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Friday, July 11, 2003
Another rainy day…
I was walking around aimlessly in the dining room when I heard the rustling sound unique to that of rain. I went to the nearest window. As predicted, there were little, subtle, flickering strands falling down and down. It was drizzling. I opened the window… Outside, it is still, and cool— the coolness only achieved by rain in this hot and humid country. Slowly, quietly, the rain falls. The trees are not moving at all. I watch, fascinated. It’s as though the landscape had frozen, and the only subtly moving thing is but the gentle rain… then I see the strands slowly change direction, see the wavering of the leaves on the canopies of trees, and slowly feel a little breeze, blowing… Slowly but surely, the breeze turns into a cool gust of wind… the trees start swaying, as though waltzing. Green fingers and arms are waving in the rain; a being is waving multiple arms, dozens of green leafy arms, at the sky, welcoming the little droplets of rain… The rustling and shushing sound of the rain becomes louder, accompanied by the sound of rain droplets pattering hard against the glass window, and trickling down… I opened the window more, and heard—the banging shut of windows… The wind blows coolly into my face; my hair is swept back, and I can feel the tiny droplets of rain on my face, and hands, chilling me… I see someone holding an umbrella on the garden paths way below, rushing into the shelter of buildings… Why do people hide from the rain? Why do people bang shut their windows so hurriedly, instead of welcoming the grace and coolness of the rain? These rainy days, are what makes life beautiful. They are a mild display of Nature’s boundless beauty, awe, and power. Why bother so much to journey to far places, watch magnificent displays to “experience the beauty and power of Nature”, when this milder version is so much closer to us, so much more frequent? Perhaps it is the frequency and closeness of it to us, that we gradually become ignorant to these little events which show the beauty of Nature and Life. Perhaps people need to visit exotic, widely-acclaimed and recommended places, such as the Niagara Falls, to get a sense of Nature’s beauty and awe? But if people can’t even appreciate the beauty of the rain, the wind, so much closer to home, can they be expected to appreciate the (though greater) beauty of the Niagara Falls, or just treat it merely as an aesthetically appealing photograph, or a nice place to holiday at? Perhaps, people need to fully see the striking beauty of Nature before they can detect the subtle beauty of Nature? But if people appreciate the subtle, everyday beauty of Nature, will they not even more fully appreciate the Niagara Falls for what it really stands for – Nature, and Life? People look at photographs, and exclaim, “why, isn’t that so beautiful?” But, how can one fully experience Nature in the confines of photographs, or closed windows? I used to view the rain through closed windows, marveling at the aesthetically-appealing, mysterious, illusive sight of the rain veiling the hills and buildings. But that was only one side of it. Today, I opened the window, wide. Today, I saw and heard the rain, the wind. Today, I was in no hurry to get home, shielded with an umbrella. I wanted to go down, stand in the rain, and feel the rain falling all around me. But I can’t. I am too tied to human worries and concern, like how I would get sick if I stood in the rain, and how the whole floor would be flooded with rainwater if I did not close the windows. Too tied down, for the carefree, one happy act of going downstairs, standing in the rain without any umbrellas (or raincoats), and feeling Nature’s beauty and creation all around me… I open the window wider. By now, the wind has changed into a gust. The strands of rain slant even more, beating down hard on the other closed window panes. The trees are nearly shaking now. The wind drives the rain in waves. I stretch out my hands. The wind blows even more furiously than before. All around me, I hear the wind’s howling, an austere, lonely sound. More droplets hit my face with the waves of wind. Waves are succeeded by other waves, and each time, I feel a cold Joy bursting in my heart—this is the exhilaration of feeling the rain and the wind. A distant rumble of thunder sounds… I heard more rude sounds of windows banging shut, and saw in the distance, a maid scurrying to retrieve the clothes… The wind becomes more furious…Rain droplets start splattering in, wetting the floor, drenching my hands, spraying my face. I wait for one last, exhilarating cool wave of wind. A great, chilling, rapidly blowing wave comes. I feel my heart lift in the coolness… I smiled… I shut the window gently, and see the big raindrops patter against the window, and watch the cascading, sliding film of water form a wavering pattern against the window… I looked at the time, and realized I had been standing nearly motionless at the window for more than half an hour. I walked over to the balcony, and saw the same scene as I had always seen whenever I found time to look at the rain—a great translucent-white, wavering curtain, veiling the hills and the buildings, and the vague mist drifting near the top of Bukit Timah Hill…
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