti hai shaam hoti hai 

Zindagi yun hi tamam hoti hai 

Routine disturbs, and man wants to change. It may be a picnic to nearby Cafe Chill at Nalthi where friends catch up under a Gazebo and an aunty in their late early 50s serves a plate of Pakoda and Chai. The chill hits the face in winter or summer. When the heat rises tea is never replaced with cold drinks but, yes, we strip off and jump into the river nearby.  This place is amazingly beautiful, and so is Bhaderwah. You travel miles, and this river will never leave you alone. Neither will pine and mountains. It is all set up like a pandora's box for romance. 

In Bhadarwah too Pandora's box is beautiful unless you open it. It has amazing fruits in it. Rivers, meadows, orchards, mountains, forest patches, flora and fauna, hanging clouds touching the hair of the head, and rains that pitter-patter on the roof, red faces, apple faces, brown faces, boys with long hair, short hair, gym boys, rowdy boys, naughty boys, and side-kick boys. Women are fair as the one as apsara or an hour in heaven. 

The amalgamation of aesthetic tool-kit for romance is a problem to Adam in heaven. He tries to open this pandora's box and invites trouble forever. Maybe because everything in it is forbidden. One fine morning a man is placed out of heaven into this place. He travels, reveals, and flaunts the gods in the heavens. Suddenly he realizes his mistake of not walking with humility on earth. His paradise is lost because he opened the box. God does not like it!

As a child, I reflected many times on the story of Adam and Eve. We used to question why he ate that forbidden fruit? Then one day a schoolteacher told me that it was Adams's flaw that led to the creation of the Universe. But this mistake led to the realization of God! What a beautiful mess one wants to be in! Who does not want to err to land on the feet of God? But before that Adam opened Pandora's box for all of us. 

When the rains hit the soil, they create a smell of incense which is burnt in Kashmir for welcoming guests. In Bhaderwah Rains don’t smell, they sing as angles play the lute, and roofs of the houses sing while the beds of houses shelter the souls. Life doesn’t want to divorce the beds in Bhaderwah unless something is alluring outside, maybe a cricket match in a U-shaped valley, or a hot coffee in a Saaz Hotel.  

Saaz has a European setting. A breathtaking location and a hotel in making. What is amazing in Saaz are its windows through which you can see the mist getting slowly cleared for the eyes to see the pine and sky clean. Trust me! This affair of expectations never ends. The mist clears only to cover it again. Unending visuals through the window at Saaz…. A coffee in such a magical setting has some meaning. 

Once your good mode is sponsored by the coffee, suddenly, the mist covers the valley, and the rain pitter-patters on the Saaz roof. One tries to decipher the meaning of why Adam opened this pandora's box. How could this not open!

Driving back to my room, I packed the stuff for the night and prepared myself for the gym, and living life as a routine gives me a doze of yawning. A chicken, tomato, onion, banana, eggs, and a protein scoop is food for the body. But the soul during the night waits for the rains to hit the roof. 

I am sure that my routine cannot be boring. Why would I leave a place like heaven to listen to the rain pitter-patter on my roof? Why would Adam leave such of place for this world? There is something unexplored. It cannot be a mere mistake. There is an underlying meaning to life. 

We all try to explore those mysterious symbols in nature, like why people travel and migrate to far-off places. Migration is fate and volunteer migration is symbolic. I truly believe this coming to Bhaderwah has a deep significant meaning. 

Yun hi nahi dil lubata koi  

Tera Mujsey hai oehlay ka nata koi


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